Chinese woman eats dirt
A 78-year-old Chinese woman has reportedly eaten approximately 10 tons of soil over the past 70 years.
Hao Fenglan, from Zhangwu county, northern China, began eating mud and dirt at the age of eight.
She says she feels physical discomfort if she does not eat dirt at least once a day, reports the South China Morning Post.
The diet has done her little apparent harm and she is in good health.
Story filed: 09:45 Tuesday 14th October 2003
Mind you, there are large areas of soil in China which lack vital minerals, notably iodine, so maybe the lady just lives in a particularly deprived region, although one can't rule out the power of neurosis or habit.
Fork eater avoids prison time
Repeat offender Arild Andersen, 48, avoided a prison sentence despite a serious narcotics conviction. Andersen's compulsive swallowing of forks when in prison has resulted in so many stomach operations that a court feared another trip behind bars would kill him, newspaper VG reports.
"I hope this can help turn my life around," Andersen told the newspaper after a Haugesund court ruled that he could serve his sentence by doing 420 hours of community service instead of jail time.
Andersen has swallowed, and had operations to remove, over 30 forks in his many stays behind bars, and physicians now assess a repeat performance could be fatal.
"After I was sentenced as a 20-year-old I was badly assaulted while at Ullersmo prison and developed a psychotic compulsion. If I see a fork when I'm locked up I short circuit, it's almost like I go into a trance. I just have to swallow the fork, and don't think about the consequences," Andersen said.
The judge in the case wanted Andersen to face the usual punishment for being caught with over 300 grams of amphetamines but the lay judges held with arguments that a prison term could be fatal.
During a longer sentence in the 1970s Andersen managed to swallow 11 forks in nine months, resulting in 11 operations, and his abdomen is now a mass of scar tissue.
"I think I swallow them to get a kind of pain high - it hurts so much that I can't think of the traumatic experiences I associate with being locked up," Andersen said. "I have a dream of starting a boarding house for dogs, it would be fantastic to live a normal life.
Glass Is Half Eaten For Indian Man
Dashrath Realized Taste For Glass In Failed Suicide Attempt
POSTED: 11:21 AM EST February 3, 2004
UPDATED: 1:21 PM EST February 3, 2004
An Indian man in the northern city of Kanpur says glass and empty liquor bottles are a regular part of his diet.
Dashrath, 40, claims he first consumed crushed glass with alcohol in a suicide bid during a fit of depression.
A fisherman by profession, Dashrath says he not only survived the suicide attempt, but realized that he had a taste for glass.
"I have been eating glass for the past fifteen years and I have not had any problems," he said, adding he also eats led bullets.
But he has some trouble eating thick soda bottles.
Dashrath's mother, who sometimes serves her son glass bulbs and bottles with his dinner platter, says her son is appears healthy.
"My son eats glass regularly especially when he is drunk. He has never had any problems after eating glass and we have never had to take him to see doctor", she said.
For nearby residents, "glass man," as he is popularly known, is nothing less than a tourist spectacle.
Visitors to the city regularly stop by Dashrath's fish stall, where he makes a show of bargaining fish prices and chewing glass.
littleblackduck said:There is always somebody who overdoes it.
Actually, the eating of dirt is quite a common medical phenomenon. Apart from small children, pregnant women are usually the biggest market for mud pies.
The medical establishment thinks that dirt-eating is often a response to chronic mineral deficiencies.
Perhapas as many as 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 Americans eat a type of clay--many of them African American women whose ancestors presumably brought the custom with them from West Africa as slaves. The clay is often sold in health food stores.
But 10 tons of soil, ordinary muck, would seem to be over-doing it. Mind you, there are large areas of soil in China which lack vital minerals, notably iodine, so maybe the lady just lives in a particularly deprived region, although one can't rule out the power of neurosis or habit.
Bizarre diet nails man in steel city
Indo-Asian News Service
BHUBANESWAR, 21 February
It was probably the final nail in his stomach that killed a man in Orissa, who had been on a constant diet of one or two iron nails a day over several weeks.
Ninety-nine nails later, he died of a haemorrhage Friday.
Akhaya Mohanty, 40, had been staying at the steel city of Rourkela, 514 km from Bhubaneswar, with his relatives.
He would have one or two iron nails, measuring about two to three inches, every day, said police officials.
He was taken to a hospital after he complained of pain in his abdomen Monday. Though doctors removed the nails after a surgery, they could not save him.
Police are yet to determine what prompted Mohanty to eat nails every day, a senior district police official said.
The word "Pica" (PIE-Kah) originates from the Latin word for "magpie". A magpie is a species of bird well known for feeding on whatever it finds or comes across. Pica is the craving or eating of items that are not food. There are many reasons why people eat dirt or other non food items. This practice has been described as "abnormal" and is a very misunderstood problem. To be diagnosed with Pica, a person must exhibit or show signs for at least one month. There is no specific medical test that can confirm Pica. Quite often, Pica is only seen and recognized when it results in complications that leads someone to obtain medical attention. There is no specific prevention of Pica. Individuals are encouraged to eat appropriate nutritional meals and follow healthy guidelines needed for optimum health.
Pica or geophagy, the eating of soil is widespread among many animals on every continent. Among wild animals, eating dirt seems to be a weapon in the ancient competition between plants and animals. Geophagy is an animal weapon in the struggle between plant reproduction strategy and the animal desire for food.
Pica can occur during pregnancy. In some cases, specific nutritional deficiencies, such as iron deficiency anemia and zinc deficiency, may trigger the unusual cravings. Pica may also occur in adults who crave a certain texture in their mouth.
There is no single test that confirms pica. However, since pica is associated with abnormal nutritient levels, and in some cases malnutrition, several tests may be performed. Serum levels of iron and zinc should be taken.
Hemoglobin should also be checked to test for anemia. Lead levels should always be checked in children, who may have eaten paint or objects covered in lead paint dust. The presence of infection may be detected, if contaminated soil or animal waste is being ingested.
Z Gastroenterol 1998 Aug;36(8):635-40
[Pica in Germany--amylophagia as the etiology of iron deficiency anemia].
[Article in German]
Menge H, Lang A, Cuntze H
Klinikum Remscheid GmbH, Medizinische Klinik II.
Pica (pica = magpie) is Pica has been described as a world wide phenomenon, but there are more frequent occurrences of selected substances among selected groups--especially young children and black pregnant and nonpregnant women in the southern part of the USA. In Central Europe and Germany this syndrome has not been described in the modern literature. For this reason, we report a case of pica for starch associated with severe iron deficiency anemia in Germany. Iron deficiency anemia and--less often-potassium and zinc deficiency are the main complications of an excessive starch or clay ingestion, followed by gastrointestinal obstructions due to gastroliths or impaction. Additionally, naphtalene poisoning (in pica for toilet air-freshener blocks), phosphorus poisoning (in matches pica), mercury poisoning (in paper pica), and lead poisoning (in dried paint pica) have been described.
Pica generally affects small children, pregnant women, and people whose cultural environment is most compatible with the eating of non-food items.
Pica for Foam Rubber in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease
from Southern Medical Journal
Posted 05/01/2003
Samuel R. Hackworth, PhD, Laura L. Williams, MD
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
We report three cases of pica for foam rubber among sickle cell disease patients. All three were African-American males, and at the times of initial presentation for the pica, two of them were 11 years of age and one was 15 years of age. In all cases, the pica reportedly had been occurring for at least several years. The foam rubber was most often obtained from furniture and mattresses, as well as from ironing-board pads, stereo speakers, and padded hair rollers. Reports from other researchers also suggest that this is not an uncommon type of pica. We discuss this problem from biologic, psychologic, and social perspectives.
Introduction
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV),[1] pica is defined as the "persistent eating of nonnutritive substances for a period of at least one month." Additional diagnostic criteria are that the ingestion of the substance is inappropriate to developmental level, is not part of a culturally sanctioned practice, and not merely symptomatic of another mental disorder (eg, pervasive developmental disorder, mental retardation, thought disorder).
Several researchers across the United States, including the present authors, have recently noted a high prevalence of pica in children with sickle cell syndromes.[2-4] More specifically, these reports have each noted pica for a particular substance-foam rubber. A review of the published literature indicated additional reference to childhood pica for foam rubber,[5] pica for paint chips among children with sickle cell disease,[6] and a general report of ingestion of foam rubber.[7] No published reports were found describing pica for foam rubber among children with sickle cell disease, however.
We present three cases of pica for foam rubber that came to our attention between June 1995 and August 1997. Each case fully meets DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for pica. All three are African-American males, and at times of initial contact for the pica, two of them were 11 years of age and one was 15 years old. In all cases, the pica reportedly had been occurring for at least several years. To our knowledge, the patients did not know one another.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 1 of 3
Samuel R. Hackworth, PhD, Laura L. Williams, MD, Section of Pediatric Psychology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, and the St. Vincent Family Clinic, Jacksonville, AR
Dr. Hackworth is now chief executive officer of AskaChildPsychologist.com and also in private practice in Austin, TX.
South Med J 96(1): 81-83, 2003. © 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001 Nov;155(11):1243-7.
Characterization of pica prevalence among patients with sickle cell disease.
Ivascu NS, Sarnaik S, McCrae J, Whitten-Shurney W, Thomas R, Bond S.
Sickle Cell Center, Children's Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of pica and its characteristics among children with sickle cell disease. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational study. SETTING: An urban, ambulatory care, interdisciplinary center. PATIENTS: The medical records of all 480 patients who visited the center from March 1, 1998, to June 30, 1999, were reviewed. Patients were excluded for history of stroke, long-term transfusions, pregnancy, acute illness, or age younger than 3 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sex, age, weight, height, Tanner stage, complete blood cell count, sickle cell genotype, pica history, and levels of iron, zinc, lead, and fetal hemoglobin (Hb). RESULTS: Of 395 study patients, 134 (33.9%) reported pica. Ingested items included paper, foam, and powders. There was a significantly higher prevalence of pica among patients homozygous for Hb S (Hb SS, sickle cell anemia) compared with the combined group of double heterozygous patients with Hb SC, Hb SD, and Hb Sbeta thallasemia (Sbeta(+)or Sbeta(0)) (35.6% vs 25.5%; P =.03). Within genotype, mean Hb levels were significantly lower and reticulocyte counts were significantly higher in the patients with pica. Overall, the mean age of patients with pica was significantly lower; however, the prevalence was 23.3% (27/116) among those aged 10.0 to 14.9 years and 14.8% (8/54) among those aged 15.0 to 19.0 years. Within age groups, patients with pica weighed significantly less. CONCLUSIONS: Pica appeared to have an unusually high prevalence in patients with sickle cell disease and a correlation with lower Hb levels. It is unclear whether pica is a specific marker of disease severity, because our review did not show a relationship to increased number and duration of hospitalizations. The association between pica and low body weight suggests a nutritional effect on its prevalence.
Thursday, February 5, 2004
Fircrest gets safety warnings
State's institution for retarded could lose its federal funding
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT
Inspectors have warned the state's Fircrest institution for the mentally retarded at least six times since May that it fails to meet federal standards for protecting client safety and is at risk of losing federal funding.
And the state inspection agency -- working for the federal government -- has effectively blocked new admissions to the Fircrest facilities in question.
Inspectors found incidents that put clients at "immediate jeopardy" of harm due to deficient care in five inspections from May through January, according to documents obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. For example, according to the state inspection documents:
A client with a disorder that compels him to eat non-edible objects was inappropriately left unsupervised and he ingested 80 nickels. Another client with that disorder nearly ate a latex glove. Inspectors also found that staffers engaged in inappropriate and retaliatory practices to dissuade one client from eating cigarettes.
SNIP
Here's a summary of their of findings, according to state records:
May 2003: Failure failed to establish proper safeguards to ensure proper supervision of clients with life-threatening pica eating disorders. People with pica disorders eat inedible objects, such as pens and buttons.
In one incident, a client who was left alone found a bowl of coins and ingested 80 nickels, requiring a hospital procedure to remove them from his stomach. Another client found a latex glove and tried to eat it, despite instructions that his living area be free of such hazards.
June 2003: Failure to properly instruct staff to protect the clients who had histories of eating such things as cigarette butts, string, paper, feces, gloves and leaves. One client also suffered a swallowing disorder that put him at risk of choking if he eats anything -- so severe it required him to be fed through a tube.
Also, staff had inappropriately withheld cigarettes from a client each time he tried to steal or eat a cigarette butt. Inspectors said withholding addictive substances as part of a behavior strategy was punitive and retaliatory, and such techniques "must never be used for disciplinary purposes."
Vincent van Gogh and the thujone connection
W. N. Arnold
Department of Biochemistry, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66103.
During his last two years Vincent van Gogh experienced fits with hallucinations that have been attributed to a congenital psychosis. But the artist admitted to episodes of heavy drinking that were amply confirmed by colleagues and there is good evidence to indicate that addiction to absinthe exacerbated his illness. Absinthe was distilled from an alcoholic steep of herbs. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) was the most significant constituent because it contributed thujone. This terpene can cause excitation, convulsions that mimic epilepsy, and even permanent brain damage. Statements in van Gogh's letters and from his friends indicate that he had an affinity for substances with a chemical connection to thujone; the documented examples are camphor and pinene. Perhaps he developed an abnormal craving for terpenes, a sort of pica, that would explain his attempts to eat paints and so on, which were previously regarded as unrelated absurdities.
W. N. Arnold
Vincent van Gogh and the thujone connection
JAMA, Nov 1988; 260: 3042 - 3044.
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) had an eccentric personality and unstable moods, suffered from recurrent psychotic episodes during the last 2 years of his extraordinary life, and committed suicide at the age of 37. Despite limited evidence, well over 150 physicians have ventured a perplexing variety of diagnoses of his illness. Henri Gastaut, in a study of the artist’s life and medical history published in 1956, identified van Gogh’s major illness during the last 2 years of his life as temporal lobe epilepsy precipitated by the use of absinthe in the presence of an early limbic lesion. In essence, Gastaut confirmed the diagnosis originally made by the French physicians who had treated van Gogh. However, van Gogh had earlier suffered two distinct episodes of reactive depression, and there are clearly bipolar aspects to his history. Both episodes of depression were followed by sustained periods of increasingly high energy and enthusiasm, first as an evangelist and then as an artist. The highlights of van Gogh’s life and letters are reviewed and discussed in an effort toward better understanding of the complexity of his illness
Eating habits rule out marriage
A Pakistani man says he's had marriage proposals turned down because of his eating habits.
Allah Wasayo says he eats carpets, lights, teacups, glass and grass.
He claims relatives turned down the proposals because they feared he would eat his wife.
The fifty-five-year-old from Pingrio can also eat large amounts of food. At a recent buffet at a five-star hotel in Karachi, he asked for his plate to be re-filled 15 times.
It is reported after having a "hearty" meal at the hotel he then went on to eat lights and broken pieces of teacups at another venue.
Mr Wasayo says his lips had never been cut by the sharp-edged things he has eaten and claims that he's never had stomach-ache or faced digestion problems.
The former labourer told newspaper Dawn: "All eatables taste the same to me. I eat carpets, cups, saucers, pieces of glass, pulao, chicken karahi and grass with the same fervour.
"My stomach has also been X-rayed but nothing wrong or abnormal was detected. And despite the fact that I eat so much, I don't have a paunch."
How to Eat Glass
Miracle workers prove their powers by performing superhuman feats. What better way to do this than to eat glass? A shard of glass from a crushed (transparent) light-bulb is placed on the tongue, chewed up and swallowed.
The secret of eating glass is banana. Before the magician begins, he eats an ordinary banana. When the ground-up glass is swallowed, it embeds itself in the banana, and passes harmlessly through the digestive trac
Kinison learned how to eat glass in a similar fashion.
Kinison was fascinated by a particular street performer, and slept at the spot where he performed for nights until he persuaded the man to teach him. They went to a restaurant and ate fried chicken and light bulbs for hours as Kinison learned how to masticate the shards of glass into tiny grains that would not lacerate his digestive track.
Become Your Own Freak!
Jim Rose, ringmaster of the eponymous Jim Rose Circus, reveals the “safe” ways to increase the odds of hurting yourself. And not just emotionally.*
Snort nails!
You have two nasal passages-one that goes into your brain and one that goes back into your face. Which leads to a hollow spot? You’re in luck-they both do. “Tickle [the latter] passage with a nail-making sure to file off the barbs-until you get past the sneeze reflex,” he says. After a few days, try spoons, spikes or a life-size replica of Gavin MacLeod.
Swallow razor blades!
Take a blade, put it in your mouth, swallow and-tah-dah!-it’s gone. The trick? You don’t really swallow. Instead, you place a razor-with the blade pointed to the side-right above your gag reflex. “If you cut the inside of your mouth, don’t worry,” reassures Rose. “It’ll coagulate quickly, so it won’t bleed for long.”
Eat glass!
Start by eating bananas to coat your stomach. Then add glass. “Chew the glass softly on your back molars, and don’t swallow it until it has the consistency of sand,” he says. Follow with a banana chaser. Then ask yourself why you even bothered to go to college.
Deep-throat swords!
Before swallowing Excalibur, practice on a wire hanger. Unravel it, bend it in half and “tickle the gag reflex seven times a day for three years until it no longer responds.” Once you’ve mastered this, switch to a fencing sword, which has a ball on the end for added protection. Sure, that takes commitment, but you might as well do something with your life.
Merrick said:I just thought I´d mention that in one of the episodes of the prison series Oz, they kill a fellow inmate by putting ground up glass in his food. They show him suddenly bleeding from everywhere. I guess in real life, he should just have gotten a banana split as a dessert, and he would have been fine
Change for the Worse
Tuesday, September 21, 2004; Page HE02
An abdominal X-ray showed a mysterious white bulge in the stomach of a man who appeared at a hospital in France with a swollen belly. After doctors rushed him to surgery, they found the source of the problem: 0 worth of change (inset photo). The stash -- French, British and euro coins -- weighed closed to 12 pounds.
The man had a condition called pica (from the Latin for magpie, a bird known for eating practically anything). People with pica have been known to eat ashes, hair, laundry detergent, chalk, soil, lime, charcoal, dust, paint chips, burnt matches, ice and soap. Metal objects, like coins, are sometimes favored.
In the United States, adult pica persists among some African American women, pregnant women, and women in the South. Some studies estimate the prevalence at 9 to 25 percent among women of childbearing age.
Some specialists think pica may be linked to mineral deficiencies. Others believe it is a cultural practice. It can also be a feature of mental illness. The French patient, a man in his early sixties with a history of mental illness, died of complications 12 days after the operation.
Lead astray!
Oct 19 2004
By James Cartledge, Evening Mail
A girl of four is brushing up on her diet after risking her life by scoffing PAINT from railings outside her city home.
Destiny Wheeler ate so much lead paint that traces of the potentially deadly metal were found in her liver and kidneys.
Now tests have revealed the tot has a condition called Pica, which leaves sufferers with unusual cravings.
And Destiny's relatives have been forced to move from their Northfield flat to keep the four-year-old away from the paint.
Her mother Lisa said: "Destiny was eating strange things like toilet paper and paint.
"To her, Pica makes the paint taste sweet.
"She says 'I like it. It tastes nice.'
"Before it was diagnosed she would say her tummy hurt. I thought something was wrong but I didn't know what it was.
"The X-ray showing flakes of paint in her stomach and glowing particles of lead. The paediatrician was horrified." The paint problem was discovered after Destiny was diagnosed with irondeficiency anaemia and ordered to leave the family home for two weeks.
Lisa said: "If she had carried on doing it she could have died. She can expel her current lead levels naturally if she doesn't eat any more."
Birmingham Children's Hospital consultant paediatrician Geoff Debelle said he saw an average of just one Pica case every year.
"It seems to occur in the second or third year of life and disappears in later childhood," he said.
"It is commonly associated with iron deficiency anaemia but nobody knows what the association is."
Lead was removed from paint in the 1970s but is still present in older buildings.
A Birmingham City Council spokeswoman said it was not harmful unless it was repeatedly eaten.
Destiny's deadly lead craving
Oct 19 2004
Doctors seemed at a loss as to why little Destiny Wheeler had abnormal levels of lead in her blood. Until they looked out on the balcony of her Northfield home. Emma Pinch reports
Any mother will be wearily familiar with a toddler's urge to pop any new find straight into its mouth.
Soil, twigs, paper, crayon, most inquisitive young children have tried them all - and come off none the worse for it. But for one four-year-old girl her curiosity sparked a deadly craving - a predilection for lead paint.
Despite her mother Lisa's attempts to keep her away, Destiny Wheeler has managed to eat so much of the lead paint from the railings at their Northfield flat that she has developed 'lead lines' in her bones and traces have also been identified in her liver and kidneys.
Her abnormal lead levels were only discovered after being diagnosed with iron-deficiency anaemia and its source only after the youngster was ordered to leave the family home for two weeks.
In July this year Destiny was diagnosed with Pica, a condition where sufferers crave non-nutritious substances, which is also linked to abnormal food cravings in pregnant women.
Anaemia is also linked to Pica and some experts think that its is this mineral deficiency that leads to the non-food cravings.
"We sent her for tests after staff at her nursery found she had been regularly trying to eat paint," said mother-of-four Lisa. "Destiny was eating strange things, like toilet paper and paint.
"At first I thought she was just doing the things toddlers do, trying to gain attention. I thought, all kids pick things up and put things in their mouths. It never crossed my mind the paint was doing this.
"I had put a stair-gate across the stairs of our balcony so she had somewhere to play out.
"To her Pica makes the paint taste sweet. I kept having to tickle her to make her stop. She says, 'I like it, it tastes nice'. I told her, you can't eat it, it makes you poorly. Before it was diagnosed she would say, 'mum, my tummy hurts'. I thought something was wrong but I didn't know what it was.
"The X-ray showed flakes of paint in her stomach and glowing particles of lead. The paediatrician was horrified. On her advice Destiny was immediately sent to her grandmother's for two weeks so the source could be identified and removed. Her lead levels dropped."
Following the diagnosis, Ms Ingles started researching on the internet to find out what she could about lead ingestion and Pica. She found it could cause irritability, restlessness and aggression, Pica pallor, poor learning ability, speech, slow brain development, which tallied with the symptoms displayed by her daughter.
Now the family is moving house and they hope to put the nightmare behind them.
"If she had carried on doing it she could die," said Ms Ingles
"She has lead lines in her wrist and a bit in her liver and kidneys. She can expel what she has got naturally if she doesn't eat any more. I am hoping that her behaviour improves now she is away from the source."
Consultant paediatrician Geoff Debelle, who works at Birmingham Children's Hospital, said there were many question marks surrounding the unusual condition and that he only on average saw one case a year. "Pica involves the repeated or chronic ingestion of non-nutritious substances, commonly plaster, paint, paper, dirt or clay," he said. "It could be that the child has abnormal taste sensations.
"It seems to occur in the second or third year of life and disappears in later childhood.
"Once they discover they like it they seem to become locked on to it. One child I came across on a home visit was eating his way through his plaster bedroom wall."
He said the biggest danger was when the substance contained heavy metals such as lead.
"It is commonly associated with iron deficiency anaemia but what the association is nobody knows.
"Children I've seen haven't had a learning impairment but there is a suggestion autism, sleeplessness and learning difficulties are linked to Pica although that is not established.
"Alternatively that could be as a result of lead ingestion."
In 1978 lead was eliminated from paint but in older buildings it still remains and a spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said all old paint contained lead but it was not harmful unless repeatedly ingested.
Ananova:
*/09:07 Tuesday 14th December 2004/
*90 metal objects recovered from man's stomach
*
Doctors in southern India have removed 90 metal objects including keys, screwdrivers, spanners and nails from a man's stomach
22-year-old Nagaraju is reportedly out of danger after surgery at the Singareni Area Hospital in the Andhra Pradesh town of Karimnagar.
The coal miner's son was first admitted to the hospital with symptoms of schizophrenia and was later moved to a surgical ward when he complained of pain in the stomach and began to vomit.
A X-ray revealed presence of a big metal object in the stomach but the doctors were later surprised to find as many as 90 articles, reports United News of India
Dr Vamsi Mohan, who led the team of surgeons who operated on the youngster, said: "The patient did not die because the objects had not entered the intestines."
Athena said:Are there cases of people who eat like this and it doesn't cause problems? I know, how would we know?