Alpha Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 By JEFF DONN, Associated Press Writer BOSTON - 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 (news - web sites). 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 Jan. 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. Credits: Yahoo.Com-----------------------------So any of you guys swallowed coins when you were a little kid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntiWinner22 Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Nope. I have never eaten coins. I wonder what he would do if an Arcade was opened to take out the coins, and all those coins just spilled? Buffet, anyone? Anon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magus Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 uh...i've never heard of pica. that's also an extremely strange article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taratata Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Maybe he didn't know what to do with his coins when his arcade emulator said "insert coin" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N3oGhost Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 lol "Credits: Yahoo.Com" that was funny. Thats a lesson to all you greedy flocks out there that gotta stock up your game with "credits". keep at it and watch what happens........ Oh and i dont think he actually ATE the coins.........or else he would still be alive. He had to have swallowed......... he was probably fine up until the wrong coin didnt turn correctly to go out of his spout and plugged it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted February 19, 2004 Author Share Posted February 19, 2004 lol "Credits: Yahoo.Com" that was funny. Thats a lesson to all you greedy flocks out there that gotta stock up your game with "credits". keep at it and watch what happens........ Oh and i dont think he actually ATE the coins.........or else he would still be alive. He had to have swallowed......... he was probably fine up until the wrong coin didnt turn correctly to go out of his spout and plugged it up...fixing that little english problem with the ate to swallowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weirdy Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 damn, and I was just going to try eating coins for when I'm hungry!!!... honestly, why put a coin in your system for? he should've just put 100$ bills or something, not coints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleDragon Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 By JEFF DONN, Associated Press Writer BOSTON - 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 (news - web sites). 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 Jan. 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. Credits: Yahoo.Com-----------------------------So any of you guys swallowed coins when you were a little kid? Well I guess somethings never CHANGE... hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWAMP_THING Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 i heard that about 150 years ago people used to get a craving to eat clay. it was so widespread that companies formed offering to supply people with clay to eat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovalprocess Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 he was probably fine up until the wrong coin didnt turn correctly to go out of his spout and plugged it up.lol now theres an image i could have done without. ::shudder:: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emsley Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 There was a serial killer who used to do things like that, he used to stick needles in himself and leave them there, he was from poland or something.If i find the link ill let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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