Deficiency diseases of vitamin B1?

Question

What are the deficiency diseases of vitamin B₁?

Answer 1

Deficiency of vitamin B₁ inhibits carbohydrate metabolism and leads to accumulation of pyruvate.

1. Low Deficiency (Early symptoms)
   1. Loss of appetite (anorexia)
   2. Constipation.
   3. Brain depends on Thiamine Pyrophosphate (TPP) for energy, thus leads to mental depression, irritability, fatigue, peripheral neuropathy.
2. Moderate Deficiency:
   It leads to Wernicke’s encephalopathy (or Wernicke’s-Korsakoff syndrome)
   Its symptoms are:
   Mental confusion, Ataxia, Ophthalmoplegia commonly seen in chronic alcoholics.
3. Severe deficiency
   Severe deficiency leads to Beri-beri.
   1. Dry Beri-beri
      1. Advanced neuromuscular symptoms.
      2. Atrophy.
      3. Weakness of muscles.
   2. Wet Beri-beri
      1. Edema of legs, face, trunk and serious cavities.
      2. Palpitations.
      3. Breathlessness
      4. High cardiac output, resulting in heart failure.
   3. Infantile Beri-beri
      1. In mothers having thiamine deficiency and giving birth, infant may show infertile beri-beri
      2. Symptoms are sleeplessness, restlessness, vomiting, convulsions and cardiodilation. Infant may die.