What is pica? Causes, symptoms and treatment.

Pica or pica is an eating disorder where a person compulsively eats things that are not food and have no nutritional value or purpose. Depending on when and why a person does it, pica can be normal, expected, and harmless. However, it can cause major problems if a person with this condition eats something poisonous or dangerous. People suffering from this disorder can include the following in their diet, although there are other things besides these: –

1. Ash.
2. Baby or talcum powder.
3. Chalk.
4. Charcoal.
5. Soil, clay or soil.
6. To change.
7. Egg shells.
8. Any type of stool (poop).
9. Hair, string or thread.
10. Snow.
11. Laundry starch.
12. Paint Chips.
13. Paper.
14. Pebbles.
15. Pet food.
16. Soap.
17. Wool or cloth.

Who does pica affect? 

Pica can happen to anyone at any age but occurs in three specific groups of people:

1. Young children, especially those under 6 years of age.
2. People who are pregnant.
3. People with certain mental health conditions, especially autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities or schizophrenia.

How common is pica?
Pica is a relatively common condition, but experts aren’t sure how common it is. This is partly because research studies often do not use the same definition for the condition.

It is also common for doctors to miss the condition altogether. This can happen when people don’t tell their doctor about it or don’t report symptoms in their children.

Yet another reason is that infants and young children often put things in their mouths, which is part of their normal development. This type of pica usually goes away on its own very quickly.

How does pica affect the body?

Pica is a condition where a person compulsively eats things that are not food and have no nutritional value. Because it is compulsive, people with this condition have a very hard time controlling their urges.

Pica can have a wide range of effects depending on what non-food item(s) a person eats. Eating things like ice, a common behavior for those who are pregnant, is harmless. For others, it may lead to eating dangerous or poisonous things.

Depending on what you eat, pica can damage your teeth. Even when you eat things that aren’t toxic, it can cause dangerous problems. One example is when people eat hair, which can get stuck in their digestive tract, causing blockages, tearing, or other damage.

Soil-dwelling parasites can also infect people who eat dirt or soil (geophagia). People can also contract diseases from eating feces (poop), especially pet feces that may contain parasites or other germs.

What are the symptoms of pica?

The only symptom of pica is essentially eating things that are not food or have no nutritional value or benefit. Most people with this condition prefer the same types of non-food items that they eat.

However, pica can cause other conditions or issues, which have their own set of symptoms. Other conditions that can cause pica include the following:-

1. Anemia (low iron).
2. Ascariasis (roundworm infection).
3. Constipation.
4. Electrolyte imbalance.
5. Irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia).
6. Lead poisoning.
7. Obstruction/obstruction in the small intestine and large intestine.

What causes pica?

Experts don’t know exactly what causes pica. However, researchers do know that certain factors increase the risk of developing it.

1. Cultural or learned behaviors: Some types of pica are normal, socially accepted behaviors in some cultures and religions. A religious example of this is the practice of eating dirt at El Santuario de Chimayó, a Roman Catholic shrine in New Mexico, USA. A cultural example of this commonly occurs in cities in the country of South Africa, where it is a common practice among young women.
2. Stress or anxiety: Pica can be an outlet or coping mechanism for people who struggle with these problems.
3. Negative conditions during childhood: Pica is more common in children living in low socioeconomic conditions (such as poverty), but why this occurs is unknown. Some possible explanations include that pica is a coping mechanism for children to deal with situations of abuse or neglect. It may also be attention-seeking behavior, especially when one or both parents are absent for some reason.
4. Nutritional deficiencies: People who show symptoms of pica often have mineral or other deficiencies in their diets. Iron (anemia), calcium and zinc deficiencies are some of the most common reasons why people show these symptoms.
5. Mental health conditions:- These include conditions that a person may develop spontaneously, conditions that they had at birth because of how they developed in the womb and genetic disorders that they inherited from their parents. Were inherited.
6. Medical conditions: Pregnancy and sickle cell anemia are two conditions that are associated with pica.

Certain medications increase one’s risk of developing pica or similar behaviors. But it is unknown whether these medications actually cause people to develop pica.

How is pica diagnosed?

The following four criteria are required to diagnose pica:-

1. Time:- Diagnosis requires continuous consumption of items or substances of no food or nutritional value for at least one month.
2. Mental Development:- It means that a person has mentally advanced beyond a certain point and should know not to eat things that are not food or have no nutritional value.
3. No social and cultural factors:- This means that the individual does not have social or cultural background reasons to explain the behavior.
4. No medical or mental health condition: This means that pica is not being caused by any other condition.

Following are some of the reasons for not diagnosing eating disorders like pica:-

1. Cultural or social practices:- True pica is a compulsive behavior that you cannot control. For cultural or social reasons, people with pica behavior exert control over their actions.
2. Nutrient deficiency:- People who are deficient in iron or calcium often try to compensate for it by eating non-food items. This is why pika is acceptable behavior in some cultures. In some places around the world, people eat soil or clay to make up for the lack of iron, calcium or other vitamins and minerals in their diets.
3. Other medical or mental health conditions: The criteria for diagnosing pica make exceptions when caused by medical and mental health conditions. The only reason pica is diagnosed in those circumstances is if it is severe enough to cause health problems or requires specific care.

What tests will be done to diagnose pica? 

Most tests for pica look for problems caused by the condition. These may include a variety of lab, diagnostic and imaging tests, such as:

Blood, urine (pee) and stool (poop) tests. These look for signs of infection, toxicity, and electrolyte imbalance.

The doctor may recommend imaging tests. They are looking for any signs of blockage or internal damage from this condition. These may include X-rays, computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, and more.

The doctor may ask the patient to undergo some diagnostic tests. These tests look for signs of serious health problems that can occur with pica. An example of one of these tests is an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), which looks for problems with your heart’s electrical rhythm that may occur with certain electrolyte imbalances or parasitic infections.

How is pica treated, and is there a cure?
Pica in pregnant people usually goes away on its own. Children also usually grow out of pica, especially when someone teaches them the difference between edible and inedible objects and objects. For children with intellectual disabilities (or other problems that interfere with learning), both removal of problematic items and supervision are very important.

The main form of treatment for pica is therapy, with various therapy methods available depending on the condition and individual needs. Some of the treatments that are possible include the following:

Mild aversive therapy: This method treats pica by using mild aversives (consequences) to teach people to avoid non-food items and positively reinforce (reward) healthy eating behaviors. Involves teaching people to avoid the behavior.

Behavioral therapy:- This therapy involves teaching coping mechanisms and strategies to help a person change his behavior.

Differential reinforcement:- In this method, people learn to avoid pica behavior by focusing on other behaviors and activities.

Can pica be prevented?

Pica occurs unexpectedly, so there is no way to prevent it from developing. There is no way to reduce your risk of developing this condition.

The only thing you can do to relate to pica is to make sure that you eat a balanced diet and have no deficiencies in essential vitamins or minerals. While this isn’t exactly prevention or risk reduction, since nutritional deficiencies don’t count toward a pica diagnosis, it’s still important overall.