The Woman Who Swallowed a Toothbrush: And Other Weird Medical Case Histories

Drawing from real medical journal cases, a doctor shares true stories about strange symptoms and perplexing patients

Those in the medical profession know that sometimes the cases that come into emergency rooms or doctor’s offices can be highly unusual — and depending on how things go, the results can be either tragic or comic. This collection of stories reveals some of the oddest and most memorable case histories, from the woman who claims she was brushing her teeth when she swallowed her toothbrush — but in fact was a bulimic using it to induce vomiting — to the man whose routine elective back surgery revealed he’d been carrying a bullet around in his body for years.

From the funny to the frightening, these documented memorable medical mysteries make for fascinating reading.

Rob Myers is a cardiologist at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.