BANGALORE: Are you experiencing sudden weight loss, mood swings and irregular heart rate? It could be beriberi.
Beriberi is an ailment caused by a deficiency of vitamin B1 (thiamine).
Known causes
Beriberi is caused by a lack of thiamine (vitamin B1).
Thiamine occurs naturally in unrefined cereals and fresh foods, particularly whole grain bread, fresh meat, legumes, green vegetables, fruit, and milk. Beriberi is therefore common in people whose diet excludes these particular types of nutrition, for example as a result of famine.
Beriberi may be found in people whose diet consists mainly of polished white rice, which is very low in thiamine because the thiamine- bearing husk has been removed. It can also be seen in chronic alcoholics with an inadequate diet (Wernicke- Korsakoff syndrome), as well as being a rare side effect of gastric bypass surgery.
If a baby is mainly fed on the milk of a mother who suffers from thiamine deficiency then that child may develop beriberi as well.
Identify it
The symptoms include weight loss, emotional disturbances, impaired sensory perception (Wernicke’s encephalopathy), weakness and pain in the limbs, and periods of irregular heart rate.
Edema (swelling of bodily tissues) is common. It may increase the amount of lactic acid and pyruvic acid within the blood. In advanced cases, the disease may cause heart failure and death. Wet beriberi affects the heart; it is sometimes fatal, as it causes a combination of heart failure and weakening of the capillary walls, which causes the peripheral tissues to become edematous. Dry beriberi causes wasting and partial paralysis resulting from damaged peripheral nerves.
It is also referred to as endemic neuritis.
Treatment
Treatment is with thiamine hydrochloride, either in tablet form or injection. A rapid and dramatic recovery can be made when this is administered to patients with wet beriberi and their health can be transformed within an hour of administration of the treatment.
In emergency situations where concentrated thiamine supplements are unavailable, feeding the patient with a thiamine-rich diet (like whole grain brown bread) will lead to recovery, though at a much slower rate. Additionally, administering glucose will provide the patient with a temporary boost, while their body recovers. Thiamine occurs naturally in fresh foods and cereals, particularly fresh meat, legumes, green vegetables, fruit, and milk.
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