Thanks to doctors, woman sees 100th birthday

Thanks to the life-saving efforts of local doctors, a woman managed to celebrate her 100th birthday on Monday.

The woman, surnamed Han, began experiencing constipation and belly pain recently. Her family gave her yellow wine, which is considered a remedy for constipation according to folk belief.

Her pains became more serious, however, and her family sent her to Shanghai Pudong Hospital the next day. There, doctors found that Han had an abdominal aortic aneurysm which was about to rupture.

Rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm is fatal and surgery is the only treatment. However, the patient’s advanced age was a major complication for doctors.

After developing a comprehensive plan, doctors successfully performed a two-hour surgery on the woman, who is said to have recovered well.

Dr Tang Jingdong, the chief surgeon, said alcohol is a cancerogen and can damage blood vessels.

“People over 70 years old face organ degeneration and many suffer hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and cerebral vascular disease. Drinking alcohol can cause aortic aneurysm,” Tang said. “Smoking is also a risk factor for aneurysm.”