The Heavy-Drinking Woman Who Developed “Booze Humps” Over 40 Years Of Binges

by Scott McKay | February 9, 2016 12:16 pm

It’s going to take more than ordinary beer goggles to make this poor woman[1] attractive after what she’s done to herself.

[2]

A woman who had been an alcoholic for 40 years developed a massive hump on her back as a result of drinking.

Doctors who treated the 64-year-old were astounded to discover she had a so-called ‘buffalo hump’.

Her condition had initially left them baffled as the patient also had huge lumps all over her neck and arms.

As a last resort, they were forced search on the internet – and eventually diagnosed her with the rare illness Madelung disease.

Normally seen in male alcoholics, it causes fatty tumours called lipomas to form on the torso.

The woman showed up at the Brooklyn Hospital Center disoriented and unable to tell time, with weak limbs. And when the doctors examined her they found that massive hump on her back as well as the lipomas protruding from her upper body.

And as the examination continued it became obvious just how badly she had ruined her body by abusing it with alcohol…

Blood tests revealed she had ketoacidosis, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition normally seen in people with type 1 diabetes, for which she was treated immediately.

This is where the body starts metabolising fat, leading to the formation of waste products called ketones.

These build up in the blood, causing it to become acidic, which can lead to coma or death if left untreated.

Decades of drinking had also left her with fatty liver disease, they found.

To discover whether the mystery lumps were cancer, they sent her for scans, and found they were benign lumps of fat beneath the skin on her shoulders, biceps and triceps.

This led to her being diagnosed with Madelung disease – a rare illness usually more common in men, and associated with alcoholism, diabetes, fat disorders, liver disease and people of Mediterranean ancestry.

The doctors suggested removing the booze humps with liposuction, which the patient declined to do. They did at least manage to get her to agree to stop drinking.

Here’s hoping she sticks to that, because it’s clear if she continues she will kill herself with booze.