Latest news with #vomiting
CBC
21-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Moncton man shaken after having heart attack during 13-hour wait in ER
Despite vomiting, sweating, chest pain and a family history of heart disease, Jonah Imeson waited in the ER from 3 p.m. until 4 a.m. the following day.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Regular cannabis use can cause a serious vomiting syndrome. Should people be warned?
When Brittany Ramsey started experiencing "awful stomach episodes" she thought it must've been side effects of the medication she was taking to manage her diabetes. But after a particularly gruelling episode where she just could not stop vomiting — not being keep down even small sips of water — that landed her in hospital, Ramsey knew something felt different about what she was experiencing. "From then, the episodes got worse and worse, and closer together," said Ramsey, a 35-year-old operations trainer at a financial firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. "From 2021 to 2024 … three years, I was hospitalized 29 times. Five ambulance trips – one actually had to pick me up on the side of the road because I couldn't make it to the hospital." After years of undergoing, at times, invasive testing procedures to rule out Crohn's disease, gastroparesis and diverticulitis, a doctor told Ramsey about cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). In recent years some emergency rooms have been seeing an uptick in visits due to cyclic episodes of uncontrollable vomiting in cannabis users, often characterized by experiencing temporary relief with hot showers and baths. Since it was first identified in medical literature in 2004, CHS cases have increased, possibly because of greater cannabis access or higher THC potency of products. Public health researchers suggest more awareness of CHS within the health-care system is needed for cannabis users to get the information and support they need. More CHS cases in the ER CHS is characterized by "severe and persistent vomiting" and is usually seen in people who have been using cannabis several times a week for multiple years, said Jamie Seabrook, a professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University in London, Ont. Ramsey said she'd been smoking at least once a day for over 10 years since she was 18 when she first started experiencing CHS symptoms in 2017. A 2022 study by researchers at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute looked at the rate of emergency department visits for CHS after recreational cannabis was legalized and commercialized in Ontario, looking at nearly 13,000 CHS-related hospitalizations in Ontario from 8,140 individuals between 2014 and 2021. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical association (JAMA), found that emergency department visits related to CHS had increased by 13-fold over a period of nearly eight years. The study doesn't show what caused the change, but the authors noted that the biggest increase in visits came not after legalization in 2018 but after Ontario allowed expansion of retail stores in 2020, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Though we don't have numbers how many people have been diagnosed or hospitalized with CHS, online communities are filled with people looking for support. Ramsey is part of one of them — a CHS Facebook group described as a "safe place to recover and learn" with 3,000 members. The largest CHS Facebook group has 31,000 members. On Reddit, the group r/CHSinfo has 20,000 members, with discussions ranging from tips on how to manage episodes and personal anecdotes about repeated hospitalizations. Seabrook, who co-authored a recent review of existing research on CHS in youth, said there's been an "explosion" of people showing up in some North American emergency rooms with CHS within the last seven to eight years. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute study showed that other cannabis-related emergency room visits, including for intoxication and dependence, saw a substantial increase starting in early 2020 as well. Surge in THC potency since the 1980s Seabrook said a likely reason for increased rates of CHS is the high THC potency of cannabis products today. THC is the compound in cannabis that is responsible for the sensation of a high most people experience when consuming it. When its potency increases, so do its harmful effects. Different strains of the plant will have different concentrations of active compounds, measured by percentage of total weight or volume. On average, THC content is much higher today than it used to be. "The potency of THC was only about three per cent in the 1980s and today, according to Health Canada, the average is 15 per cent with some strains as high as 30 per cent," Seabrook said, citing Health Canada numbers for "fresh or dried herb material." "So we're talking a 400 per cent or higher increase in the potency." For "chemically concentrated extracts," such as hash oil, shatter, budder and wax, the typical potency can be up to 90 per cent, according to Health Canada data. "The potency, I think, is what's causing the illnesses to become more and more prevalent, because they're smoking a lot more potent stuff," Ramsey said. "And that's the same with me. When I first started smoking, it was my brother's homegrown stuff, versus getting it from friends and dispensaries out in California, where it does get stronger and stronger." "I feel like maybe before just making marijuana available to the masses, maybe some of these things should have been looked into. You know, too much of anything might be bad," said Ramsey. Lawsuit against Aurora Cannabis cites CHS A lawsuit was recently brought against Canadian cannabis production company Aurora Cannabis for alleged negligence of failing to warn consumers about the potential risk for developing CHS from the regular use of its products. The lawsuit was certified by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last month, meaning it can proceed as a class action. Margaret Waddell, the lawyer prosecuting the case, said she hopes that if the lawsuit is successful, it could have an industry-wide effect on including CHS in their product labelling. "Ideally, Health Canada will require them at some point," Waddell said. Health Canada does require cannabis manufacturers to warn customers about specified risks — including psychotic symptoms, addiction and dependence — but Waddell said there aren't currently any requirements to specifically include CHS in those warnings. Aurora Cannabis declined to comment on the lawsuit, writing in an emailed statement: "It is the company's practice not to comment on legal matters beyond information that is made available to the public." "Information that [CHS] exists is very important," Seabrook said. "In schools, in health-care settings – whether that's neurologists, psychiatrists, [emergency room] doctors – and public health campaigns, so people can make a better informed decision about their cannabis use."
CBC
03-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Regular cannabis use can cause a serious vomiting syndrome. Should people be warned?
When Brittany Ramsey started experiencing "awful stomach episodes" she thought it must've been side effects of the medication she was taking to manage her diabetes. But after a particularly gruelling episode where she just could not stop vomiting — not being keep down even small sips of water — that landed her in hospital, Ramsey knew something felt different about what she was experiencing. "From then, the episodes got worse and worse, and closer together," said Ramsey, a 35-year-old operations trainer at a financial firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. "From 2021 to 2024 … three years, I was hospitalized 29 times. Five ambulance trips – one actually had to pick me up on the side of the road because I couldn't make it to the hospital." After years of undergoing, at times, invasive testing procedures to rule out Crohn's disease, gastroparesis and diverticulitis, a doctor told Ramsey about cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). In recent years some emergency rooms have been seeing an uptick in visits due to cyclic episodes of uncontrollable vomiting in cannabis users, often characterized by experiencing temporary relief with hot showers and baths. Since it was first identified in medical literature in 2004, CHS cases have increased, possibly because of greater cannabis access or higher THC potency of products. Public health researchers suggest more awareness of CHS within the health-care system is needed for cannabis users to get the information and support they need. More CHS cases in the ER CHS is characterized by "severe and persistent vomiting" and is usually seen in people who have been using cannabis several times a week for multiple years, said Jamie Seabrook, a professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University in London, Ont. Ramsey said she'd been smoking at least once a day for over 10 years since she was 18 when she first started experiencing CHS symptoms in 2017. A 2022 study by researchers at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute looked at the rate of emergency department visits for CHS after recreational cannabis was legalized and commercialized in Ontario, looking at nearly 13,000 CHS-related hospitalizations in Ontario from 8,140 individuals between 2014 and 2021. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical association (JAMA), found that emergency department visits related to CHS had increased by 13-fold over a period of nearly eight years. The study doesn't show what caused the change, but the authors noted that the biggest increase in visits came not after legalization in 2018 but after Ontario allowed expansion of retail stores in 2020, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Though we don't have numbers how many people have been diagnosed or hospitalized with CHS, online communities are filled with people looking for support. Ramsey is part of one of them — a CHS Facebook group described as a "safe place to recover and learn" with 3,000 members. The largest CHS Facebook group has 31,000 members. On Reddit, the group r/CHSinfo has 20,000 members, with discussions ranging from tips on how to manage episodes and personal anecdotes about repeated hospitalizations. Seabrook, who co-authored a recent review of existing research on CHS in youth, said there's been an "explosion" of people showing up in some North American emergency rooms with CHS within the last seven to eight years. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute study showed that other cannabis-related emergency room visits, including for intoxication and dependence, saw a substantial increase starting in early 2020 as well. Surge in THC potency since the 1980s Seabrook said a likely reason for increased rates of CHS is the high THC potency of cannabis products today. THC is the compound in cannabis that is responsible for the sensation of a high most people experience when consuming it. When its potency increases, so do its harmful effects. Different strains of the plant will have different concentrations of active compounds, measured by percentage of total weight or volume. On average, THC content is much higher today than it used to be. "The potency of THC was only about three per cent in the 1980s and today, according to Health Canada, the average is 15 per cent with some strains as high as 30 per cent," Seabrook said, citing Health Canada numbers for "fresh or dried herb material." "So we're talking a 400 per cent or higher increase in the potency." For "chemically concentrated extracts," such as hash oil, shatter, budder and wax, the typical potency can be up to 90 per cent, according to Health Canada data. "The potency, I think, is what's causing the illnesses to become more and more prevalent, because they're smoking a lot more potent stuff," Ramsey said. "And that's the same with me. When I first started smoking, it was my brother's homegrown stuff, versus getting it from friends and dispensaries out in California, where it does get stronger and stronger." "I feel like maybe before just making marijuana available to the masses, maybe some of these things should have been looked into. You know, too much of anything might be bad," said Ramsey. Lawsuit against Aurora Cannabis cites CHS A lawsuit was recently brought against Canadian cannabis production company Aurora Cannabis for alleged negligence of failing to warn consumers about the potential risk for developing CHS from the regular use of its products. The lawsuit was certified by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last month, meaning it can proceed as a class action. Margaret Waddell, the lawyer prosecuting the case, said she hopes that if the lawsuit is successful, it could have an industry-wide effect on including CHS in their product labelling. "Ideally, Health Canada will require them at some point," Waddell said. Health Canada does require cannabis manufacturers to warn customers about specified risks — including psychotic symptoms, addiction and dependence — but Waddell said there aren't currently any requirements to specifically include CHS in those warnings. Aurora Cannabis declined to comment on the lawsuit, writing in an emailed statement: "It is the company's practice not to comment on legal matters beyond information that is made available to the public." "Information that [CHS] exists is very important," Seabrook said. "In schools, in health-care settings – whether that's neurologists, psychiatrists, [emergency room] doctors – and public health campaigns, so people can make a better informed decision about their cannabis use."
South China Morning Post
29-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Chinese girl vomits live worms for month; doctors finally find tiny moths to blame
An eight-year-old girl in China who had been vomiting live worms for a month discovered that the cause of her ills was a common household problem. Despite seeing many doctors, the unidentified girl from Yangzhou City, eastern China's Jiangsu province, could not pinpoint the reason why she was throwing up. Her father said she would vomit a handful of 1cm-long worms each time. No one else in the family suffered the same problem. The tiny moths are particularly prevalent in southern China because of the humid summer weather. Photo: A doctor at the Children's Hospital of Soochow University in Jiangsu came to their rescue. The doctor, Zhang Bingbing, advised them to have the rarely seen worm checked by the local Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. There, staff immediately recognised the worm, matching it with worms they had once found in a 60-year-old woman. It turns out to be the larva of drain flies, which are also known as moth flies. The insects are commonly found in damp interior places, such as the toilet and the kitchen. They more often appear in southern China, which has humid summer weather.
Forbes
28-06-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Man Vomits So Hard His Esophagus Explodes After Eating Street Food
While most episodes of vomiting don't lead to Boerhaave syndrome, it is a rare possibility. (Photo: ... More Getty) This could be considered a bad street food experience. A 59-year-old previously healthy man had eaten some street food when something came up—like all the stuff that was in his stomach. Apparently, he literally couldn't stomach the food and vomited it up quite forcefully. In fact, the vomiting was so forceful that it blew a hole in his esophagus, as described by a case report in the New England Journal of Medicine. And this wretched retching situation is a medical emergency, because you are not exactly whole with a hole in your esophagus. The Man Had Boerhaave Syndrome, Spontaneous Rupture Of The Esophagus This was an example of Boerhaave syndrome, a rather rare life-threatening situation where your esophagus spontaneous ruptures from severe vomiting. Only an estimated 0.0003% of the population has suffered such an emergency. So, it's probably something that you don't want to make up as an excuse for missing work. The man began suffering severe chest pain half an hour after he had vomited. These symptoms went on for five hours until he got to the emergency room at Qilu Hospital in Qingdao, China. Severe or repeated vomiting and sudden onset chest pain are two parts of what's called the Mackler Triad, the trio of signs suggestive of Boerhaave syndrome. The third sign is subcutaneous emphysema, a fancy medical term for having air trapped in the tissues under your skin where it isn't supposed to be. Penghui Wei, M.D., and Wenyong Zhu, M.D. of the Cheeloo College of Medicine at Shandong University described in the case report what happened next. At the ER, the doctors found his breathing to be rapid and shallow and signs of air in his neck tissue, which, voilà, would constitute the third sign of the Mackler triad. A CT (computed tomography) of his chest indeed revealed a tear in his esophagus, along with air in the parts of his chest and neck where it shouldn't be. The doctors then inserted a tube in his chest to drain the accumulated fluid and air. An esophagram, which is where you swallow contrast materials and then undergo X-rays to view the esophagus, confirmed the perforation of the esophagus. Surgical Repair Of The Esophagus Was Needed Since such a tear won't heal on itself or with supplements, vaginal steaming or some kind of scented candle, the man underwent emergency surgery through thoracoscopy to repair the esophagus. Survival from Boerhaave syndrome really depends on how quickly you get treatment. The Cleveland Clinic website estimates that when treatment occurs within 24 hours, the survival rate is around 75%. This goes below 50% if you wait for more than 24 hours. In fact, once you get beyond 48 hours, the death rate is reaches 90%. This resulted in a 35-day stay in the hospital. He had to use a feeding tube through his nose to get nutrition for several months until imaging showed that his esophagus had adequately healed. Vomiting Can Cause Other Types Of Damage To Your Esophagus Vomiting in general is not a good thing. The force of having your stomach contents being shot up into your esophagus can cause various degrees of damage to your esophagus. So can the acid that should normally stay in your stomach. Less severe than Boerhaave syndrome is a Mallory-Weiss tear, which is a tear in the lining of the esophagus, most often close to the stomach. Signs of such damage include chest pain and blood in the vomit, known as hematemesis. You may also notice black tarry stools if the blood makes it down through your poop. There may not be any noticeable symptoms so if you find yourself repeatedly vomiting over time, it may be a good idea to check in with a doctor. Again, Boerhaave syndrome is quite rare, which is why it is a case study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Such a journal wouldn't have the following as a case study: man east street food, has diarrhea, the end. So don't go around being petrified of having esophagus rupture someday. But you may want to be careful of what you eat where and recognize the bad things that could come up when you upchuck.
