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The Pica Syndrome

The Pica syndrome is the urge of eating non-nutritious objects, such as rocks, metal pieces, dirt and even your own hair. This disorder is named after the bird pica, who eats pretty much any object it finds. The accumulus of such objects are named bezoars, and obviously, it can be extremely dangerous to your health, causing internal wounds and bleeding, leading to death if not treated.

The denomination 'bezoar' comes from the Arabic object of same name, which was a cluster of medicinal herbs and mineral powders, said to be a cure-all medicine. It was swallowed whole: thus the connection to harmful bezoars.

Additionally, a person who suffers from trychophagia (hair-eater) can have another disease, the Rapunzel Syndrome. This consists on a trychobezoar (a bezoar made from hair) that tangles inside your bowels, trapping anything you eat, and can extend to really long proportions, much like Rapunzel's hair. This happens because the hair is made up from chitin, a cheratinous and resistent substance that also makes up the nails on your hand and toes.

People who compulsively eat nails can be named onychophagous, and while they don't tangle in your stomach, you can accidentally carry the dirt below the nails, which can transmit enterobiasis or other diseases, not to say you can permanently damage your nails.