A young woman by the name of Loretta has spoken out about how her rare medical condition has prevented her from eating or drinking for the past eight years.
Due to a rare stomach condition that took years to diagnose, professional chef Loretta Harmes from the UK hasn’t eaten a substantial meal in the past eight years.
While sharing her story, the young chef disclosed that as a child she used to face stomach problems but continued eating.
At the age of 18, she woke up with unbearable pain and it took her doctors years to figure out what was wrong with her. She was asked to change her diet but nothing worked.
After a series of tests, it was discovered in 2015, that she was unable to eat because of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), a rare syndrome that causes gastroparesis. It means that whatever she eats remains in her stomach and does not reach the small intestine and hence the food remains undigested.
The 25-year-old woman has been surviving 8 years with a liquid filled with all the nutrients she needs and connected to her stomach to fill the bloodstream.