Beriberi

Beriberi is a nervous systemailment caused by a deficiency of vitaminB1 (thiamine), the symptoms of which may include weight loss, emotional disturbances, impaired sensory perception (Wernicke's encephalopathy), weakness and pain in the limbs, and periods of irregular heartbeat. Swelling of bodily tissues (edema) is common. In advanced cases, the disease may cause heart failureand death. The origin of the word is from the Sinhalese(Sri Lankan) language meaning "I cannot, I cannot".

Beriberi occurs in people whose staple diet consists mainly of polished white rice, which contains little or no thiamine. Therefore the disease has been seen traditionally in people in Asiancountries (especially in the nineteenth centuryand before) and in chronic alcoholicswith impaired liverfunction. If a baby is fed the milkof a mother who suffers from a deficiency in thiamine, the child may develop beriberi.

There are two forms of the disease: wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the heart; it is sometimes fatal, as it causes a combination of heart failureand weakening of the capillarywalls, which causes the peripheral tissues to become waterlogged. Dry beriberi causes wasting and partial paralysisresulting from damage to the peripheral nerves. So, it is also referred to as endemic neuritis.

The first stage in discovering the cause of beriberi was in the 1890s, when a Dutchdoctor, Christiaan Eijkman, found that fowl fed only on polished rice developed similar symptoms to his patients who had beriberi, and that they could be cured if they were also fed some of the husks from the rice grains. In 1912, Casimir Funkisolated the anti-beriberi factor from rice and called it vitamine - an amineessential for life. In the 1930s, the chemical formula of this vitamin B1 was published by Robert R. Williams, and it was named thiamine.

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. Thiamine occurs naturally in fresh foods and cereals, particularly fresh meat, legumes, green vegetables, fruit, and milk.

See also

• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, cerebral beriberi

References

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