Hundreds of coins found in patient's belly

lovechild · Post by **lovechild** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:53 am

Hundreds of coins found in patient's belly

An X-ray shows the patient's stomach filled with coins, necklaces and needles.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- French doctors were taken aback when they discovered the reason for a patient's sore, swollen belly: He had swallowed around 350 coins -- $650 worth -- along with assorted necklaces and needles.

The 62-year-old man came to the emergency room of Cholet General Hospital in western France in 2002. He had a history of major psychiatric illness, was suffering from stomach pain, and could not eat or move his bowels.

His family warned doctors that he sometimes swallowed coins, and a few had been removed from his stomach in past hospital visits.

Still, doctors were awed when they took an X-ray. They discovered an enormous opaque mass in his stomach that turned out to weigh 12 pounds -- as much as some bowling balls. It was so heavy it had forced his stomach down between his hips.

Five days after his arrival, doctors cut him open and removed his badly damaged stomach with its contents. He died 12 days later from complications.

One of his doctors, intensive care specialist Dr. Bruno Francois, said the patient had swallowed the coins -- both French currency and later euros -- over about a decade. His family tried to keep coins and jewelry away from him.

"When he was invited and came in some homes, he liked to steal coins and eat them," Francois said.

The case history of the French patient, whose name was withheld, was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

The patient's rare condition is called pica, a compulsion to eat things not normally consumed as food. Its name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird thought to eat just about anything.

Pica can take the form of eating dirt, ashes, chalk, hair, soap, toothbrushes, burned matches and many other things. Francois once treated a patient who ate forks. Most such objects are small enough to pass on their own, but some must be removed by doctors.

The condition is perhaps best known in children and pregnant women but is also sometimes linked to psychiatric illness.

A few details of the Frenchman's case were presented January 1 along with the X-ray -- but no explanation of the stomach mass -- as a challenge to New England Journal of Medicine readers in a fixture called "A Medical Mystery."

Dr. Lindsey Baden, an editor at the journal, reported that 666 readers in 73 countries -- mostly doctors or doctors-in-training -- contacted the journal to try to solve the mystery. Almost 90 percent settled on diagnoses consistent with pica, but only 8 percent correctly identified coins.

"This case serves as a reminder of important factors that should be considered in the care of patients who are mentally impaired," Baden wrote.

Lost Traveler · Post by **Lost Traveler** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:22 pm

hmm I do like my matches but only in moderation

(okay I dont swallow them)

lovechild · Post by **lovechild** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:51 pm

lol, what a crazy story..

satanskitten · Post by **satanskitten** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:38 pm

I believe it...I have a friend who, while pregnant with her first child, developed an intense craving for dirt..after she gave birth the craving just lessened but never went away..She would keep a small plate with dirt in it on her dresser and she and her daughter would dip a moistened finger into it every once in a while and lick it off...

lovechild · Post by **lovechild** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 9:36 pm

i may be pregnant ...but i crave mcdonalds and the mandarian house...not dirt...though i have heard of others having that same craving....

FalseAbsolution · Post by **FalseAbsolution** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 1:26 am

This was described to me as being caused by having a lack of minerals... the human body sometimes knows the source of such things better than doctors... it's said that a kid that eats dirt when it's young will have a healthier immune system then one that doesn't....

Note... i'm not promoting letting your child eat dirt... it worries me to think what they would be eating... just passing on what random information that i've heard here and there...

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 4:17 am

Mmm... mudpies.... :lol:

Xerxes · Post by **Xerxes** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:14 pm

lovechild wrote:Dr. Lindsey Baden, an editor at the journal, reported that 666 readers.....

hehe

Snap Dragon · Post by **Snap Dragon** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 8:42 pm

I've never had crazy cravings like that!!! Wow! I thought it was weird to want things like toast and ketchup or drink combinations with 7 different kinds of sodas in them.....my little brother ate grass once and claims he still does and likes it....my friend Hannah enjoys eating her dog, Pumpkin's, biscuits and cheese flavored treats....

That's still totally crazy though! I figured that dogs only did that!

Though I once heard a story about a girl who liked to chew on her hair. She did it for years though not intentionally eating them....one day while she was in highschool she began to complain of stomach pains...she was taken in and given an X-Ray. The doctors ended up pulling out a baseball sized hairball from her stomach during surgery. It had built up all those years because hair NEVER digests....
that makes me fell pretty glad that I never started that habit! The mere feeling of hair in my mouth simply grosses me out! That does complicat things when you have cats though...

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 9:06 pm

Wow. And I thought I was weird, with my PB&pickle sandwiches.

lovechild · Post by **lovechild** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 10:27 pm

xerxes yeah i found the 666 thing quite interesting myself

Reverend_ Hate · Post by **Reverend_ Hate** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 2:26 am

iblis wrote:Wow. And I thought I was weird, with my PB&pickle sandwiches.

And here I thought I was the only one who ate those.

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 9:51 am

Reverend_ Hate wrote:
iblis wrote:Wow. And I thought I was weird, with my PB&pickle sandwiches.

And here I thought I was the only one who ate those.

Peanut butter goes good with almost anything. I'm also partial to mixing it with bananas and mayo.

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 2:31 pm

peanut butter and poop sandwhiches.
ladies and gentlemen, start your google search.

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 2:36 pm

I just did, and got this.

:roofle:

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 3:17 pm

iblis wrote:I just did, and got this.

im naming my firstborn after you, that was fucking GREAT. any of the geek inclined that click that will get a kick.
:roofle:

Lady Shaper · Post by **Lady Shaper** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 3:18 pm

Reverend_ Hate wrote:
iblis wrote:Wow. And I thought I was weird, with my PB&pickle sandwiches.

And here I thought I was the only one who ate those.

I haven't had one of those in years! I'm going to have to now.

Snap Dragon · Post by **Snap Dragon** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 5:25 pm

What is it with everyone and their PB and pickle sandwiches?!

Ashes · Post by **Ashes** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:06 pm

olives straight out of the bottle with a glass of milk yummy!

Hundreds of coins found in patient's belly

Hundreds of coins found in patient's belly

Re: Hundreds of coins found in patient's belly