![pica disease pica disease](https://www.eleksie.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/pica-disorder-pic.jpg)
![pica disease pica disease](https://mycompass.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/pica.jpg)
Most people get adequate iron from their diets – there’s plenty in red meat, beans, lentils, millet, chickpeas, dark, leafy greens, molasses, dried apricots, dried peaches, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, scallops, clams, oysters, soybeans, and many other foods. Because it is one of the few minerals we cannot eliminate, it can accumulate in the body, and, being a strong oxidizing agent, can increase the risk of cancer and damage the heart and the arteries. Pica is more common in people with autism spectrum disorder and developmental or intellectual disabilities. With the exception of menstruating women and individuals who have had a significant blood loss, no one should take supplemental iron except when advised to by a physician after blood tests reveal iron deficiency anemia. The exact cause of pica is not known, but it may be associated with certain medical conditions (gastric parasites, sickle cell disease, iron deficiency). It happens more in children than in teens or adults. Instead, see your physician for a blood test to determine whether you have it. However, pica can also be a symptom of stress, emotional upset, obsessive-compulsive disorder and, in children, a developmental disorder.ĭon’t start taking iron supplements on the theory that your underlying problem is a deficiency of this mineral. Research also suggests that ice tastes better to people who are iron deficient. One study suggested that the ice may relieve the pain of glossitis, an inflammation of the tongue that can be a sign of iron deficiency. We don’t know why it occurs among pregnant women or why individuals with iron deficiency anemia crave and habitually chew ice. The specific compulsion to chew ice is called pagophagia and has been associated with pregnancy, iron deficiency anemia and, sometimes, other nutritional problems. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Pica involves the compulsive eating of non-nutritive, non-food substances inappropriate to the.