It may occur in as many as 10 to 32 percent of children before they’re six years old. The exact cause of pica is not known, and it is thought that many combined factors contribute the behavior. But, since it is linked to deficiencies in the diet, a doctor may perform blood tests to check the levels of iron and zinc in the body. There is no single diagnostic test for pica. Research has linked pica to an iron deficiency, although that’s just one facet and not the only cause. Items the person may eat can include paper, soap, cloth, hair, string, dirt, chalk, metal, charcoal, and other substances.The substances the person eats are not part of normal cultural or social practices (such as the eating of clay as a medicinal practice).You may notice the persistent eating of things that are not food or have no nutritional value over a period lasting at least one month."It's really not very common, but when it occurs, it can be bad."įor instance, an inquest was held into the death of Dewi Evans, a 61-year-old man from south Wales who died after surgery to remove a screw, a pen top, a magnet, and some coins from his bowel. "So it affects young kids and people with severe learning difficulties." O'Brien says 1 to 2 percent of people with learning disabilities suffer from extreme pica. "Pica usually appears in people of a low mental age," said Gregory O'Brien, professor of developmental psychiatry at Northumberland University, told the Guardian. It got its name in the 16 th century from the Latin for magpie, a bird that is known it eat just about anything.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Debunking Eating Disorder Myths People with pica, an eating disorder, will have urges to eat soil, coal, rust, chalk, and paper, although people with pica syndrome have been known to ingest anything from animal feces to bits of metal. The exact cause of pica syndrome is not known, but it might involve mineral deficiency and psychological age.
0 kommentar(er)
