Scientists find a fatal case of constipation in 1,000-year-old mummy with grasshopper diet
The man could no longer process food due to having a colon swollen to six times its normal diameter.
Karl Reinhard / Scott Schrage.
A native American who lived in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas between 1,000 and 1,400 years ago had one of the worst cases of constipation in the annals of medicine. Due to an infection, the man’s colon swelled to six times its normal size, which made it impossible to digest normal food properly.
Ultimately, the man died of this horrific disease, known as ‘megacolon’. Centuries later, his remains, mummified by the arid conditions, were found in a rock shelter close to the junction between the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers in South Texas.
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