Chalk, charcoal, ash, paper, toilet paper, coffee grounds, baby powder, and paint chips are also common choices.ĭIAGNOSIS - The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnosis of pica requires each of the following : Pagophagy (or pagophagia) – The consumption of large quantities of ice or freezer frost.Įarth, raw starch, and ice are the most commonly consumed pica substances.Amylophagy (or amylophagia) – The consumption of raw starches, including cornstarch, laundry starch, raw rice (ryzophagia), and flour.Geophagy (or sometimes geophagia) – The consumption of earth, including soil or other earth-rich items such as adobe, clay preparations, pottery, or bean stones (clumps of earth among dried beans).TYPES - There are three main types of pica: This topic will provide an overview of pica, focusing on its diagnosis, consequences, and management in pregnant persons. Read: Pica during pregnancy: safe alternative options for non-food cravings.INTRODUCTION - Pica is the craving and intentional consumption of substances not culturally defined as food. Possible effects on the fetus include prematurity, perinatal mortality, low birth weight, irritability, decreased fetal head circumference, and exposure to chemicals such as lead, pesticides, and herbicides. Effects on the mother could include dental injury, constipation, intestinal obstruction, dysfunctional labour due to faecal impaction, parasitic infections, toxaemia, interference with the absorption of minerals, lead poisoning, and hyperkalemia. The medical consequences, if any, of pica for mother and fetus, vary with the nature of the substance ingested. How can pica affect the pregnant woman and her unborn baby?ĭepending on the substance craved, pica can be potentially life-threatening, and the concern around pica in pregnancy is the harm it can do to mum and baby. Your Dog Can Smell Cancer On You: Unusual Sniffs Saved Some Patient’s Lives.Healthy Nutrition-Rich Foods For The Festive Cravings During Pregnancy.Adding Multivitamins To Your Table: Know If You Actually Need Them.One of the most widely postulated causes of clay and dirt pica is iron-deficiency anaemia. Possible nutritional deficiencies (vitamin and mineral deficiencies) are mostly the cause of pica. Culture also can play a role in pica for example, if it encourages specific dietary practices and indulgence of cravings. For example, clay eaten in parts of Nigeria has been shown to contain kaolinite and to act as a potent antidiarrheal it binds toxins and bacteria and may form a protective coat on the intestinal epithelium. Some women apparently practice pica for medicinal purposes. Many environmental, nutritional, socioeconomic, physiologic, cultural, and psychiatric causes have been postulated. The aetiology of pica appears to be complex. Dr Aruna Kalra, Gynaecologist and Obstetrics Surgeon, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, tells us more.
The strength and seriousness of some women's non-food cravings may, in fact, be pica. While most women crave 'traditional' things such as pickles when pregnant, cravings can sometimes be strange.
Caused by changing hormone levels, cravings are a side-effect of pregnancy, and for some women, they can pose a risk. Pica is defined as craving and purposeful consumption of nonfood items. Written by Upneet Pansare | Updated : Febru12:23 PM IST Can pica during pregnancy turn life-threatening?
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