Definition:
Coined after the Latin name of magpie, a bird with an indiscriminating and voracious appetite, the medical disorder pica is characterized by an individual's appetite for non-nutritive substances (such as coal, feces, chalk, paper and soil) including raw food or ingredients (like flour, starch and raw potato). An individual affected with the disorder exhibits the behavior for over a month, at the stage where eating these kinds of objects is not developmentally appropriate. Pica is observed among pregnant women, small children, especially those who are developmentally disabled.
Diagnosis:
Pica may go undetected for a long period of time. Oftentimes, it is detected after the patients suffers from intestinal blockage, perforation or tear, poisoning, parasitic infection and dental injury. Blood tests are conducted to determine whether anaemia or mineral deficiency caused the disorder.
Treatment:
Treatment focuses on family guidance, environmental and psychosocial approaches. It is important for the patient to distinguish which items are edible and not edible, and to learn to associate negative consequences as results of eating non-food items.
Symptoms and Signs:
Consumption of non-food items repeatedly, despite advices not to do so, for at least one month, is one of the telltale signs of the disorder. Individuals who exhibit such a behavior even if they're older than 18 to 24 months, particularly if eating such types of items, may also have pica.
Causes:
The causes of the disease is still unknown. Whatever little research done on the subject seems to point out that most of the patients are more likely to suffer from biochemical deficiency, oftentimes iron deficiency.
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