Beriberi is the severe and chronic form of thiamine deficiency, a lack of vitamin B1 in the diet. Its name is thought to derive from a Sinhalese phrase reflecting the profound weakness the condition causes. There are two main types in adults: wet beriberi, which affects the cardiovascular system and can cause a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and swelling of the legs, and dry beriberi, which affects the nervous system and can cause numbness of the hands and feet, confusion, and difficulty moving.
Facts
Classification
ICD-10 ChapterIV: Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases 1 Communicable or Non-communicable Transmission Route Causative Agent
Causative Agent (category) Connections
Associated With
Beriberi is a foundational example of a vitamin (thiamine) deficiency disease in the history this discovery entity records.
Discovered By
Christiaan Eijkman's late-1800s work on polyneuritis in chickens on the Dutch East Indies established the link between an unrefined-rice diet and beriberi, founding the study of deficiency diseases and earning him the 1929 Nobel Prize.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: ICD-10
WikipediaList of chapters, Chapter IVQuote, List of chapters, Chapter IV
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases
2. World Health Organization: Noncommunicable diseases (fact sheet)
World Health OrganizationLead section, transmission-route statement (inferred from disease-category)
The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
Main Types section
The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
View the Source 3. Thiamine deficiency (Wikipedia)
Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1).View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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