Doctors baffled by teen with mysterious condition where he can’t eat any food

Article content

A boy in England has flabbergasted doctors with his rare, unnamed condition where he can’t eat any food.

Finley Ranson, 14, from Battlesbridge, Essex, suffers from an unknown condition where his digestive system reacts badly to any fatty compounds or oils found in food.

Ranson’s body treats food like a virus, causing him to bleed internally.

“It is impacting my life, as I’ve not been able to eat any food or drink other than water,” the boy told SWNS.

The boy was taken to a London hospital when he was four “where a central line fed nutrients and minerals into his heart,” his mother, Rhys Ranson, told the news service.

“It was a game-changer,” she said. “He was happy, bouncing and starting to put on weight.”

Since then, Ranson gets lipid infusions in one tube and carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals three times a day into his stomach from a different one.

What began as a six-hour process every week has since changed to twice a week in the last five years, SWNS reported.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

“We have to bypass the gastrointestinal tract completely,” Dr. Manas Datta, the boy’s pediatrician since birth, told the BBC.

Ranson’s mother revealed that doctors tried to introduce separate ingredients into the tube going into her son’s stomach, but “as soon as they put the lipid in, we took 10 steps back.”

The teen’s condition is so rare it doesn’t even have a name, so for the time being, the teen calls it “Finley-itis.”

Doctors originally thought Ranson was allergic to breast milk, but after being fed hypoallergenic milk through a tube, he still had issues that would be frightening to any parent, from his stools consisting of “all blood and mucus” to him not putting on any weight.

Since the discovery, Rhys is now learning how to do the lipid infusions at home, which she hopes will improve her son’s quality of life.

“We hope there’s a day that comes (when) he can have a normal diet,” she said.

“But if not, as long as Finley’s happy and healthy and thriving the way he is, we’re happy to continue what life is like for us at the moment.”

For more health news and content around diseases, conditions, wellness, healthy living, drugs, treatments and more, head to Healthing.ca – a member of the Postmedia Network.