Vitamin B1 deficiency - Medtick
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Vitamin B1 deficiency

What is it?

When one lacks Vitamin B1 in their body.

Deficiency causing conditions

Syndromes

Signs and Symptoms of deficiency

Dry beriberi (nerve disorders)

  • Numbness in toes and arms
  • Burning in feet (particularly at night) and hands
  • Muscle cramps in calves
  • Pain in leg
  • Decreased vibration sensitivity
  • Swelling
  • Difficulty in breathing
  • Tiredness
  • Abdominal discomfort
  • Depression
  • Irritable

Infantile Beriberi

(Occurs in infants 3-4 weeks, caused by lack of thiamine breast feeding)

  • Difficulty to speak, particularly loss of voice
  • Lack of tendon reflexes
  • Difficulty in breathing
  • Heart failure

Wet Beriberi

(Heart/blood disorders where fluid builds up around the heart – blood vessels)

  • Red and hot flushing
  • Fast heartbeats
  • Sweating
  • Warm skin
  • Shallow breathing
  • Swelling in ankles and legs
  • Difficulty in breathing
  • Confusion
  • Lack of consciousness

Wernicke encephalopathy

A vitamin B deficiency common in alcoholic liver disease.

Symptoms:

  • Confusion and/or impaired consciousness
  • Balance and dizziness problems
  • Loss of muscle coordination (ataxia) and/or uncontrolled movement and/or jerky movements
  • Aching, painful muscles, muscle cramps/spasms/stiffness
  • Leg tremor
  • Difficulty using arms and/or body and/or legs and/or lack of stamina and/or walking difficulties
  • General discomfort (muscle weakness), uneasiness or ill feeling (malaise) and/or fatigue (tiredness)
  • Fast pulse (heart rate) and/or rapid heart beat
  • Low blood pressure
  • Low body temperature and/or feeling cold
  • Vision changes and/or double vision
  • Nystagmus -rapid uncontrolled eye movement
  • Eyelid drooping
  • Symptoms similar to drunkenness

Korsakoff  Syndrome

Korsakoff  Syndrome is a chronic memory disorder caused by thiamine (vitamin B-1) deficiency.

  • Korsakoff syndrome, or Korsakoff psychosis, tends to develop as Wernicke symptoms go away.
  • Korsakoff psychosis results from permanent damage to areas of the brain involved with memory.

Symptoms:

  • Difficulty in remembering recent events (short term memory loss)
  • Long-term memory gaps
  • Problem in learning new information
  • Confabulation – make up their memory gaps with some information and believe that they are true

MedIndia

  • Uncontrolled eye movement
  • Lack of coordination and speech
  • Slow movement
  • Lack of consciousness
  • Mental confusion
  • Loss of voice
  • Stating events that never occurred and memory loss

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

This condition can lead to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

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