Hunter is a seemingly fulfilled woman, married to Richie. The day she becomes pregnant, the young woman develops an eating disorder that upsets everything in her path: Pica. This is the summary of the film Swallow, which hits theaters on January 15. But what is this disease?
Eating dirt, swallowing marbles, ingesting paper… These unusual food practices are not reserved for children’s experiments. They bear a name of pathology, it is Pica. It is characterized by the repeated ingestion of inedible foodstuffs.
A man swallows 1894 coins
It is only after the age of 2 that we speak of Pica syndrome. Most often, patients ingest earth, dust or pebbles, but also soap or wood. They don’t seek to feed on it, it’s a compulsive behavioral disorder. Another disease can be linked to Pica: tricophagia, eating your hair. In 2018, a Japanese man with this pathology made headlines by swallowing 1894 coins.
It is a fairly rare psychiatric disorder. That said, several cases have been declared at the time of pregnancy, as in the movie Swallow. It can lead to abdominal problems, malnutrition, poisoning, nutritional deficiencies, intestinal perforations or dental damage.
Pica disease is often linked to another mental or behavioral disorder, but can also be due to a significant mineral deficiency. There is no actual treatment other than psychotherapy.
Read also:
Pica disease: doctors find 2,000 pieces in the belly of a patient
Pica disease: a man found with 7 kilos of metal in the stomach
