Teen Dies from 'Rapunzel Syndrome': Why Do People Eat Their Hair?
A 16-year-old girl in England died from an extremely rare condition called Rapunzel syndrome, according to news reports.
The teen lost consciousness on Sept. 7; she was taken to the hospital and died shortly after, the
Independent reported Sept. 19.
Though the name is inspired by the fairy tale princess with incredibly long hair, Rapunzel syndrome does not have a happy ending. The condition occurs when a person has a hair ball in his or her stomach, and that hair ball has a "tail" that extends into the intestines. ...
The large mass of hair — called a "trichobezoar" — can cause digestive problems, such as nausea and vomiting, as described in
one woman's case from September 2016.
In the teen's case, however, the hair ball ultimately caused a condition called peritonitis, or inflammation of the lining of the abdomen, according to
Lincolnshire Live. This condition can lead to body-wide inflammation that causes organs to shut down.
It's possible that a trichobezoar could lead to
an ulcer, or open sore, in the lining of the stomach, said Dr. Cathy Burnweit, chief of pediatric surgery at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, who was not involved in the teen's case. If the ulcer perforated the stomach, bacteria from the hair ball could spill into the abdominal cavity, causing an infection and inflammation, she said.
Burnweit has removed trichobezoars from patients. The large balls of hair form when a person ingests his or her hair over several years, and that hair builds up into a hard mass, Burnweit told Live Science. "You think about a
hair ball as being spongy," but these are rock-hard and shaped like the stomach, she said.
Large trichobezoars can block a person's gastrointestinal tract, making it difficult for him or her to eat and leading to malnutrition, Burnweit said; they also cause
bad breath.
The masses of hair need to be removed surgically, Burnweit said, and after surgery, patients typically need psychological treatment to address why they are eating their hair in the first place.