In Bareilly, doctors removed 2 kg of human hair from the stomach of a 21-year-old woman. Who had been eating it for 16 years. It is said that whenever the woman had the chance, she would secretly pull out the hair and eat it. In the language of medical science, it is called trichophagia or Rapunzel syndrome. This is a mental disorder in which the patient begins to eat their own hair. The Karagaina resident was diagnosed with the illness on September 20 when a hair mass was discovered during a CT scan.
What is the disease trichophagia?
Trichophagia is a chronic mental health problem in which you always want to eat your hair. It is often associated with trichotillomania. Condition in which a person is forced to pull out their hair. Bareilly District Hospital surgeon Dr MP Singh told PTI that after the treatment, the woman was given special counseling by the hospital. The woman admitted that she had been eating hair for 5 years. The hair was removed from his body during an operation on September 26. The amount of hair had completely engulfed his abdominal cavity and even part of his intestine. Due to this condition, the patient is unable to eat solid foods. liquids she vomited.
What is Rapunzel syndrome?
The patient’s mental health is not good, he suffers from trichophagia. The operation was carried out on the trichobezoar. And this syndrome is called Rapunzel syndrome. Rapunzel syndrome is a rare form of trichobezoar. It is found in patients with a history of mental disorders, trichotillomania (habit of pulling out hair) and trichophagia (morbid habit of chewing hair). As a result, stomach bezoars develop.
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Symptoms of trichophagia
Its main symptoms are vomiting and pain in the upper stomach. He said the trichobezoar is considered a hairball. Which can form in the intestinal tract and stomach. It can be mild, but it can also cause serious health problems and require emergency surgery. Dr Singh said this disease causes symptoms such as stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and weight loss. He said the cause of trichophagia was not yet known. But some theories suggest it could be due to genetic predisposition, social environment, or neurobiological factors. He said cognitive behavioral therapy is considered the most effective treatment for trichotillomania.
It is a very rare and dangerous disease. The doctor further claims that no such case has come to light in the last 20 years. The family told doctors that the woman was addicted to hair pulling and her condition came to light when she started experiencing severe stomach pain and needed a medical check-up . CT scan.
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