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CLAY EATING BY ABORIGINALS OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
Author(s) -
Bateson Eric M.,
Lebroy Trevor
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1978.tb142322.x
Subject(s) - habit , medicine , psychology , psychotherapist
Eleven Aboriginal patients from the Northern Territory, in whom radiological examination of the abdomen demonstrated opaque masses of clay in the colon are described. This was due to the eating of white clay which is found only in streams, springs and billabongs of the coastal areas of the Territory. The habit does not appear to be a perversion of appetite, nor is it related to anaemia or pregnancy. The clay is eaten mainly for medicinal purposes or to allay hunger. The results are not always beneficial, since clay caused complications (including obstruction and perforation of the colon) in five of our 11 patients.