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Doctors untangle the strange case of the giant hairball
CNN ^
| 11/22/07
| unknown
Posted on 11/22/2007 4:18:09 PM PST by a real Sheila
It may not be the most appetizing reading before a hearty holiday meal, but the New England Journal of Medicine is devoting part of its Thanksgiving issue to a giant hairball -- and not the feline kind.
The prestigious journal details the case of a previously healthy 18-year-old woman who consulted a team of gastrointestinal specialists.
She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.
After a scan of the woman's abdomen showed
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: doctors; hairball; medicalconditions
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For those of you who ate too much today and need to purge. This ought to do it.
To: a real Sheila
A problem in shower drains, as well.
To: a real Sheila
That’s amazing. I wasn’t aware some people ate hair like that. Even more so, why wouldn’t it dissolve and be digested? That was a LOT of hair (apparently over a long period of time). I guess the young lady learned her lesson.
To: a real Sheila; Thinkin' Gal; aculeus
which weighed 10 pounds and measured 15 inches by 7 inches by 7 inches, the doctors said.Mmmm. That looks like it would be good with some gravy on it.
To: a real Sheila
“She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.”
The woman ought to write a book: “How to lose 40 pounds—guaranteed.”
5
posted on
11/22/2007 4:32:26 PM PST
by
Brilliant
To: a real Sheila
It isn’t black...
Shoulda been eating vaseline with it.. Works for cats.
6
posted on
11/22/2007 4:32:48 PM PST
by
TASMANIANRED
(TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
To: a real Sheila
Actually, I read this case in the Darwin Awards a few years back.
7
posted on
11/22/2007 4:35:44 PM PST
by
HeartlandOfAmerica
(The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.)
To: a real Sheila
I learned a new word: “bezoar”. I can think of lots of ways to use it — it just sounds more refined than calling someone a hairball. ;-)
To: HeartlandOfAmerica
Actually the girl in the Darwin awards with the hairball died from it.
9
posted on
11/22/2007 4:38:32 PM PST
by
HeartlandOfAmerica
(The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.)
To: CitizenUSA
I wonder that also. Pets or people - why doesn’t hair digest?
To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
A bezoar plays an important part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
11
posted on
11/22/2007 4:38:49 PM PST
by
Publius
(A = A)
To: Brilliant
The woman ought to write a book: How to lose 40 poundsguaranteed.
She lost 40 lbs plus they removed a 10 pound bezoar. That's 50 lbs.
12
posted on
11/22/2007 4:42:42 PM PST
by
gitmo
(From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.)
Always something interesting to see here at Free Republic!
To: Publius
A bezoar plays an important part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Darn, you beat me to it. I just thought it was something from a goat's stomach made up for the HP books. I had no idea a bezoar was real.
To: a real Sheila
After reading this story. I nearly coughed up a hairball myself.
15
posted on
11/22/2007 4:44:18 PM PST
by
cquiggy
To: A knight without armor
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow ""The biochemical composition of hair makes it impossible for digestive juices in the stomach to break it down. It therefore accumulates, much like it builds up in the plughole of a bath or shower, attracting more hair and ..."
The rest is poorly formatted but this should serve as an explanation.
You are what you eat
16
posted on
11/22/2007 4:45:16 PM PST
by
HeartlandOfAmerica
(The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.)
To: TASMANIANRED
I keep fresh grass available for my cats......clears them right out.
17
posted on
11/22/2007 4:49:02 PM PST
by
Fawn
(http://www.brightlion.com/InHope/InHope_en.aspx)
To: a real Sheila
a bezoar can be composed several things that are ingested. Meat Bezoars used to be treated first with Adolf’s meat tenderizer which often worked bypassing need for surgery.
18
posted on
11/22/2007 4:51:29 PM PST
by
armymarinemom
(My sons freed Iraqi and Afghan Honor Roll students.)
To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
Remembr Bezoar the next time you play scrabble.
19
posted on
11/22/2007 4:55:03 PM PST
by
a real Sheila
(stop hillary NOW!)
To: a real Sheila
20
posted on
11/22/2007 4:55:08 PM PST
by
visualops
(artlife.us)
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