A 80 russian woman years went to the hospital to undergo a Brain CT for reasons totally unrelated to what the doctors found. And, even though he had never complained of headaches throughout his life, computed tomography images showed the presence of a needle in the brain.
This one had three centimeters long and was housed in the left parietal lobe. He had apparently been there all his life, so an attempted robbery is suspected. infanticide that didn’t go well. This is not the first time something like this has been detected.. There are several cases in the scientific literature in which the presence of a needle in a person’s brain is described, usually old. It is because, in some parts of the world, in times of famine when it would be impossible to support a baby, it was relatively common to try to end their lives by inserting a needle into the fontanels.
In some cases it meant a quick death. However, other times nothing happened and the frightened parents preferred to leave the needle where it was and continue with their lives. That of this Russian woman, who would be born during the Second World War, it’s just one, but there are many other cases like yours. Unfortunately, we only know a small proportion of those who survived. There will be many others who would not die either, those who never had a CAT scan to bring to light the needle in the brain. And also a lot of people who, unfortunately, did die.
A needle in the brain to nip hunger in the bud
The babies skulls They have areas that have not yet been completely united, in which the brain is much more exposed. These soft parts are known as fontanelles and it is very important to avoid blows, as they can be fatal.
They are also areas where it is very simple stick a needle and that it quickly reaches the brain. Therefore, in times of famine, in the past, it was a common form of infanticide. Death was rapid and usually undetectable, since the needle barely left a trace and it was not a time when autopsies were common. Much less in countries at war or mired in poverty for other reasons.
It is believed that the idea comes from the Persian stories, in which infanticide by this method is usually described. In fact, the majority of cases described by scientists have occurred in Türkiye and Iranapproximately in the territory where the ancient empire of Persia was located.
A few cases have also been described in the Far East, Europe and the United States. They all relate similar situations. An elderly person goes to have a CT scan and the images reveal a needle in the brain. Typically patients have had no symptoms their entire lives and generally come from poor families who experienced famine around the time of their birth.
The case of the Russian woman
This last case took place in the Russian Far East. The woman was born in the middle of World War II, when the Soviet Union She was mired in poverty. Therefore, it is very likely that her parents, out of desperation at not having anything to feed her, tried to end her life by inserting a needle into her brain.
It didn’t work, so they didn’t try to remove it to Don’t complicate things more. And there it stayed. Luckily, the patient had a healthy life in that regard. She did not show headaches or dizziness or, in general, any symptoms that could be associated with a foreign body lodged in her brain.
Both she and other patients described in the scientific literature they have not been intervened to remove the needles. The operation could be complicated, and after all, they didn’t seem to be showing any symptoms. Of course, once the situation is detected, they undergo regular monitoring to check that everything remains the same.
In short, this woman had a CT scan for another reason and discovered that her parents, terrified by hunger, tried to make something terrible with her. The nightmares of war can still be very present many years after the echo of the last shots has faded.