Wernicke's Encephalopathy and Korsakoff's Psychosis are the acute and chronic phases, respectively, of the same disease. WKS is caused by a deficiency in the B vitamin thiamine.
Thiamine plays a role in metabolizing glucose to produce energy for the brain.
The disease is typically associated with chronic alcoholism, but may be associated with malnutrition or other conditions which cause nutritional deficiencies. Moreover, WKS appears to be only one distinct disease that causes alcohol-related dementia. An estimated 1.1 to 2.3 million older Americans have problems with alcohol. Medical researchers are still grappling with how to more fully define the association between heavy alcohol use and symptoms of dementia. Individuals often appear apathetic and inattentive and some may experience agitation.