Guest guest Posted March 29, 2002 Report Share Posted March 29, 2002 Hi Noreen, Interesting one. I used to see this more in my dietetic days and mostly in pregnancy. Some say it was a way of reducing nausea and morning sickness, some say its a response to a mineral imbalance. The hormonal thing is certainly there I think. Also have thought about mineral ratios being off somehow which seem to be significant when talking of mineral balance. There was a study done in the late 70's on a phenomenon among southern American black women who were found to be eating large amounts of clay and laundry starch which was trying to bring in some cultural factors but I would be wary of that. A little bit different but possibly relevant was my recent patient who presented with a fibroid who was eating up to 8 whole lemons a day, skin and all. She couldn't stop herself and would eat one or two lemon as soon as she got in her car after shopping for them. I gave her a hefty liver tonic with Carduus and Tarax Rad in the Rx besides other things and found that her cravings stopped very soon after taking. Maybe liver work could help in this case. Good Luck Pica > Hello all, > Does anyone have any thoughts on Pica - ie: strange " food " cravings > and what they mean ??? > ...the case in hand is of a 24yearold woman who has been diagnosed > with PCOS, but who has had annenorrhoea alternating with mennorrhagia > since menarche and is severly anaemic...Fe supplementation has only > helped to an extent and made an already bad bowel situation > worse.Tried Dianet for a year in the past. Diet was very poor with > major carbohydrate craving.GIT sx included abdominal pain, flatulence > and bloating and b.m. only once in 4-5 days. Suspected lactose > intolerance; oily and/or spicy foods aggravate. Strangely, apples > cause severe wind... > Lots of URTI catarrh and P/H of recurrent ear infxns ongoing for 2 or > more years,thus Abx tx. > Eczema, SOBOE, fatigue, palpitations,severe mood swings, knee > crepitations, and shin pains both legs, tendency to thrush, and ankle > oedema are amongst other sx. > At first visit, Pulse 82, BP 95/60, Peak flow 350, Abdomen generally > tender with lots of gas pockets & ? impacted faeces. > As for the Pica -she has made a very large hole in her bedroom wall > chipping out the mortar between the bricks to eat, having had the > plaster for starters...She is an intelligent woman, but cannot help > herself.. > I went through a complete dietary overhaul with her, aimed at > addressing the carbohydrate craving and poor nutrition(esp. Mg rich > foods), as well as cutting out dairy. > Rx: Tribulus, Paeonia, Galega, sin. & Glycyrrhiza. > Supplements: Chromium 200ug & Iron 14mg(AA complex)aa one o.d., cc. > Second visit, GIT sx vastly improved.Bowels now regular o.d. and no > straining, energy levels and mood better, catarrh less, otherwise as > before. She made a huge effort with the dietary changes and feels > motivated to continue. However,the mortar craving continues...she has > not given in to it as much as I worried her about fungicides and > heavy metals apparently, but the craving has been severe. She has a > good relationship with her GP and will at my suggestion talk to her > about getting a full mineral assessment done. I am obviously > concerned about her bone density, and Ca/Mg status. I have hesitated > to give these as supplements until knowing just what is happening and > also sorting out the GIT. If the GP won't get the tests done, then we > are considering Hair Analysis. She has asked me to check out if > anyone else has had mortar cravings and if it is a straightforward Ca > deficiency...???Any thoughts anyone???And could heavy metal poisoning > complicate the picture now??(have not mentioned this possibility to > her but it concerns me somewhat) > Thanks in anticipation, > Noreen, who used to eat the burnt ends off matchsticks!(and > occasinally still does) > Ps. Site for the NIMH members page is > http://newsite.nimh.org.uk/members/ > You need to get the password etc off list though > > > > List Owner > > > > Graham White, MNIMH > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2002 Report Share Posted March 29, 2002 Ref the hair analisis - as a member of the Trichological Society, I do know a specialist in the interpretation of hair analysis results. Do mail me if you are interested in speaking/e-mailing them. The lady concerned is also a fully trained nutritionist and can give advice on how the results of the hair analysis can be corrected with diet and supplementation. Cheers Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 A hair mineral analysis is an excellent idea > (Biolab London) if someone can interpret it correctly........it is not as > straightforward as it might seem and is useful as a general screen pointing > the way to other tests. The ratio between the minerals is > important.......it will also show heavy metal levels. Hello lind, I have used Biomed International based in Sussex on a few occassions in the past. They send the hair samples off to a Canadian lab. which does ICAP ie: Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Emission Spectroscopy, and tests for 27 elements inc. toxic metals and significant ratios. Is this different to the one you recommend? I have a couple of friends involved with the interenational Parkinson's Disease Association and they are involved with research using this lab. (P.D. sufferers over time develop severe mineral depletion) Thus I assume they are reputable but I am no expert... Is your patient still iron > deficient? Has this been followed up? There is no need at all to take > ferrous sulphate which causes constipation and the last thing she needs, > there are other excellent forms of iron. Even after the Hb comes back to > normal it can take some months to get the iron levels back up. A serum > ferritin will show this and should be done Her Hb is still low - 8.9 up from 6 after 2 years of Fe supp.s. My hope is that as we get her GIT fn improved that this will make a big difference. Also aware that serum ferritin levels will be important esp. considering the hair loss even if we get the Hb back up. I have put her on Lambert's Fe AA complex instead of the prescribed sulphate, and alongside the Rx I gave her, the constipation has improved greatly. Thanks for your suggestions, All the best, Noreen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 > > Ref the hair analisis - as a member of the Trichological Society, I do know > a specialist in the interpretation of hair analysis results. Do mail me if > you are interested in speaking/e-mailing them. The lady concerned is also > a fully trained nutritionist and can give advice on how the results of the > hair analysis can be corrected with diet and supplementation. Hello Helen, What is the Trichological Society? And yes please I would be interested in learning more about interpretation...perhaps we all would... Cheers, Noreen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 Re cravings, Has your patient had her transferrin levels checked. When working in Haematology at the RPMS I came across a couple of cases of cravings associated with iron deficiency. In these cases the problem was linked to the absorption of the iron rather than the dietary levels. It might be worth looking at the transferase proteins and other absorption mechanisms. As regards heavy metal toxicity this can be seen in blood tests if the laboratory is told of the suspicion. The blood tests will show up any high levels of heavy metals whereas hair tests will also show when the toxicity started. This is often used forensically but may be useful in this instance. If there are any practising biomedical scientists out there they may be able to give more information regarding tests. Whitton Senior Scientist Herbal Apothecary Ltd High Street Syston Leicester LE7 1GQ Tel: 0 Fax: 0116260 2757 Direct Tel: 0 email: awhitton@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2002 Report Share Posted March 30, 2002 Re.PICA Another common reason that iron supplementation can be ineffective is that many patients take the iron tablets with a cup of tea in the morning. Theophylline and caffeine suppress the absorption of iron. However vitamin C increases the absorption so taking the tablets with a glass of orange juice may help. Whitton Senior Scientist Herbal Apothecary Ltd High Street Syston Leicester LE7 1GQ Tel: 0 Fax: 0116260 2757 Direct Tel: 0 email: awhitton@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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