Bezoars

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.


The article on dietary fiber earlier this year touched briefly on bezoars, and now it's time to cover the subject in a bit more detail.  Bezoars (BE-zor) are hard, compacted clumps of fiber, much like hairballs in cats.  And while cats can cough up hairballs, people cannot cough up a bezoar.  This undigested or partially digested material can build up and cause blockages anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract, but they are most commonly found in the stomach.  Fortunately, many bezoars are completely asymptomatic and cause no problems at all.  Unfortunately, however, surgical intervention is sometimes required, and that may not always be an option.

Diagnosing a bezoar in a patient isn't going to be all that easy, either.  It will be necessary to obtain a very thorough patient history and detailed information on the diet.  But without lab equipment, it may be next to impossible to do anything more than make an educated guess.  However, recognizing the risk factors and educating ourselves and our family members may go a long ways towards prevention.

The symptoms of bezoars include:

• feeling full after eating very little food
• lack of appetite
• nausea
• vomiting
• abdominal pain
• weight loss
• anemia

There are six types of bezoars.  Older adults are generally at greater risk for developing bezoars, but trichobezoars and lactobezoars are more common in children. 

• Phytobezoars are the most common type, making up about 40% of all bezoars.  They form quickly and present with nausea, vomiting, and gastric outlet obstruction.  These have been treated with good success using Coke, regular or diet, a 12-ounce can twice per day for 6-8 weeks.
• Diospyrobezoars are a type of phytobezoar due to eating too many persimmons.  These bezoars cannot be dissolved by Coke and must be surgically removed.
• Trichobezoars are most commonly found in adolescent girls who suck on, chew, and swallow hair and often indicate some underlying psychiatric issue, as might happen in a time of stress in a collapsed society.  The condition is also called Rapunzel's syndrome.  These bezoars take a considerable amount of time to develop, sometimes years.  The patient usually presents with nausea and early satiety, and perhaps anorexia and weight loss.  These usually require removal through endoscopy or surgery.  Coke does not work.
• Pharmacobezoars arise due to medication that doesn't get digested.  These patients are usually older and are more likely to have gastric outlet obstruction.
• Lactobezoars occur most frequently in infants and arise due to dehydration, prematurity and low birth weight (underdeveloped gastrointestinal tract), high calorie formula (not mixed according to directions), or the addition of thickening agents like pectin to formula.  They present with problems in feeding intolerance, abdominal distension, irritability, and/or vomiting.  A palpable mass may be detected in these patients.
• Foreign body bezoar, most often tissue paper and styrofoam cups.

Bezoars most often develop in people with the following risk factors.  If you don't have at least one risk factor, you're probably in the clear for this condition.

• gastric surgery or gastric band for weight loss
• reduced stomach acid production or decreased stomach size
• cystic fibrosis
• delayed gastric emptying due to
• diabetes complications
• autoimmune disorders
• mixed connective tissue disease
• gastroparesis
• ulcers
• hypothyroidism
• can't or don't chew food properly, due to poorly fitting dentures or missing teeth (more common among the elderly)
• excessive intake of fiber, and especially in a rapid change from a modern American diet to a high fiber diet, like what may happen post-collapse.

Those at risk for developing bezoars should chew their food thoroughly before swallowing and should avoid following foods:

• pumpkins
• celery
• persimmons
• sunflower seed shells
• prunes and raisins
• leeks
• beets

Links to related posts:
Dietary Imbalances and Consequences--Fiber

For more information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezoar
https://www.healthline.com/health/bezoar#outlook-and-prevention
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gastroparesis/expert-answers/bezoars/faq-20058050
https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/bezoars-and-foreign-bodies/bezoars
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3966178/

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august 11 2021