That poop you’ve been holding in until you get home? Stop it: use a restroom as soon you can. The wind you’re not breaking because you’re only on your fourth date? Make an excuse to walk away from the table and let it rip. Working your way through a keto diet and haven’t had a dump in a few days? Ingest large amounts of Psyllium husk, stat. Good God, just read this, from
Ars Technica:
Doctors are urging caution after a 24-year-old UK man underwent emergency surgery when they discovered that his severely enlarged colon, filled with feces, had burst. At the time of the surgery, the man had “reduced consciousness” and severe abdominal pain, as well as air trapped under his diaphragm, failing kidneys, and acidic blood. In a short communication published this week in BMJ Case Reports, doctors elaborated on the man’s rare conditions, known as “megacolon” and “megarectum.” These are poorly-understood ailments marked by enlarged entrails that aren’t caused by a physical blockage. Sometimes they can be explained by genetic abnormalities or other acquired conditions, such as diseases that affect intestinal motility or muscle and connective-tissue function. But in this case, the man seemed to have a chronic, idiopathic case, meaning there was no clear cause of the gargantuan guts.
Apparently he a long history of constipation. In a great deal of discomfort, he came to his local hospital’s emergency department, looking for help. The doctors on duty, assuming it was just a typical log jam, gave the pained individual marching orders to head on home and sort things out using laxatives and self administered enemas. In the days after his initial hospital visit, the man’s situation went from bad to worse. In order to correct his megacolon, doctors has to remove a vast amount of feces and a small piece of the man’s colon in emergency surgery. What a shitty situation.
Image via Pxhere
