[Pica, a strange symptom unveiled even in "Don Quixote"].
Pica, the compulsive eating of non edible substances, is known by the medical profession for centuries. In the novel by Miguel de Cervantes "Adventures of the famous knight Don Quixote de la Mancha'', there is a history in which "women that by caprice eat soil, plaster coal and other disgusting substances'' are mentioned. This description configures the clinical diagnosis of pica. This fact has not attracted the attention of the critics of Cervantes' novel, up to now. This unequivocal reference of pica suggests that iron deficiency anemia, caused by chronic hemorrhages in adults, was frequent in 1605, when the book was first published.
Larraín
Camilo
C
Sección Hematología, Departamento de Medicina, Hospital Clínico, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D006801:Humans; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D010842:Pica / Q000266:history*