Understanding Beriberi: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Jakarta –

Problems regarding thiamine or vitamin B1 deficiency are rare in developed countries. However, it often occurs in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Thiamine deficiency is quite an important problem because it concerns public health and has the potential to be quite fatal. The disease caused by thiamine deficiency is called beriberi.

Beriberi is a disease caused by vitamin B1 deficiency, otherwise known as thiamine deficiency. This thiamine functions as a cofactor in several enzymes involved in energy metabolism. Quoting from the journal entitled Thiamine Deficiency The Forgotten Disease (2018), beriberi is divided into two types, namely dry beriberi and wet beriberi (cardiovascular).

Dry beriberi usually causes nerve problems. Meanwhile, wet beriberi can cause heart problems. What do you think the causes are? So what are the symptoms and how to treat it? So, to find out more about beriberi, see the discussion below.

Causes of Beriberi Disease

The main cause of beriberi is low levels of vitamins consumed in daily food. Apart from that, the body’s ability to process thiamine is also the cause of beriberi. Beriberi disease is usually found in developing countries that consume rice without additional nutritious side dishes. Meanwhile, in developed countries, beriberi is rarely found because they have access to foods that contain thiamine such as cereals or bread.

However, it does not rule out the possibility that in developed countries there will be people infected with beriberi. The reason is that alcohol consumption in developed countries is quite high and alcohol abuse can be one of the causative factors of beriberi. Beriberi disease can be caused by genetic inheritance, which causes the body to be unable to absorb vitamins from food.

Factors Affecting Beriberi Disease

Other factors that can be risk factors for beriberi include:

Excessive alcohol consumptionDigestive system diseases such as celiac or diarrheaMalnutritionDiabetesKidney diseasePregnancyBreastfeeding mothersHIV or AIDSBariatric surgery.

Symptoms of Beriberi Disease

Beriberi is a disease that can infect anyone, from adults to children. Regardless of gender or age. In general, beriberi will display the following symptoms as quoted on the WebMD page.

Experiencing weakness or loss of muscle function Experiencing mental confusion Experiencing tingling or numbness in the fingers or toes Fatigue Chest pain Nausea or vomiting Fever Heart palpitations.

However, basically, the symptoms of beriberi depend on the type of beriberi you are suffering from. Quoted on the Healthline page, the following are the symptoms of dry and wet beriberi.

Symptoms of Dry Beriberi Disease

Decreased muscle function in both lower limbs Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet Difficulty speaking Paralysis.

Wet Beriberi

Shortness of breath when doing physical activity When waking up accompanied by shortness of breath Fast heartbeat Swollen lower legs.

How to Treat Beriberi

To treat beriberi, what can be done is to improve the nutrition the body consumes. After receiving a diagnosis from a doctor, the doctor will usually recommend going on a thiamine diet. The following foods contain thiamine:

CerealsOatmealSunflower seedsNutsFishYogurtBeefSalmon.

The goal of treatment for beriberi is to increase thiamin levels in the body. However, in emergency cases, doctors may recommend oral supplements or injections to provide thiamine, depending on a person’s overall health. Doctors may also recommend taking other supplements to support treatment.

Apart from that, during treatment, the doctor can also ask the patient to have regular blood tests to check thiamine levels until they return to normal. Some people may need to continue taking thiamine supplements at lower doses or make changes to their diet to ensure that beriberi does not recur.

With early treatment, heart and nervous system damage caused by beriberi can be cured. This does not apply to someone who has had thiamine deficiency for a long time, because some symptoms will still appear even after treatment. That’s what detikHealth can summarize, hopefully it’s useful!

Watch the video “Right on target in choosing immune-boosting supplements and vitamins”

(fds/fds)

2023-10-13 13:01:13
#Beriberi #Disease #Factors #Symptoms #Treat