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Doctors find a 10-pound hairball, not in a cat

post #1 of 8
11/22/07 at 2:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/21/hairball.case/

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post #2 of 8
11/22/07 at 2:32am
Trichophagia is fairly common among mentally ill patients, but I've almost always seen/heard it affecting the small intestines with a similar obstructional problem. It's amazing how it perfectly took the shape of her stomach, almost down to the pyloric valve.
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post #3 of 8
11/22/07 at 6:16am
I work at Poison Control and we hear of all kinds of strange things. Bezoars (trichobezoar is the medical term for a "hairball") can form from pretty much any poorly digestable/indigestable substance that is chronically over-eaten or after a single massive ingestion. Aspirin forms a big rock in the gut which is one of the things that makes managing those overdoses difficult. I know of one reported case of a Gummi-Bear (candy) bezoar forming in a child. I am not sure of the details of the case, but I suspect the child must have had access to a few "Costo-sized" bottles to get to that point!
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post #4 of 8
11/22/07 at 6:22am
Weren't bezoars supposed to have magic properties back in the day?
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Originally Posted by rxcats View Post
Bezoars (trichobezoar is the medical term for a "hairball") can form from pretty much any poorly digestable/indigestable substance that is chronically over-eaten or after a single massive ingestion.
Viva la turkey bezoar! Happy Thanksgiving!
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post #5 of 8
11/22/07 at 8:42am
Well I learned two new words today: bezoar (trichobezoar) and trichophagia. Uhm... thank you?
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post #6 of 8
11/22/07 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RJman View Post
Weren't bezoars supposed to have magic properties back in the day?Viva la turkey bezoar! Happy Thanksgiving!

Evidently. "Bezoar stone, which is a calcified concretion found in the stomachs of some animals, was prized for its supposed medicinal properties as well as being believed to act as an antidote to poison."

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/p...ar/bezoar.html
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post #7 of 8
11/22/07 at 11:45am
That's pretty disturbing.
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post #8 of 8
11/27/07 at 10:43pm
*gulp*
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