In 2012, a special patient came to Chongqing Yunyang Hospital. A little girl who is only 15 years old has to eat eight meals a day, and she has to eat more than a pound of rice in a single meal, and she has to eat 10 pounds of rice in a day! However, the little girl weighs not as much as her age, and is even a little malnourished.
So what causes the little girl to overeat so much?
Can this strange disease be cured in the hospital?
It all starts with her life experience.
One day in 1997, farmer Xiang Shitang went to work in the fields as usual. When I came home from work, I heard a baby crying at the edge of the field.
Xiang Shitang looked around, but he didn't see anyone, but he could still hear bursts of crying.
He followed the sound and searched, and finally found a quilt in a meadow, and it turned out to be a female doll.
Alas, whoever puts the child here is not afraid of being taken away by a wild wolf when it gets dark! Xiang Shitang muttered.
Maybe it was fate, the female doll didn't cry when she saw Xiang Shitang, but just stared at him with big curious eyes.
Xiang Shitang thought to himself, this is also a hard-working doll, and he was lost by his parents at such a young age, so there may be some difficulty.
Or you will follow me, although you are poor, if you have a bite to eat, you will not be hungry. Xiang Shitang said to the infant baby. As soon as the words fell, the female doll actually laughed at Xiang Shitang.
So, Xiang Shitang took the child home that day.
But Xiang Shitang was not married yet, and suddenly brought back a baby, which inevitably made outsiders suspicious.
Ignoring the eyes of the village, Xiang Shitang insisted on adopting the girl, and named the girl Xiang Shiyu. It means that there will be more than one year and no hunger.
Originally, Xiang Shitang's family was poor, but now with a child, no one wants to marry him.
However, Xiang Shiyu has been very well-behaved since he was a child, and he has helped his father cook and clean since he was sensible. Even if he didn't get married, Xiang Shitang felt very happy, after all, he had a filial daughter by his side.
However, when Xiang Shiyu was 13 years old, everything changed.
Usually, Xiang Shiyu's amount of food is very normal, no different from his peers, due to family difficulties, the food is just enough for the father and daughter.
But suddenly one day, not long after Xiang Shiyu had eaten, he shouted that he was hungry again, so Xiang Shitang had to be hungry and fill his daughter first.
In the long run, Xiang Shitang will be stretched.
In order not to let the child go hungry, Xiang Shitang began to borrow rice from neighbors. However, I always borrowed it, and my neighbors were not happy about it.
Sometimes the neighbors joked, "Your child is reincarnated as a starving ghost, right?" ”
Xiang Shitang listened to these ugly words, and he didn't argue about anything, but he would be silent for a long time after returning home.
As the days passed, Xiang Shiyu's meal became bigger and bigger.
What made Xiang Shitang even more unacceptable was that the child ate the food that he had saved with great difficulty, and after a while, he spit it out, and then said that he was hungry after a while.
It's not always like this, and after thinking about it, Xiang Shitang ruthlessly sent the child away.
In 2010, in order to give her children a better living environment, Xiang Shitang sent her to her brother's house in Yunyang County. Xiang Shitang's brother's living conditions are much better, and the child can at least have enough to eat.
At the time of separation, the child cried and said, "Daddy, I can't bear you." I don't want to go. But there was no way, and the father and daughter were separated.
Xiang Shiyu, who first came to the uncle's house, except for being a little shy, the amount of food has not changed at all.
As she grows older, she eats 8 times a day, and she eats more than a pound of rice in one meal, and almost eats about 10 pounds of rice in a day.
Whether it was steamed bread or rice, Xiang Shiyu ate it very quickly, stuffing the food into his stomach in a few minutes. But it didn't take long to finish eating, and I vomited out what I had just eaten.
Although the aunt knew that the child would vomit, she didn't expect it to vomit so badly.
By 2012, Xiang Shiyu had eaten 7,400 catties of grain stored by the uncle's family, and these grains were originally eaten by the uncle's family for 12 years!
Seeing the child overeating like this, Xiang Shiyu's aunt couldn't stand it anymore. No matter how rich you are, you can't help but eat like this, not to mention, it's not good for the child's health, eat and vomit, vomit and eat again, and you don't get fat. At the same time, school is delayed.
So my aunt took Xiang Shiyu to the hospital to see what the reason was.
After the aunt told the doctor about Xiang Shiyu's condition, the doctor suggested that they do a test first to see if there was a problem with Xiang Shiyu's digestive tract.
The doctor specially instructed that the examination must be done on an empty stomach so that the results can be accurate.
But such a simple request made Xiang Shiyu, who had a large amount of food, suffer.
There were many people in the big hospital, and there was no meal in the morning, so my aunt took Xiang Shiyu to the hospital, but there was already a long queue in front, and the two of them moved forward little by little with the team.
Anxiously waiting and hunger made Xiang Shiyu restless.
She kept urging her aunt: "Why is it so slow, when will it be able to get us?" I'm so hungry, can you eat something first. ”
The aunt comforted her: "Child, wait a little longer and we will be there, the doctor said that you have to do the examination before you can eat, bear with it a little longer." ”
Xiang Shiyu lowered his head aggrievedly, cried sadly, and looked at his niece's uncomfortable appearance, and his aunt was also distressed and shed tears.
Finally, when the last examination was completed, Xiang Shiyu rushed back to the ward and was very happy to see the food that his aunt had bought. Jumped on the table and grabbed it without even washing it, swept away the food in a few minutes, and then burped contentedly.
Seeing that the child was well fed, the aunt still had a sad face.
After a while, Xiang Shiyu suddenly rushed to the toilet and vomited all the food just now. It turned out that what my aunt was worried about still happened.
Soon, the results of the examination came out and they were sent to the doctor, who was puzzled.
Because Xiang Shiyu's indicators are normal, although his weight is low, he has not found any problems.
It was also the first time the doctor had encountered this situation, and he was a little confused.
In the ward, Xiang Shiyu on the side was still eating. I saw steamed buns, green vegetables, and porridge on the table. But every few bites the little girl takes, she has to pick up a bottle of water and take a sip, a detail that the attending doctor keenly grasps.
The doctor asked Xiang Shiyu's aunt: "I see that the child drinks a sip of water after a few bites of food, is she usually like this when she eats?" Nodding yes to his aunt, the doctor fell into deep thought.
Why does she drink water so often?
Because after drinking water, the food is diluted, otherwise it would not be so easy to spit out even if it is very strong. When you spit it out like this, your throat will be more comfortable.
Could it be that this kid deliberately ate and vomited? If there is no physical problem, is the problem psychological?
So, the doctor called his aunt out and asked Xiang Shiyu if he usually cared more about body weight or something.
Xiang said to his aunt: "I don't think this child has any worries about this. ”
The doctor then asked, "Does this child have any mental illness?" Do you usually not like to talk? ”
Under the doctor's questioning, the aunt said: "The child is usually very sensible and rarely loses his temper. However, this child has a poor background and was picked up. Then, he told his brother about picking up the child from Shitang.
Xiang Shiyu's incident alarmed the township ** and reporters.
After interviewing Xiang Shiyu, a reporter learned that although the little girl has lived with her uncle and aunt for 2 years, and her aunt's family treats her very well, Xiang Shiyu still misses her father very much. She really wanted to see her father.
So, the reporter used his mobile phone to record a ** for Xiang Shiyu, preparing to find Xiang Shiyu's father, hoping that he could come to see the child.
Xiang Shiyu's aunt provided the reporter with the address of his younger brother.
According to the address provided to his aunt, the reporter came to Shangba Township, Chongqing City.
Xiang Shitang, who was working in the field, saw that it was both a reporter and a cameraman, and he had never seen such a big battle. So at first, ignore the reporters.
When the reporter explained the intention, it was for the rest of the world. Only then did Xiang Shitang speak, and took the reporters home.
The house where Xiang Shitang lives is very shabby, deserted, and there is no decent furniture in the house. After inquiry, I found out that he is still alone.
My family is so poor that I can't afford to marry a daughter-in-law. ”
The reporter took out the ** recorded by Xiang Shiyu in the hospital and showed it to Xiang Shitang. Seeing his daughter, Xiang Shitang's eyes began to redden.
*, said to Shiyu: "Dad, I miss you, can you come to see me?" ”
Xiang Shitang thought it was a ** call, and hurriedly said "Okay", and then burst into tears.
It turned out that since sending his daughter to his brother's house, because of the long distance, Xiang Shitang has never seen the child again.
Therefore, the reporter proposed to take Xiang Shitang to meet the child, and Xiang Shitang did not hesitate and immediately agreed.
Please wait a little for my reporter friend, and I'll go change my clothes. Xiang Shitang ran back into the house and cleaned up when he came out.
This is the clothes that you wear when you go out, and you can't be ashamed of your children when you go to see them. Xiang Shitang explained with a smile.
I wanted to bring something to the child, but the house was clean, and I couldn't find anything for the child to hold after looking for Shitang for a long time.
Sitting in the car of the reporter and his party, he had just started for a while, Xiang Shitang suddenly remembered something and suddenly stopped the car.
He hurriedly walked into a villager's house, said 2 sentences, and came out with half a jar of bean paste.
I haven't seen my child for a long time, and I just borrowed bean paste from a neighbor's house, hoping that my child likes it. I don't know if she's grown taller, has she changed her appearance, and can she still recognize me when she goes? Xiang Shitang said nervously.
The car drove quickly, and Xiang Shitang asked several times along the way, "How long will it take?"
After 3 hours, Xiang Shitang finally arrived at the hospital, and the father and daughter, who had not seen each other for 2 years, hugged their heads and cried when they met.
Looking at the eye of the needle in Xiang Shiyu's hand, Xiang Shitang asked, "Does it hurt, Dad is sorry for you, I haven't come to see you." ”
It's okay, Dad, it doesn't hurt at all, I'm so happy to see you. Xiang Shiyu replied sensibly.
After learning about the situation of Xiang Shiyu's family, the hospital decided to waive most of her medical expenses.
After the reporter reported on Xiang Shiyu's affairs, well-wishers in the society also took the initiative to donate money to Xiang Shiyu.
After the head of Shangba Township learned about the family, he also sent a special subsidy.
As the saying goes, when one side is in trouble, all sides support.
Although Xiang Shiyu's ** has not yet been found, people's care makes Xiang Shiyu feel warm.
After that, the hospital also organized experts to consult Xiang Shiyu's condition.
Based on Xiang Shiyu's preparation for vomiting by drinking a lot of water during the meal, some experts initially thought that she might have binge eating disorder.
This disease is more common in women, and once they have an attack, they eat like they are hungry, but after they are full, they feel guilty again, so they choose to spit out the food they eat by picking it with their hands.
However, Bi Ping, director of the second department of Yunyang County People's Hospital, believes that the general occurrence of this kind of binge eating disorder is caused by long-term dieting, many women are dissatisfied with their bodies, long-term dieting suppresses the desire for things, and as a result, there is a problem with emotions, suffering from this disease, retaliating eating, and then vomiting.
However, Xiang Shiyu, a 15-year-old girl, was tested to have no body anxiety in this area, so the possibility of bulimia was ruled out.
Previously, Xiang Shiyu had done more than 100 physiological index examinations, and not every one of them was normal.
Director Bi Ping found that in the examination results, Xiang Shiyu's secondary sexual characteristics developed relatively slowly, and the level of estrogen secretion was low. Therefore, Director Bi Ping pointed out that she may have hypothalamic syndrome.
The hypothalamus is located below the sulcus of the thalamus, forming the lateral wall and base of the lower part of the third ventricle. The weight is only 4g, which accounts for 0 of the whole brainAbout 3%.
Although the hypothalamus is small in size, it receives many nerve impulses, so it is the center of the endocrine system and nervous system.
Any injury to the hypothalamic nucleus causes abnormalities in motivational behaviors, such as feeding, drinking, sexuality, fighting, thermoregulation, and activity levels.
Hypothalamic lesions can cause hormone secretion disorders, which can lead to symptoms such as precocious or delayed puberty, abnormal eating behavior, and drowsiness. These symptoms also seem to be very consistent with Xiang Shiyu.
However, another doctor gave a different opinion.
Dr. Pan Zhusong of the Yunyang County Mental Health Hospital believes that Xiang Shiyu's original family is incomplete, and she grew up in a defective family environment, and was later sent to her uncle's house, resulting in her current withdrawn and stubborn personality, so the possibility of mental illness cannot be ruled out.
Seeing that Western medicine did not discuss the results, Chinese medicine also participated.
Traditional Chinese medicine experts believe that Xiang Shiyu belongs to the "Li Han syndrome", with less reality and more deficiency, reverse qi and machine chaos, imbalance of lifting and elevation, and deficiency and cold of the small intestine.
The patient has no nutrition, and in order to save itself, the patient will instinctively and desperately consume food, causing the patient to have a huge appetite.
In the end, no clear judgment was given, so the hospital decided to transfer Xiang Shiyu to a higher-level hospital**.
Thankfully, I don't know if it's the reason for seeing my father, Xiang Shiyu's condition is very stable during this time.
Xiang Shiyu's serious illness, reported by Chongqing TV, also alarmed the leaders of Yunyang County.
On November 9, 2012, Li Hongyi, secretary of the Yunyang County Party Committee, came to the Yunyang County People's Hospital and personally sent the condolences to Xiang Shiyu.
Although it is still in the cold hospital, the social care makes the family feel extra warm.
What's more, I met with my father who had been separated from Shiyu for 2 years.
Although Xiang Shitang wanted to give up his children because of financial difficulties, but now with the help of well-wishers, he said: "No matter how many tribulations there are, I will always be with my children." ”
Although Xiang Shiyu has a strange disease, he is fortunate to have the company and love of his family.
At the same time, she is very fortunate to have received assistance from all walks of life. I believe that with the help of society, the family's life will be better and better in the future.