Pica (disorder)

Pica is an appetite for non-foods (e.g., coal, soil, chalk, etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch). In order for these actions to be considered pica, they must persist for more than one month, at an age where eating dirt, clay, etc., is considered developmentally inappropriate. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for the magpie, a bird which is reputed to eat almost anything. Pica is seen in all ages, particularly in pregnant women and small children, especially among children who are developmentally disabled where it is the most common eating disorder.

It is often cigarette butts that are consumed, presumably for the Nicotine content. Most developmental centers have a no-smoking policy due to this fact, and developmentally disabled persons out in the community are often at risk of sickness and/or choking on the litter they find.

It is much more common in developing countries and rural areas than elsewhere. In extreme forms, pica is regarded as a medical disorder.

Pica in children, while common, can be dangerous. Children eating painted plaster containing lead may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning. There is a similar risk from eating dirt near roads that existed prior to the phaseout of tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline or prior to the cessation of the use of contaminated oil (either used, or containing toxic PCBs) to settle dust. In addition to poisoning, there is also a much greater risk of gastro-intestinal obstruction or tearing in the stomach. This is also true in animals.

Causes
Pregnant women have been known to develop strong cravings for gritty substances like soil, flour or earthenware. Some theorize that these women may be craving trace minerals lacking in their system. There is a lack of major studies and research in this field.

Research that has been done on the development of Pica suggest that the majority of patients that have Pica tend to suffer some biochemical deficiency and more often iron deficiency. Often what the person with Pica eats does not contain the mineral they are deficient of. In many people where a biochemical deficiency is the case, Pica is not discovered until the deficiency is adressed. In these cases patients are treated for the deficiency and the Pica is usually resolved. However, if Pica is discovered before any deficiency, the person is usually improperly diagnosed with a mental disorder. if the deficiency continues to go unnoted it can become severe if the root of the deficiency is a disease or internal problem.

Treatment
Treatment emphasizes psychosocial, environmental, and family guidance approaches. Other successful treatments have been mild aversion therapy followed by positive reinforcement.

This involves associating bad consequences with eating non-food items and good consequences with normal behavior. Medications may be helpful in reducing the abnormal eating behavior, if pica occurs in the course of a developmental disorder, such as mental retardation, or pervasive developmental disorder. These conditions may be associated with severe behavioral disturbances, including pica.

Examples

 * Acuphagia (ingestion of sharp objects)
 * Amylophagia (consumption of starch)
 * Cautopyreiophagia (consumption of burnt matches)
 * Coniophagia (consumption of dust)
 * Coprophagia (consumption of excrement)
 * Emetophagia (consumption of vomit)
 * Geomelophagia (abnormal ingestion of raw potatoes)
 * Geophagy (consumption of soil)
 * Hematophagy (ingestion of blood)
 * Hyalophagia (consumption of glass)
 * Lithophagia (ingestion of stones)
 * Mucophagy (consumption of mucus)
 * Pagophagia (pathological consumption of ice)
 * Self-cannibalism (rare condition where body parts may be consumed)
 * Trichophagia (consumption of hair or wool)
 * Urophagia (consumption of urine)
 * Xylophagia (consumption of wood)