Talk:Pica (disorder)

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Early comments

I've removed the following, which I assume to be jokes. If you wish to add them back to the list, please give a reference supporting the claim that these are real disorders.

xylophagia (consumption of wood toothpicks)
coniophagia (consumption of dust from Venetian blinds)
gooberphagia (pathological consumption of peanuts)

--Woggly 19:31, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I am restoring these because of [1], which does appear to be an independent source (i.e. not quoting wikipedia) it also mentions "pagophagia, a hankering for ice" not mentioned in this article. It is also referenced by a couple of other sites including even discharge blood from stakes or even people waste or animal wasteThe Woman Who Vomited Frogs. Egad!--ZayZayEM 06:57, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

On the subject of a "hankering for ice" I do know this to be real as I experienced it myself during my twin pregnancy, and it was discussed with one of my midwives as a not uncommon thing to happen to pregnant women - however, I can't remember the name for it.

Kchapman 09:59, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

xylophagia: xylo- means wood and -phagia means eating, so, wood-eating. There may be no sources but that's what it means. Maybe not just wooden toothpicks, but just plain wood.
coniophagia: complete lie.
gooberphagia: complete lie again -- since when was peanuts not food?

12:28, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

In most of the world 'goobers' are boogers. But I'm sure it's graffiti all the same. Foxi tails (talk) 04:43, 30 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

non-foods?

Flour is food. So is starch--ZayZayEM 06:50, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

- Very true, but starch and flour are not normally eaten raw. Of course, very few people would go and buy a bag of flour, open it then wolf it down! Ditto for starch, which reminds me, can you even buy starch? It's normally added (or already in) foods? ^KILO-_LIMA 21:21, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You can buy corn starch in the supermarket, it's typically used in cooking as a thickening agent in gravies and sauces and so forth. Bikergeek (talk) 08:28, 20 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

crayons?

Hi there,

Here is a source for crayon eating even although it comes from Ebaumsworld [2] Even although I wouldn't really trust Ebaumsworld, this appears to be from a magazine. Thanks, 12:00, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

i doubt it...

"There is a lack of major studies and research in this field, possibly because of strong aversion to the subject as "gross" and "disgusting"."

Since when would a researcher be put off by something being culturally "gross" or "disgusting"? Ever read the influential 2004 paper "homosexual necrophilia in the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos"? researchers aren't put off by gay corpse f***ing ducks, but apparently are by dirt eating? --86.135.179.53 19:08, 13 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Pica

Wouldn't eating paper be considered pica?

Peanuts and potatoes

"Pathological consumption of peanuts" and "abnormal ingestion of raw potatoes" are currently in the list of examples. I question their inclusion, as both peanuts and potatoes are food. Excessive consumption may be some form of eating disorder, but it seems that by definition it isn't pica. I suppose that raw potatoes could be considered a borderline case, for the same reason as plain flour. However, I think that without supporting evidence, the peanut entry at least should definitely be removed from the list. --Icarus 22:09, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, the "gooberphagia" thing has been brought up before and it's probably the same person who keeps putting it back after it gets removed. Phobia had a similar problem with jokey conditions/real conditions ("fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth," etc) so I've posted over there asking for advice or help. I'd say gooberphagia is OK to delete though, unless whoever is adding it wants to explain themselves (yeah, right). Recury 02:47, 4 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

error

alot of this article is incorrect but i do not feel i should fix it because i do not believe all of this information should be discredited. i did a lot of research into this subject and a majority of my reliable sources(medical textbooks and case studies) expressly said that Pica is more rarely a psychological disorder than it is a biochemical defeciency. i added a paragraph to the page but i did not remove anything. i also added my sources and they seem more reliable than the other sources such as "The Straight Dope". they are the internet version of a medical book and one case study of a man who compulsively ate matches. i am not however going to deny that some cases of Pica are caused by psychological dysfunction.

How do you define Pica?

I want to know more about this disorder. I know a lot of people who like to eat stuff that normally would be considered gross, like raw potato and powdered milk. Is it always a disorder when you eat things like that? I like to eat paper, in little bits at a time. Is this Pica? Should I stop doing it? Even if it is Pica, is paper dangerous to eat? --Jonathan ^talk 15:36, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think so- it's not dangerous to half the known population of a certain elementary school- so I guess it's fine...

Citation Needed

Someone seems to have gone a little "citation needed" crazy. I mean, I'm sure that "Most developmental centers have a no-smoking policy" needs a citation, but does "due to this fact" need a citation? And is the paragraph in question even needed? FruitMart07 23:35, 13 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I deleted this paragraph. It looks like it was added as a joke and someone put in "citation needed" to bring attention to how ridiculous this is. If it's actually true, it should be put back up with citations. 134.84.102.244 00:15, 3 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'll try and get a photo of the signs at one of our facilities, a day program for the developmentally disabled. It states: [paraphrasing] "Please deposit cigarette butts in designated containers due to the risk they pose to our individuals". -- MacAddct  1984 ^{(talk  contribs)} 18:12, 5 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

consumption of mattrass foam

what do you call that? I have a friend who eats foam from her bed mattrass, practically chews on this for 30 mins. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.227.230.130 (talk) 14:56, 30 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Treatment

Why is "Test and treat for anemia, eg, with time-release iron supplements" not listed anywhere under Treatment? Ideally it would be listed first, before any psychosocial interventions.Tina Kimmel 17:18, 16 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I went to the doctors with my mum who told the dr. about my consumption of paper. He went onto google and read a passage of a girl with similar problems in the USA. He read what a reader had replied to as appropriate treatment and said that he was going to do the same unless I gave up eating paper within the next 10 days. He offered to refer me to a psychiatrist, and I said no because I am not mental! He did not ask me for a blood test to find out if I was iron deficient. Should I change doctors, or is he right, I do need to see a psychiatrist.79.121.205.200 (talk) 19:12, 17 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Frequency?

Does anyone have a reference that would shed any light on how many people are thought to be afflicted by Pica? Also, does anyone know if this disorder is reported fairly equally across different populations of people (cultural groups, male/female...)? Johntex\^talk 04:31, 16 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added answers to some of your questions, but I've avoided the question of prevalence differences by sex. Naturally females are affected more due to pregnancy, but we would expect them to be affected more due to general anemia as well - however, I have been unable to find a reference for this. I haven't seen any evidence of differential prevalence by sex amongst children or developmentally disabled adults. --Zach425 09:14, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rapunzel Example

I wouldn't consider the following snippet from the article to be an example of pica: "In the fairy tale Rapunzel, a pregnant woman longs for some of the leafy vegetable in a neighbour's garden, and is sure she will die if her craving is not satisfied." Because she wants a vegetable, she is not craving something inedible. Idbelange (talk) 03:25, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Removing uncited & unsubstantiated sentences

I have removed the following two sentences from the text. The first one has remained uncited despite being "citation needed" for nearly two years. The second had no citation and does not appear to be backed by the literature - though a lack of a mineral deficiency may suggest mental disorder, simply the absence of a deficiency does not in itself lead to the diagnosis of a mental disorder.

"The association between pica and [[iron deficiency anemia]] is so strong that most patients with iron deficiency will admit to some form of pica.{{Fact|date=September 2007}}"

"If a mineral deficiency is not identified as the cause of pica, it often leads to a diagnosis of a mental disorder." --Zach425 10:13, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Evolutionary significance

This page needs to include a section about the evolutionary significance of pica. It occurs in other animals besides humans, and can be seen as an adaptation from millions of years ago to deal with nutrient deficiencies. As such, it is less of a "disorder" than a condition, because it represents a normally-functioning body trying to compensate for malnutrition.

Pokemon

Is there some reason the Pokemon Pikachu's name is not mentioned in the "popular culture" section? If not, I will add it. Egnalebd (talk) 20:00, 18 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think you would first need a compelling link between Pikachu and pica. Although it's been over a decade since I last watched a Pokemon episode, I don't remember Pikachu eating anything that would indicate pica, nor can I find a link online. Pikachu shouldn't be mentioned in this article just because his name sounds like the eating disorder. —Zach425 ^talk/contribs 23:48, 18 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

More likely the fact that a pika is a small rodent, and I would assume "Chu" is Japanese for something like "small" or maybe even a kind of rodent, so Pikachu translated loosely would be "MouseMouse" or something silly like that. Totally unrelated to this article. 99.197.128.57 (talk) 04:50, 27 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Daniel Sherriff

If someone is in charge of this page, I expect the reference to Daniel Sherriff is someone's idea of a joke. The example isn't true pica, and the supposed effect sounds like someone made it up. I Googled and found no support for this. Absent a citation, should it be deleted? 71.86.120.216 (talk) 09:45, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I'm not in charge of the page, but that reference was laughable, so I went ahead and deleted it. --Dweingart (talk) 19:01, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Reason the name Pica = Magpie was chosen

I would dispute this article's assumption that the reason the word Pica (Latin for Magpie) was chosen is because this bird "eats almost anything". The characteristic behaviour of magpies is that they are thieves; that will steal INEDIBLE shiny objects and hoard them in their nest. This explanation better matches the characteristic of the medical condition which is craving inedible or metallic objects and substances. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.242.63.18 (talk) 11:45, 29 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]