# People puking poo. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2004, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430 "2004-05-10T10:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/1 "2004-05-10T10:00:33Z")
O.K. so I learned this word from [Rancloth](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255435) **copremesis** I quickly looked it up (by the way, does anyone know a better online dictionary than dictionary.com- I’m often unimpressed). [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) redirected me [here](http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?copremesis). Now my initial thoughts were that this must be a metaphorical term (like coprocephaly) for someone who “talks shit”, but since the term is listed on a medical site I grew morbidly curious. The only further explanation given was: > [@](#): > > Vomitus with appearance and/or odour of faeces (sic) suggestive of long standing and distal small bowel or colonic obstruction. Now use of the word _appearance_ again suggests that the term may be metaphorical, but the mention of the _distal small bowel_ and _colonic obstruction_ have me thinking it might not just be a clever name. So, what’s the deal? Can people vomit actual fecal matter? What would lead to this? ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/2 "2004-05-10T10:53:57Z")
I have heard of this - medical students take great joy in telling true tales of the human body to gross you out. It’s apparently caused by, as your cite says, a blockage in the small bowel or colon. If there’s a blockage between the part of the bowel where digested food can start to be called poo, and the anus, that poo ain’t going out the back door. It’s going to have to turn round and make its way out of the front door. Your cite refers to the distal small bowel, that means the end of the small bowel that’s further from the stomach and nearer to the rectum. Vastly unpleasant, but can be fixed if action is taken to unblock the bowel. Apparently. I hope someone medical checks in with information better than something I heard second hand from some student medic. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/3 "2004-05-10T11:51:13Z")
Ever coughed up a tonsilith? These are small beigy-yellow globs of food that became logdged in the crevices of the tonsils. They literally smell like shit. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/4 "2004-05-10T13:46:23Z")
My father-in-law had this problem shortly before he died. Very unpleasant for us. Luckily, I think he was far-gone enough that he probably didn’t realize what was happening. ---
**Author:** ![slu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@slu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/5 "2004-05-10T14:30:51Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Ever coughed up a tonsilith? These are small beigy-yellow globs of food that became logdged in the crevices of the tonsils. They literally smell like shit. I have done this before, but never discussed it with anyone because I thought it was too weird and gross. Thank god I have found out what it is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/6 "2004-05-10T15:19:18Z")
Back in a previous life I worked in a hospital where I personally saw this happen. It was explained that the patient (who was very sick anyway) had a bowel obstruction and, as Tansu said, the poo had to go somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/7 "2004-05-10T16:04:11Z")
We see it in veterinary medicine sometimes, too, but in our patients it’s generally not caused by bowel obstruction. Animals are disgusting, what can I say? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/8 "2004-05-10T16:41:01Z")
:eek: I now refuse to be sick _ever_ again. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/9 "2004-05-10T17:01:48Z")
Distal = far away. Proximal = close by. The obstruction is pretty far along the alimentary canal…matter had to take the long and winding road to come to a dead end, then just back it into reverse. I suppose colonic irrigation or forceps at the end of an endoscope would dislodge the thingy. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/10 "2004-05-10T17:06:53Z")
Holy… crap. Once again the veil of ignorance is drawn from my eyes… and I kind of wish it hadn’t been. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/11 "2004-05-10T17:11:56Z")
The last time this came up on the boards, I seem to recall that the consensus was that this was _not_, in fact, due to a blockage in the nether regions, as that would require the material to backtrack through too much tubing and too many sphincters to be plausible, but that rather it was a result of certain bacteria, normally restricted to the lower G.I., taking hold in the stomach. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/12 "2004-05-10T17:18:04Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Once again the veil of ignorance is drawn from my eyes… and I kind of wish it hadn’t been. I’m with you. I was under the impression that to poo out your mouth, you had to shove food up your butt. -lv ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/13 "2004-05-10T19:17:23Z")
Thought this might be a troll from the title, but I’m glad to see that it is a genuine, factual, and disgusting question. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/14 "2004-05-10T19:34:05Z")
10 minutes until **lieu** arruives… ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/15 "2004-05-10T19:58:10Z")
> [@](#): > > I seem to recall that the consensus was that this was not, in fact, due to a blockage in the nether regions, as that would require the material to backtrack through too much tubing and too many sphincters to be plausible, but that rather it was a result of certain bacteria, Lets examine this logically: for this to hapen, we’d have to see material from the far side of the small intestine (at least) make its way back up the small intestine (which normally simply can’t happen), enter the stomach, then somehow back up into the esophagus, which can only happen if you start hurling. I really don’t think so. Even if you ahd some sort of blockage, the material at the far end would simply get stuck; it would surely have more food on top of it, all of which would have to come out first. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/16 "2004-05-10T20:41:59Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Lets examine this logically: for this to hapen, we’d have to see material from the far side of the small intestine (at least) make its way back up the small intestine (which normally simply can’t happen), enter the stomach, then somehow back up into the esophagus, which can only happen if you start hurling. > > I really don’t think so. Even if you ahd some sort of blockage, the material at the far end would simply get stuck; it would surely have more food on top of it, all of which would have to come out first. I didn’t want to believe it, either. But the hospice nurse says it happens rather frequently. Also, at this point, the patient is probably taking little to no food, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/17 "2004-05-10T20:42:08Z")
Like **Chronos** , I too was thinking that this was disproved in a previous thread here and that while the thrown up material might have looked like poo and smelled like poo but that it indeed was not poo but some vile substance due to everything getting backed up. Like the **bandit** mentioned, that’s a lot of reverse movement to occur requiring abnormal coordination among numerous different organs, pipes, valves, etc. Were it to be true though, how would you announce the event… “Man, I gotta pinch a vomit”? ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/18 "2004-05-10T20:55:25Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Ever coughed up a tonsilith? These are small beigy-yellow globs of food that became logdged in the crevices of the tonsils. They literally smell like shit. I’ve coughed up “small beigy-yellow globs” before, but I never noticed any particular odor to them. Since I’ve only ever noticed it happening when I’ve had extremely long hair I’d chalked them up as [bezoars](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_104.html), at least after reading that article by The Master. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/19 "2004-05-10T21:01:51Z")
Maybe not true poo, but remember that the digestive system is geared to move things along. Along the way different digestive emzimes and bacteria are added to extract nutriants. Now if there is a blockage and the pipe backs up all the way to the stomach, it would make sense that the normal motion of the system would, unable to push things along, mix things very well. So the digestive emzines and bacteria along with some ‘poo’ will eventually mix throughout the system and into the stomach. Now you don’t just have poo in the stomach, but all the emzines and bacteria to make poo out of new food. And I’m sure even if it’s only 10% poo, the person will take it as all poo. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430/20 "2004-05-10T21:28:57Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > (by the way, does anyone know a better online dictionary than dictionary.com- I’m often unimpressed) I tend to use [Yahoo’s directory](http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Dictionaries/) for this, there’s a bit of a selection there and you could just use their own lookup from there as well. OneLook Dictionaries is good in that it searches many different dictionaries (including Medical and other specialized ones) on a single query. D [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-puking-poo/244430.md?page=2)