Beriberi

beriberi

[¦ber·ē′ber·ē]

(medicine)

A disorder resulting from the deficiency of vitamin B₁ and characterized by neurologic symptoms, cardiovascular abnormalities, edema, and cerebral manifestations.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Beriberi

 

(B₁ avitaminosis, alimentary polyneuritis), an illness occurring as a result of a Vitamin B₁ (thiamine) deficiency in the diet. Characterized by polyneuritis of the extremities, disturbances of the cardiovascular system, and edema resulting from the accumulation of lactic and pyruvic acids in the body. Beriberi is found mostly in the countries of East, Southeast, and South Asia, where the population eats mainly rice which is hulled (that is, stripped of its outer coating). The cause of beriberi was established in 1897 by the Dutch physician C. Eijkman, working on the island of Java. Eijkman caused beriberi in hens by feeding them cooked, hulled rice and then cured them with rice siftings. The substance in rice siftings which protects against beriberi was found to be Vitamin B₁. The daily requirement of Vitamin B₁ is 1.6–2.5 mg for adult males, 1.3–2.2 mg for women, and 0.5–1.7 mg for children.

When Vitamin B¡ is absent from the diet, the carbohydrate metabolism of the body is disrupted, and lactic and pyruvic acids accumulate. Nervous disturbances (polyneuritis) in cases of beriberi may end in paralysis. The gait of a person afflicted by beriberi is characteristic; at the onset of the illness, he walks on his toes and the outer edge of the foot, sparing his soles. Then, as a result of weakness in the extremities, he transfers to crutches. The heart becomes enlarged and the pulse accelerates. The appetite decreases and constipation occurs. Severe general emaciation and generalized or localized edema are observed. Treatment consists in administering Vitamin B₁preparations internally and as injections. Prophylaxis consists in the introduction into the diet of foods containing a sufficient quantity of Vitamin B₁. Foods that do not contain Vitamin B₁ (bread and products of white flour of the highest and first grades; and sugar) should not, because of their high caloric value, constitute more than one-third of the caloric value of the diet. Massive prophylaxis consists in the inclusion in the diet of rye and wheat bread made of second-grade flour and of unhulled flour of several grains (buckwheat, oats, and barley) and the addition of Vitamin B₁ to wheat flour.

REFERENCES

Efremov, V. V. Vazhneishie avitaminozy cheloveka. Moscow-Leningrad, 1939.
“Avitaminozy.” In Rukovodstvo po vnutrennim bolezniam, vol. 8. Moscow, 1965. Pages 521–42.
Shimazono, N., and E. Katsura, eds. Review of Japanese Literature on Beriberi and Thiamine. Tokyo, 1965.

V. V. EFREMOV

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.