A 36 -year -old woman has developed an insatiable bleach of bleach. Scientists now know why

We all have our unusual food preferences, but it is unlikely that everything is as bizarre as the thirsty by a 36 -year -old woman presented in a recent case report. Her doctors have described how women have developed a sudden blanched thirst – a desire probably triggered by an autoimmune disorder.

Michigan doctors detailed the strange tale in an article published last month in the journal Case Reports in Psychiatry. The woman had developed severe anemia caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency, shortly after she started to appreciate the smell and possibly tasting whitening powder. Although she was successfully treated for her anemia and deficiency, we do not know if her desire for bleach disappeared for good.

Pretty

According to the case report, the woman visited a local emergency room with symptoms of severe anemia, including shortness of breath, fatigue and pain along its lower left. The initial tests revealed that it had macrocytic anemia (anemia characterized by too large red blood cells) caused by a chronic lack of vitamin B12. The woman quickly received a blood transfusion and admitted in the intensive care unit for additional processing and evaluation.

The woman had history of past psychological disorders, including depression and anxiety, although she has successfully succeeded with drugs. But given this story and its serious anemia, the doctors feared that it has also developed a PICA, or the compulsive desire to eat non -edible things. PICA is a complex and poorly understood condition, often linked to psychological problems as well as anemia and nutritional deficiencies.

The woman received a psychological consultation, in which she revealed her habit of money laundering. At first, she only appreciated the smell and texture of bleach but started to taste it. For more than a month, two to three times a day, she licked her finger, plunged her into the powder and placed her finger on her tongue. She claimed to have never completely ingested the bleach and plunged her around her mouth before spitting it and rinsing her mouth with water. She also pointed out that even if she had no problem with her thirst, her “family had expressed a significant concern” and tried to have it arrested.

Subsequent tests have shown that the woman wore harmful antibodies to a protein known as the intrinsic factor, which is necessary for our body to absorb vitamin B12 from food. In other words, the Women’s Vitamin B12 deficiency and subsequent anemia – and probably its Pica also – were caused by an autoimmune disorder.

This explanation only makes the disease of the woman even more unusual, however. To start, bleach is already rare, but not unknown, desire for Pica (more common desires are dirt, chalk or hair). Vitamin B12 deficiency is known to cause several psychological symptoms, but to the knowledge of the authors, it is the first case of bleach linked to vitamin B12 deficiency. The case is also notable because the woman had no iron deficiency, a more common trigger for Pica.

An uncertain spell

The woman was quickly transferred from the USI to the general hospital unit and has recovered considerably over the next three days. He was told to take ordinary vitamin B12 supplements and a medication for his gastritis. But she has never followed with doctors, so if she continued the treatment – or what her current health looks like – remains a mystery.

However, doctors say that the saga provides a timely lesson on the importance of looking for psychiatric consultations for medically complex cases like this.

“We suggest that the nuanced presentations of the PICA deserve an in-depth psychiatric assessment in anemic critical patients, especially since the PICA can involve toxic substances such as whitening,” they wrote.