These patients are susceptible to electrolyte and metabolic disorders, lead and mercury poisoning, hypokalemia (from resinphagia), parasitic infections, tooth wear, intestinal obstruction, and various problems of the gastrointestinal tract. Pica poses significant health risks that often require medical interventions. A small percentage of patients have iron deficiency anemia. Worldwide, 25% to 33% of all pica cases involvesmall children, 20% are pregnant women, and 10% to 15% are individuals with learning disabilities. Although pica is most prominent in individuals with developmental disabilities, it has been observed in men and women of all ages and ethnicity, but is more prevalent among the lower socioeconomic classes. Since then, many cases of pica have been reported where patients have acknowledged ingesting ice cubes (pago-phagia), clay (geophagia), dried pasta (amylophagia), chalk, starch, paste, Kayexalate resin (resinphagia), tomatoes, lemons, cigarette butts, hair, lead, and laun- dry starch (for example, Argo out of the box). One of the first cases of pica was noted in 6th century AD and was observed in a pregnant woman. The condition has been described in medical journals for centuries. This paper reports the management of a 18 year old patient with PICA disorder. The true incidence of pica is not known but it is estimated to be 75% in infants, 15% in two-three year old toddlers and 10-33% among the institutionalized mentally retarded children. Pica is seen in all ages, infants, children, elders, those with developmental disabilities (autism or mentally retarded) and in pregnant women. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird that is reputed to eat almost anything. Pica is an eating disorder typically defined as the persistent eating or mouthing of non-nutritive substances.
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