As first reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, doctors in western France operated unsuccessfully on a 62-year-old man who swallowed approximately 350 coins totaling $650 in value.
The coins weighing 12 pounds, the equivalent in both mass and volume to a bowling ball, forced his stomach to sag below his hips.
In addition to the severe stomach aches he suffered as a result of these dietary supplements, he could not digest any solid food nor move his bowels.
He had made previous visits to the hospital, complaining of stomach pains, and doctors had removed coins on those occasions, but never noticed the enormous lump of coins sitting in his stomach hampering his health.
His family and doctors stated that he swallowed the coins, both the French currency and the new Euro currency, over the course of the past decade. They also claimed that he enjoyed stealing and eating coins when he went on visits to other peoples' homes.
In addition to finding the coins in his stomach, doctors found an assortment of necklaces and needles upon opening up his stomach cavity in an attempt to remove the swallowed treasures.
According to his family, the man had a history of psychiatric illness.
His rare-condition, called pica, after the Latin for magpie (meaning a bird that will eat anything), causes people to eat things that are not fit for normal human consumption.
Pica can take many forms, and does not just include those who eat coins. This disease encompasses people who eat dirt, ashes, bathroom products or kitchen utensils, among other things. Most patients pass the objects they eat on their own, but occasionally they must be removed by doctors, as in this case.
While this condition is linked to mental illness, it is more commonly found in pregnant women and children.
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