An 82-year-old woman in eastern China shocked the nation by swallowing eight small live frogs as she followed a folklore remedy to treat her lower back pain.

The octogenarian, surnamed Zhang, was sent to a hospital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in early September due to severe abdominal pain, the Hangzhou Daily reported.

“My mother ate eight live frogs. Now the sharp pain has made her unable to walk,” her son told the doctor.

Zhang, who had suffered from a herniated disc for a long time, heard that swallowing live frogs could help relieve her lower back pain.

Believing this theory, the grandmother asked her family to catch some live frogs for her, without informing them of her intentions.

After her family collected the frogs, all of which were smaller than an adult’s palm, Zhang did not cook them but swallowed them live. She consumed three frogs on the first day and the remaining five the next day, according to the report.

Initially, she felt some discomfort in her stomach, but the pain intensified over the following days. Only then did Zhang disclose her experience of swallowing the frogs to her family.

At the Zhejiang University No. 1 Affiliated Hospital in Hangzhou, doctors conducted a physical examination on Zhang. They ruled out the possibility of a tumour but found a dramatic increase in oxyphil cells, an indication of various illnesses such as parasitic infections and blood disorders.

Further tests confirmed that Zhang was infected with parasites.

“Swallowing frogs has damaged the patient’s digestive system and resulted in some parasites being present in her body, including sparganum,” a doctor from the hospital informed the media.

Zhang was discharged from the hospital after a two-week treatment.

Cases like Zhang’s are not infrequent, according to Wu Zhongwen, a senior doctor from the Hangzhou hospital.

“We have received several similar patients in recent years,” Wu was quoted as saying. “Besides swallowing frogs, some individuals consume raw snake gall or fish gall, or apply frog skin to their own skin.”

Most of these patients are elderly, communicating little with their families about their health issues. They only seek medical treatment at hospitals when their condition becomes severe, said Wu.

“For instance, putting frog skin on one’s body is rumoured to treat skin diseases. However, there is no evidence to support this remedy. On the contrary, it could allow parasites to enter the body, resulting in vision impairment, intracranial infection, and even life-threatening conditions,” he explained.

Quirky unscientific remedies have circulated widely on social media in China.

A six-month-old baby girl, also in Zhejiang province, was diagnosed with lead poisoning because her mother frequently used a method, learned from the internet, of soaking her hand in lead acetate liquid to treat her eczema.

The residual lead element subsequently permeated the baby’s skin, according to doctors.

Source - South China Morning Post