Doctors Remove 39 Coins & 37 Magnets From Weightlifter Who Believed ‘Zinc Helps In Bodybuilding’

In New Delhi, India, a 26-year-old weightlifter had coins and magnets surgically removed from his stomach. The ill-informed man thought, “Zinc helps in bodybuilding.”

In Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, X-rays showed the man had ingested a total of 39 coins and 37 magnets that remained in his intestines. The man, who is not publicly identified, believed he could absorb extra zinc through the coins and magnets.

The man came to the emergency room after experiencing vomiting and abdominal pain for 20 days. The coins and magnets formed lumps inside his intestine. Some were also found in his stomach. All metals were successfully removed in surgery.

Doctors said that some of the magnets recovered from the weightlifter were in the shapes of a heart, sphere, bullet, triangle and star.

Surgeons X-rayed the patient’s body after surgery to confirm all the metal had been removed.

The weightlifter recovered for seven days in the hospital before being discharged.

Despite the man’s belief that he could absorb zinc from consuming metal, experts in poison control say this could lead to zinc toxicity. In some cases, zinc toxicity leads to death.