What is Beri Beri?
Beriberi is a malnutrition disease caused by chronic thiamine deficiency, better known as vitamin B1.
Causes
Beriberi is a widespread disease especially in eastern populations with a diet based mainly on the consumption of polished rice. Thiamine - being particularly abundant in rice bran, therefore in the whole product - is in fact lost with the refining process of the cereal.
Thiamine deficiency can also be triggered by dysbiosis, especially when characterized by an "excessive proliferation of the intestinal bacterial flora; some of these microorganisms in fact synthesize an enzyme, called thiaminase, capable of inactivating vitamin B1.
Attenuated thiamine deficiencies, which often escape diagnosis, can therefore still occur today, especially in people who consume excessive refined foods, in alcoholics, in pregnancy and lactation, and in case of stressful events, including sports, or resections and gastrointestinal disorders (celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, etc.). Symptoms of this deficit are symptoms such as neuritis, chronic fatigue, headaches, irritability, memory disturbances, palpitations, breathlessness, constipation, digestive difficulties, dizziness and inappetence.
Functions of Thiamine
B1 was the first vitamin discovered by man, back in 1911 thanks to Funk's studies; a few years earlier Eijkam, in charge of discovering the origin of a disease that had suddenly attacked a large part of the armies of the Dutch Indies, had reached the conclusion that the rice husk contained some substance whose absence caused beriberi in humans and chickens.
Vitamin B1 essentially acts as a coenzyme in the production of energy starting from energy substrates such as glucides and glucogenic amino acids. In nature, it is found in foods such as fresh meat, eggs, legumes, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, fruit and milk.
Symptoms
For further information: Beriberi Symptoms
Beri-beri is a Sinhalese word, which literally means "I can't I can't", referring to the paralyzing effects it can produce in affected subjects.
Beriberi can cause three different symptoms:
- wet beriberi: mainly affects the cardiovascular system. It involves an accumulation of fluid in the tissues, with edema, tachycardia, breathing difficulties and a tendency to heart failure;
- dry beriberi: mainly affects the nervous system. The patient appears extremely emaciated, and complains of atrophy of the muscles of the lower limbs and polyneuropathy;
- infantile beriberi: affects infants of 2-3 months of age. It can occur in different forms, isolated or variously associated with each other: cardiac (fulminant), aphonic and pseudomeningitic. It can therefore be lethal if you do not intervene quickly with adequate treatment. The causes of infantile beriberi are to be found in the intake of breast milk low in thiamine.
Before assuming a precise physiognomy, beriberi manifests itself with inappetence, asthenia, gastrointestinal disorders, edema (sometimes), palpitations, sensitivity disorders, uncertainty in movements, weakness in the legs, pain and muscle spasms.
Neuropathy is the characteristic sign of beriberi in adults (dry form); it manifests itself with altered sensory perception, tingling or loss of sensation in the hands and feet, walking difficulties, mental confusion, difficulty in speaking and involuntary eye movements ( optokinetic nystagmus).
Treatment
Beriberi therapy is based on the oral administration of thiamine (thiamine hydrochloride) (10 mg / day), possibly supported by a multivitamin and multimineral, but above all by the correction of dietary habits. In the most severe forms of beriberi, a double daily intramuscular injection with about 20 mg of vitamin hydrochloride is required. Recovery is often surprising in its rapidity, so much so that notable improvements are recorded within one "hour" of starting the specific treatment for beriberi.
