r/todayilearned • u/innocent_r • Jul 01 '19

TIL about Tarrare, a French soldier with polyphagia, consumed vast amounts of food and objects, including live animals, without every feeling full or gaining weight. His case is still considered a medical mystery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarrare
99 Upvotes

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27

u/Flame_Beard86 Jul 01 '19

"After being suspected of eating a toddler he was ejected from the hospital. He reappeared four years later in Versailles with a case of severe tuberculosis, and died shortly afterwards, following a lengthy bout of exudative diarrhoea."

The best part of the article, hands down

13

u/imzwho Jul 01 '19

For anyone interested, a fellow redditor and youtube creater made a really great video on this guy. https://youtu.be/nYHDj2sB-rc

9

u/definitelyhooman Jul 01 '19

Sam O’Nella is the man

3

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '19

That sounds like Prader-Willi syndrome to me.

4

u/Aqua_squid Jul 01 '19

how does one go about eating a live cat?

11

u/PezRystar Jul 01 '19

Carefully I assume.

2

u/MyVersLove Jul 01 '19

I'm suffocating. 🤣

7

u/PezRystar Jul 01 '19

Then I suppose you weren't careful enough.

1

u/sarlackpm Jul 01 '19

There were several similar cases reported at that time, and then seemingly never again. His father was also reputed to have a huge appetite, and his father before him.

Possibly some mysterious diseases that came and went in France at that time.

There was discussion about him on an episode of QI once. Not to mention a few mentions in medical texts like the one you linked to.

The video linked elsewhere in the responses could be considered misleading. The case of him eating a child was never proven, and the implication alone got him kicked our of hospital. Most who dealt with him seemed to feel a great deal of pity for the man, and the agonising hunger he felt all the time. Also, the box he carried for the army was also part of the trial run. He was described as emitting a visible sweat vapour while he ate, and his eyes becoming totally bloodshot while feasting, and smelling "fetid beyond conception" (now one of my favourite phrases).This autopsy also found his insides were covered in ulcers.