Doctors in east China were shocked to pull out a five-inch-long tapeworm from a woman's breast while performing a breast lump removal operation last week.
The 59-year-old woman, surnamed Yao, ate three live frogs five years ago while following a folk remedy, a relative told a local reporter.
Ms Yao believed that the remedy was the only way to cure her body pain, but it caused her to suffer from a serious parasite infection.
Doctors pull out a five-inch-long tapeworm from a woman's breast during surgery in China
As stated by Hangzhou News, Ms Yao was sent to Jiaxing's Tongxiang Second People's Hospital, Zhejiang Province, for breast lump removal surgery on March 7.
Dr Zhang Yun told the reporter: 'I found an object that resembled a worm's head in her breast. I tried to clip it out, and then pull out a 13-centimetre-long (five inches) tapeworm.'
Ms Yao explained to the doctors that she has been suffering rheumatism, a long-term condition that causes pain in body joints and connective tissues.
Five years ago, she found a folk remedy to cure the pain, which was to eat three live frogs and not telling anyone about it.
It's stated that Ms Yao's relatives found out about the fact that Ms Yao had eaten live frogs when she was hospitalised with a parasitic infection in the past.
Ms Yao, 59, ate three live frogs in a bid to cure her pain affecting her joints (file photo)
Dr Zhang Yun worried parasite larvae could spread throughout Ms Yao's body (file photo)
A few months after swallowing the frogs live, Ms Yao was taken to a Shanghai hospital with stomach pain, and doctors diagnosed her with a parasite-induced intestinal obstruction.
Her symptoms seemed to have disappeared until she discovered the lump in her right breast.
Ms Yao is now recovering after undergoing the surgery last week.
It remains unsure if she would suffer any further infection as parasite larvae could spread quickly throughout the human body, stated Ms Yao's doctor.