What Exactly Is Beriberi?

Beriberi is caused by a lack of thiamin, also known as vitamin B1. Thiamin is required by your body to break down and digest the foods you eat, to maintain a healthy metabolism, and to assist your muscles and neurological system in performing their functions. Beriberi has the potential to harm the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

The illness is uncommon in Western countries, because most individuals obtain enough thiamin from their diets, but it is very common elsewhere.

Doctors usually focus on restoring enough thiamin into the diet to cure beriberi, but more serious cases may necessitate more comprehensive medical intervention. Beriberi can be severe in its latter stages, causing heart failure or muscle paralysis, therefore it's critical to obtain treatment before the condition worsens.

Who is the most vulnerable to Beriberi?

You won't have to worry about being diagnosed with beriberi if you consume a diversified and balanced diet. People who consume a lot of alcohol or who battle with alcoholism are more likely to be thiamin deficient. Excess alcohol can make it difficult for the body to absorb thiamin.

Other people who are more susceptible to beriberi include:

• Babies who are breastfed and whose mothers are thiamin deficient
  
• Those who consume a high-carbohydrate diet, particularly processed carbohydrates.
  
• People who participate in a great deal of physical activity or exercise
  
• Anyone with hyperthyroidism, which might make thiamin absorption difficult.
  
• People who have digestive issues that can make it difficult to absorb nutrients, especially as they get older
  
• Anyone who is under a lot of stress
  

If you're on dialysis or taking diuretics, your risk of beriberi increases. During these treatments, doctors usually take efforts to monitor thiamine levels.

Beriberi Signs and Symptoms

There are two forms of beriberi, each of which affects a different bodily component. Both have the potential to be dangerous:

• The cardiovascular system is affected by wet beriberi. It's a life-threatening medical emergency that requires quick care because it concerns the heart's function.
  
• The central nervous system can be harmed by dry beriberi (CNS). It causes problems with motor function (the movement of the muscles). It can also produce numbness in the extremities and reduced reflexes, although it's usually easier to treat than beriberi, which affects the heart.
  

Other probable beriberi symptoms include:

• Muscle atrophy and weakness
  
• Confusion in the mind
  
• Tingling or a loss of sensitivity in the fingers or feet is a common symptom of diabetes.
  
• Fatigue
  
• The heart is racing.
  
• Pain in the chest
  
• Vomiting or nausea
  
• Fever
  

If these symptoms aren't treated as soon as they arise, beriberi might advance to Korsakoff syndrome, a type of encephalopathy that refers to brain damage or disease. One of the main indications of Korsakoff syndrome is severe disorientation and memory loss, which is caused by extensive damage to areas of the brain, particularly the thalamus and hypothalamus.

This is a rare but serious disorder that cannot be reversed once harm has occurred. When you first notice symptoms of thiamin deficiency, you should visit a doctor as soon as possible to avoid the illness progressing to Korsakoff syndrome.

Beriberi treatment is a treatment that is used to treat Beriberi.

The first line of protection against beriberi is good nutrition. Once beriberi is detected, doctors will try to treat the shortage by advising a thiamin-rich diet, providing it isn't too advanced. This involves including more of the foods listed below in your daily diet:

• Cereals fortified with thiamine
  
• Rice or noodles with added thiamin
  
• Sunflower seeds are a type of sunflower.
  
• Beans
  
• Beans (green)
  
• Pork
  
• Fish
  
• Yogurt
  

A change in diet isn't enough for advanced cases of beriberi. Medications of many types will be prescribed. Beriberi has been successfully treated with daily thiamin infusions, which can be given orally or intravenously up to three times each day.

Even when beriberi becomes a medical emergency, as it does in wet beriberi, the condition can be quickly brought under control with immediate management.

Beriberi Prevention

It all comes down to your food when it comes to preventing beriberi. Beriberi is caused by a lack of thiamin, or vitamin B1, in the diet, regardless of where you reside on the planet. A daily dose of thiamin-rich foods is required, which can be easily met through a diversified diet. While your liver stores some thiamin, it is insufficient to prevent a shortage.

Thiamin's Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for men is 1.2 milligrammes and 1.1 milligrammes for women. To account for the increased risk of deficiency during pregnancy, the RDA is increased to 1.4 milligrammes. That amount can be obtained by consuming 100 grammes of sunflower seeds, which is equivalent to 1.5 milligrammes.