History
The term pica originates from the Latin word for magpie, a bird that is reputed because of their unusual eating behaviors where they are known to eat almost anything. In 13th century Latin work, pica was referenced by the Greeks and Romans; however, it was not addressed in medical texts until 1563. In the southern United States in the 1800s, geophagia was a common practice among the slave population. Geophagia is a form of pica in which the person consumes earthly substances such as clay, and is particularly prevalent to augment a mineral-deficient diet. Research on eating disorders in the 16th century to the 20th century suggests that during that time in history, pica was regarded more as a symptom of other disorders rather than its own specific disorder. Even today, what can be classified as pica behavior is a normative practice in some cultures as part of magical beliefs, healing methods, or religious ceremonies.
Read more about this topic: Pica (disorder)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to “realize” myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have “succeeded” this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is “realizable.” Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)
“The true theater of history is therefore the temperate zone.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)