A 31-year-old woman in central China has been left with serious balance and walking problems after reportedly surviving on nothing but water for 15 days in an extreme attempt to lose weight. The woman, from Henan province, was around 160 cm tall and weighed 70 kg before beginning the fast. She lost about 20 kg within a few weeks of drastically restricting her food intake, South China Morning Post reported.
She was later taken to hospital with a range of neurological symptoms, including confusion, memory problems, difficulty moving her eyes and severe problems with balance. Doctors at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University diagnosed her with Wernicke’s encephalopathy, a potentially life-threatening neurological disorder associated with severe vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency and malnutrition. He warned that the walking problems could persist even after treatment. But medical professionals have repeatedly warned about the dangers of prolonged fasting without proper medical supervision. Severe food restriction can deprive the body of essential vitamins and minerals and, in extreme cases, cause neurological damage, electrolyte disturbances and other potentially fatal complications. She subsequently developed severe intestinal damage, a bloodstream infection and dangerously low potassium levels.
More recently, a woman in Zhejiang province reportedly lost around 5 kg after fasting for a week while taking an ‘energy pill’.
Neurologist Sun Guifang, who treated the woman, said her gait had become unusually unsteady and resembled that of a penguin.
