A woman from Xiaoshan district of Zhejiang province in China started vomiting blood after she had a meal of hot pot.

Puked blood after feeling nauseous

According to Beijing Youth Daily, the woman, surnamed Zhang, started feeling pain in her throat and chest after having hot pot with her friends on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2019.

She also felt like there was something stuck in her throat whenever she swallowed her food.

The discomfort persisted even after she returned home.

Furthermore, she started feeling nauseous, and even vomited a mouthful of blood.

But thinking her throat might have simply been injured by some kind of bone or charred rice crust that she ate, Zhang thought nothing of it.

Puked blood again

After a night's rest, Zhang's condition did not improve.

Her throat still felt strange the next day, and she even had trouble swallowing her saliva.

She also vomited blood again that night which prompted her to go to the hospital the next day on Dec. 26, 2019.

22cm long ulcer discovered in oesophagus

After hearing what happened to Zhang after a hot pot meal, the doctor at the hospital thought her oesophagus might have been scalded by the hot food she ate.

He then recommended her to go for an endoscopy to check her oesophagus and stomach.

The check-up revealed that she had a 22cm long ulcer along her oesophagus.

The doctor also diagnosed Zhang with antral gastritis, which is inflammation of the antral portion of the stomach.

Advised not to eat hot food too quickly

The doctor also advised Zhang not to consume hot food and drinks too quickly as not only can it hurt the food pipe, such a habit can even lead to cancer in the long term.

According to the International Agency For Research On Cancer (IARC), consuming very hot drinks of temperatures over 65 °C increases the risk of oesophageal cancer.

Zhang also said she no longer dares to wolf down hot food.

Top image adapted via Esperanza Zhang & Piseth Yun on Unsplash