The latest RGH E-Bulletin covers thiamine deficiency.

Thiamine deficiency leads to a variety of neurological and cardiovascular signs. Early symptoms may be vague and nonspecific, e.g. fatigue, irritability, and abdominal discomfort. Severe deficiency can lead to the development of beriberi: cardiac, or ‘wet’ beriberi, is characterised by cardiac failure and oedema; ‘dry’ beriberi is characterised by peripheral neuropathy, muscle wasting and weakness, and paralysis.

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome may also develop in severe cases of thiamine deficiency, notably in association with chronic alcoholism. Wernicke’s encephalopathy involves ocular abnormalities, gait ataxia and mental status changes, and can precede or occur concomitantly with Korsakoff’s psychosis, a disorder of short-term memory loss that results in confabulation.

The complete PDF (small file) is available for download: Thiamine Deficiency (159) Volume 35 (8): September 14, 2009

For those working in remote indigenous Australia thiamine is mentioned in the CARPA manual on pages 40 and 80.

Some patient information about thiamine is on pages 23-24 of the Medicines Book for Aboriginal Health Workers.

The 2009 RGH E-Bulletins are archived here.

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Tagged as: aboriginal, alcohol, deficiency, glucose, Indigenous, RGH E-bulletin, thiamine, Wernicke-Korsakoff, Wernicke’s encephalopathy

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