![]() ![]() In total, 9 patients proceeded with observed treatment of their IDA with clinical follow-up and laboratory confirmation of iron repletion. ![]() Only 16.7% (2/12) reported concurrent ice pica. ![]() Many patients reported the frequency and satisfaction of these cravings resulted in jaw pain as well as the persistence of cravings despite this discomfort. Tactile cravings included chewing gum (3), mastic gum (2), ginseng (1), dry oats (1), crackers (1), pickles (1), chips (1), sawdust (1), and knitting rope (1). All patients were female and the median age was 41.5 years (33-59). We observed 12 patients with IDA who self-reported chew cravings during initial evaluation. Information including sociodemographics, substance craved, values of hemoglobin (Hgb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and ferritin before and after iron replacement therapy, and symptom resolution after treatment were recorded. This study included patients from the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and Ankara Training and Research Hospital (Ankara, Turkey) Hematology practices who self-reported tactile mastication cravings during initial evaluation for IDA between 1/1/18 and 6/30/19. In our practice we observed a subset of patients with IDA who report specific tactile cravings associated with mastication. Olfactory cravings associated with IDA are a recently described phenomenon known as desiderosmia. The compulsive craving and consumption of non-food substances, known as pica, is a well-documented symptom associated with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). ![]()
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