In order to come to a diagnosis of pica, the patient must exhibit: The person’s eating habits may also be reviewed, but often a patient is dishonest about eating nonfood items due to either embarrassment or believing there is nothing wrong with it. A test may be done to check for potential infections caused by non-food items that have been contaminated with bacteria or other organisms.īlood tests and X-rays may be performed as well. If there are symptoms present, the physician will perform a complete medical history and physical exam. The physician will also evaluate for signs of other disorders, such as developmental disabilities or obsessive-compulsive disorder, which may be the cause of the eating disorder. DiagnosisĪ physician who suspects pica will need to perform an evaluation to assess for possible intestinal blockages, anemia, or toxicity from the consumed substances. Consuming non-food items helps the person feel full. Dieting and malnourishment can lead to pica. Some people enjoy the textures or flavors of such nonfood items as clay, and it is acceptable behavior in some cultures. Mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder, may lead to pica as a way for the person to cope with the mental health condition. In fact, in pregnant women, anemia (low iron) is often the cause of pica, because the body develops unusual cravings in response to low nutrient levels.
However, an iron, zinc, or calcium deficiency may be associated with pica in some cases. Other substances that are ingested include cigarette butts, ashes, feces, and starch. Adults, on the other hand, tend towards paper, glue, ice, and soap. The pica cravings are less common in pregnant women.Ĭhildren are attracted to such items as soil, paint, pencils, clay, hair, and insects. When pica develops in adults, there is usually a co-existing intellectual disability or other mental disorder involved.Īccording to Everyday Health and the National Institutes of Health, as many as 32% of children between the ages of one and six display this behavior. Infants and babies learn about the world by putting nonfood items in their mouths, but they normally outgrow the habit by two to three years of age. Pica is a rare eating disorder that may develop at any stage of life, but it tends to occur in young children, adolescents, and pregnant women. The word pica is Latin for magpie, a bird known for its willingness to eat just about anything, according to Psychology Today. A person who has experienced such food cravings may have been diagnosed with pica. However, imagine the need to eat soil, cigarette butts, and paint. One involves starvation and the other involves binge eating and purging. Treatment depends on the manifestations ruptured dissecting aneurysms are often treated with surgery or embolization, and infarcts are usually treated with antithrombotic agents.Most of us are aware of such eating disorders as anorexia and bulimia. Isolated PICA dissection may be considered in patients with PICA territory infarct or subarachnoid hemorrhage.
PICA ETIOLOGY FREE
He was treated with clopidogrel and was free of neurological symptoms 3 months after the stroke event. Catheter angiography showed focal stenosis with a post-stenotic fusiform aneurysmal dilatation of the left proximal PICA that was highly suggestive of dissection with pseudoaneurysm formation. Magnetic resonance angiography showed a faint signal adjacent to the junction of the left VA and PICA, suggesting a vascular shadow. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed an acute cerebellar infarct in the left PICA territory. Neurologically, he had dysmetria of the left extremities. There was no precedent trauma or chiropractic manipulation. A 37-year-old man experienced acute and progressive drowsiness, vertigo, occipital headache, vomiting, and ataxia. The posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) is frequently involved in dissection of the vertebral artery (VA) however, isolated PICA dissection has rarely been reported.
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