Indian woman eats sand as health remedy

A 70-year-old woman in northern India's state of Uttar Pradesh has been eating about two kilograms of sand everyday for the past 40 years and has not reported any health problems because of this rare habit. "I am eating sand for the past 40 years. There is my habit and there is no problem with me due to this," said Krishnavati.

The rare thing is that she did not have any problem in her stomach or with her health even after consuming this much amount of sand. Initially, Krishnavati's family members were worried about her rare habit, thinking that it would cause serious illness to her. But as she remained healthy, even they started encouraging her by bringing sand from market.



"I have been noticing that she is eating about 2 kilograms of sand daily. Many times, she asked us to get her sand from shop. She eats it and is not having any difficulty due to this. She is healthy even now," said Suryanath, Krishnavati's neighbor. Doctors say that this is a psychological illness and needs to be treated.

"In our country, we consider everything unusual as miracle. There is no such miracle in this case. This is well documented and is mentioned in books. During our Master of Medicine and Master of Surgery course also, we are taught about this. Its advanced studies are also done. This is a disease called Pica and its treatment should be done. As this lady is doing it for more than 30 years, the reason is psychological and should be treated by a psychologist," said Anurag Dixit, General Surgeon. Pica is a disorder characterized by an appetite for non-nutritive substances like metal, hair, dirt, plastic and such things and is generally found in children and old age people.

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