TAIF, 8 September 2006 — Doctors removed a golf ball-sized hairball from a 13-year-old Saudi girl’s intestine in an emergency operation, the Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday. The girl, who was complaining of intense abdominal pain, is recuperating in stable condition after the surgery. The girl was suffering from trichotillomania, or TTM, aka compulsive hair pulling. Compulsively eating hair is one of the symptoms of this behavioral disorder. There are various treatments for this disorder, and, hopefully, having emergency surgery to unblock bowels has raised the red flag and encouraged the family of the girl to seek treatment.
Cell Phones Found Inside Four Prisoners
SAN SALVADOR, 8 September 2006 — Cellular telephones were found inside four prisoners in El Salvador’s maximum-security prison, authorities said Wednesday. The discovery was made Tuesday at the prison in Zacatecoluca, in central El Salvador, after suspicious officials took X-rays of each of the inmates, federal corrections chief Jaime Villanova said. Capt. Juan Ramon Arevalo, director of the prison known as Zacatras, said the gang members had introduced the cell phones, wrapped in plastic bags, into their bodies through their anuses. Authorities also found nine cell phone chips and one charger. The inmates allegedly used cell phones to direct criminal activities on the street from inside the prison, Arevalo said.
