![]() ![]() In fact, eating clay can improve digestive function, and clay is often consumed for this very reason. Some cultures have a history of eating what we in the West would consider non-food items such as clay, although when it is a cultural pattern it is not considered a disorder. The incidence of pica may be significantly more prevalent than is recorded as many people do not mention having the condition, due to embarrassment. It can also be common in animals especially dogs. Stressful situations such as emotional trauma, maternal deprivation, family issues, parental neglect, pregnancy and a poor family structure are strongly linked to pica as a form of psychological comfort. ![]() Pica can also manifest in other mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder where it can be a coping mechanism. It is also common among mentally and developmentally disabled people from 10 to 20 years old where it is often more severe and long lasting. Pica is quite common in children (about 30 per cent of children up to the age of 6 eat non-food items), and in pregnant women, but in these it is usually temporary. It is a disorder involving cravings for non-food substances that contain little or no nutritive value and to be diagnosed as such, this behaviour must continue for at least a month.įor the last couple of months she had been trying to manage a constant craving to eat chalk. Pica is so named from the Latin word for ‘magpie’, a bird that will eat just about anything. The not uncommon condition she had is an eating disorder called ‘pica’. Her digestion was worse when consuming dairy products so she generally avoided them. The symptoms she presented with included heartburn, wind and bloating on a daily basis with her bowel movements fluctuating from loose stools to mild constipation. She also had problems with digestion and felt she wasn’t digesting her food properly, much of it showing up in her stool, recognisable in its nearly original state. For the last couple of months she had been trying to manage a constant craving to eat chalk and it was concerning her. A 40-year-old woman presented to the clinic recently with a very interesting problem. ![]()
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