User:Mr. Ibrahem/Pica (disorder)
Medical condition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pica is a disorder characterized by the appetite for and eating of substances that are not considered food.[2] Generally the craving are for a few specific items such as soil, raw potatoes, ice, hair, or paint.[4] Often few signs are present though abdominal pain may occasionally occur.[2] Pica may lead to lead poisoning, gastrointestinal obstruction, low red blood cells, or parasitic infections.[2]
Pica | |
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Stomach contents of a person with pica: 1,446 items, including "453 nails, 42 screws, safety pins, spoon tops, and salt and pepper shaker tops." | |
Pronunciation | |
Specialty | Psychiatry |
Symptoms | Appetite for and eating of substances that are not food[2] |
Complications | Lead poisoning, gastrointestinal obstruction, low red blood cells[2] |
Duration | > 1 month[2] |
Risk factors | Pregnancy, iron deficiency, other mental disorders, poverty, emotional trauma[2] |
Prognosis | Usually good[3] |
Frequency | Relatively common[2] |
Pica is associated with pregnancy, iron deficiency, other mental disorders, poverty, malnutrition, and emotional trauma.[2][5] A formal diagnosis requires behaviors to persist for at least a month and be inappropriate for a persons age and culture.[2] To make the diagnosis the person most also be at least two years old.[3]
In children who are otherwise normal, pica while generally resolve with education around what is appropriate to eat.[2] Counselling, including behavioral therapy, may also be useful.[2] If iron deficiency is present this should be treated.[2]
Pica effects up to 30% of children and pregnant women.[2] In children it occurs most frequently in those between 18 months and 6 years of age.[2] Described of pica date back more than 2,000 years to Hippocrates.[5][6] The term is named for the common magpie (Pica pica) which eats unusual objects.[2]