Woman who astonished doctors by crying ‘crystal tears’ is now suspected of faking the condition by inserting glass into her eyes
- Satenik Kazaryan from Spandaryan in Armenia, claimed she cries ‘crystal tears’
- The mother, 22, astonished doctors with her agony from rare genetic condition
- But experts now allege she is making up the symptoms by using ordinary glass
- Doctors claim she is has the psychological condition, Munchausen syndrome
A woman who ‘cries crystal tears’ making her life ‘hell’ is now suspected by doctors of faking her condition by putting glass in her eyes.
Satenik Kazaryan, from Spandaryan village in Armenia, received worldwide attention for ‘weeping’ up to 50 jagged-edged tears each day, which she said it was agony.
The 22-year-old’s condition initially astonished doctors but it was believed she had a rare medical condition.
Detailed analysis is still underway but now the mother-of-one is strongly suspected of putting glass particles in her own eyes, according to new reports.
A ‘crystal tear’ being taken from the eye of Satenik Kazaryan. She astounded doctors by claiming she had a rare genetic condition
Head of the village Avetik Mkhaitaryan shows how the crystal scratches the glass. Pictured are her husband Suren Melikyan (first left), NTV reporter Alexey Simakhin (second left), Satenik’s mother-in-law Zemfira Melikyan (third left)
Satenik Kazaryan with her five-year-old son, Vanik. Doctors claim the 22-year-old mother suffers from Munchausen syndrome
While there is a rare medical condition that could lead to so-called ‘crystal tears’, experts think Kazaryan is suffering from Munchausen syndrome, a type of mental disorder which leads people to fake illness and self-harm, often as a means of gaining attention.
Kazaryan and her mother-in-law Zemfira Mikaelyan insist the ‘glass tears’ are natural.
But Professor Anna Hovakimyan, of the Armenian Republican Ophthalmological Centre, claimed the ‘crystal tears’ were probably made of glass.
She said: ‘The crystals look like ordinary glass. I am almost 100 per cent sure that the patient suffers from Munchausen syndrome.’
While there is a genetic condition called Cystinosis, leading Moscow eye specialist Professor Dmitry Maichuk said: ‘In theory the formation of such a crystals is possible, but they should be smaller, and injure the eye.’
During tests on the ‘tears’, experts tested them by scratching the ‘crystals’ on a glass object
Professor Anna Hovakimyan watching a video of crystals removal from Kazaryan’s eye. She claims the crystals are merely ordinary glass
If big crystals were to form naturally, it would take several months not a matter of hours as she claims, he said.
A team from Russian television station NTV took some of Kazaryan’s crystals to gemologist Olga Radionova who said the examples were ‘simple glass’.
The TV crew went to the remote village where Kazaryan lives and they were told the crystals were first seen after her son Vanik, five, broke a glass vase.
A piece got into her eye, it was claimed and later more glass appeared which her mother in law kept removing.
NTV reporter Alexey Simakhin watches how Zemfira Melikyan removes the ‘crystals’ from Kazaryan’s eyes
She has collected some of the jagged tears in a box (pictured above) where their. The tears have been sent for analysis by experts
The woman had earlier claimed the crystals stated appearing after a visit to the dentist.
Cystinosis is a metabolic condition caused by gene mutations but it can be treated with medication.
However such treatment has not worked on Kazaryan. She claimed her condition worsened when she took medication.
Armenian deputy health minister Oganes Arutyunyan said the woman’s case was being studied ‘to figure out what is going on with the patient’.