Years later, this disease, which involves a gradual decline in neuromuscular coordination, was linked to a deficiency of thiamin . The deficiency soon leads to symptoms such as leg swelling and numbness, fluid buildup in the heart, severe muscle wasting, irritability and nausea. Adding thiamin to rice and flours has all but eliminated most forms of beriberi in the United States. Prescriptions for Healing These days, cases of beriberi are rare in the Western world. When doctors do encounter patients with this thiamin -deficiency disease, they administer the vitamin intravenously or intramuscularly.
Intravenous thiamin is given only in cases of severe deficiency.
In less severe cases, doctors prescribe oral thiamin , along with other B-complex vitamins . But what fortification eliminates, alcohol precipitates. The most common cause of beriberi in the Western world is alcohol abuse. If you dramatically reduce thiamin intake, you reduce the ability of the brain to use glucose. Severe thiamin deficiency not only kills the brain cells responsible for memory but also may lead to an increase in a protein that has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, says Dr. Gibson.