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Severe craving associated with kaolin consumption

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Abstract

Purpose

Kaolin eating is an ancestral and worldwide tradition, particularly in women in order to relieve nauseas and abdominal troubles. Nevertheless, damaging effects such as anemia and intestinal troubles are well documented. However, compulsive disorders associated with kaolin intake are less known.

Result

We reported in this paper a severe craving observed in a young woman consuming kaolin for several years, associated with a microcytic iron-deficiency non-regenerative anemia.

Conclusion

This paper allows to draw attention among physicians who are rarely informed of this practice imported from abroad and have consequently a limited role in informing patients of the potential deleterious side effects of geophagia.

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Funding

The authors did not have any financial support or sponsor for this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital of Poitiers, 2 rue de la Milétrie, BP 577, 86021, Poitiers Cedex, France

    Stéphanie Pain, Bernard Fauconneau, Emilie Bouquet & Marie-Christine Pérault-Pochat

  2. Inserm U1084, University of Poitiers, 1, rue Georges Bonnet, 86022, Poitiers Cedex, France

    Stéphanie Pain & Marie-Christine Pérault-Pochat

  3. Hospital of La Rochelle, Rue du docteur Albert Schweitzer, 17000, La Rochelle, France

    Laurence Vasse-Terrier

Authors
  1. Stéphanie Pain
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  2. Bernard Fauconneau
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  3. Emilie Bouquet
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  4. Laurence Vasse-Terrier
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  5. Marie-Christine Pérault-Pochat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernard Fauconneau.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest for this paper.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

This article is part of the topical collection on Food and Addiction.

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Pain, S., Fauconneau, B., Bouquet, E. et al. Severe craving associated with kaolin consumption. Eat Weight Disord 24, 379–381 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0583-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0583-1

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