Okay, here is one we are going to have to file under “weird and bizarre”.Miss Adele Edwards has a very rare medical condition called Pica Disorder. Believe it or not, it gives you the overwhelming desire to eat things that have no nutritional value.
In the case of Mrs. Edwards, who has five children, it makes her want to eat the inside foam filler of couch cushions. We’re not making this stuff up folks.
Edwards, 31, said,
“In the last year I’ve eaten seven sofas. I unzip the cushions and snack on the foam inside. And once I start I just can’t stop. But now doctors have told me that if I carry on, my addiction will kill me.”
Pica disorder is usually seen in children and pregnant women who lack certain nutrients and basic food elements, causing them to crave non-nutritive substances like chalk, dirt, coins, plastic, paper and even rocks.
Adele has recently been eating pieces of couch cushion fifteen times per day and consumes the equivalent of a throw pillow each week.
Pica is frequently caused by a mineral deficiency in many cases, such as an iron or salt deficiency, which sometimes is a result of celiac disease or other infection.
Sometimes it’s caused by stress, and Adele admits her first time happened during a very emotional period in her life when her parents were on the brink of divorce.
Her gastroenterologist, Dr. Christopher Olenec of the Digestive Health Center in Sarasota, Florida – the Doctor who diagnosed Edwards with Pica – ran tests and determined Adele was lacking iron in her blood.
“The question became, did she have a deficiency in her iron? And was that what was driving her to ingest the seat cushions?"
Miss Edwards’s blood contained half the amount of iron of a normal woman. Dr. Olenec believes he can now develop a simple supplement treatment for Adele that will cure her of her curious affliction.
Watch Sofa Eating Lady Video
