Not enough vitamin B1 can cause brain damage

Toxins and other metabolic disorders also can cause encephalopathy

2014-09-11

(Press-News.org) MAYWOOD, Ill – (Sept. 11, 2014) A deficiency of a single vitamin, B1 (thiamine), can cause a potentially fatal brain disorder called Wernicke encephalopathy.

Symptoms can include confusion, hallucinations, coma, loss of muscle coordination and vision problems such as double vision and involuntary eye movements. Untreated, the condition can lead to irreversible brain damage and death, according to neurologists at Loyola University Medical Center.

In the developed world, Wernicke encephalopathy typically occurs in people who have disorders such as alcoholism and anorexia that lead to malnourishment.

Wernicke encephalopathy is an example of the wide range of brain diseases, called encephalopathies, that are caused by metabolic disorders and toxic substances, according to a report by Loyola neurologists Matthew McCoyd, MD, Sean Ruland, DO and Jose Biller, MD in the journal Scientific American Medicine.

Acute encephalopathy has a rapid onset of between hours and days. It is commonly due to toxic and metabolic factors.

"Toxic and metabolic encephalopathies may range in severity from the acute confusional state to frank coma," McCoyd, Ruland and Biller write. "As permanent injury may occur, an organized approach is needed to make an accurate and rapid diagnosis."

The hallmark of toxic and metabolic encephalopathies is altered sensorium. This can range from mild attention impairment, such as difficulty spelling a word backwards, to coma.

Toxic encephalopathy can be caused by illegal drugs, environmental toxins and reactions to prescription drugs.

Thiamine deficiency is among the nutritional deficiencies that can cause brain diseases such as Wernicke encephalopathy. The condition likely is underdiagnosed. Although clinical studies find a rate of 0.13 percent or less, autopsy studies show a prevalence as high as 2.8 percent.

"Particularly in those who suffer from alcoholism or AIDS, the diagnosis is missed on clinical examination in 75 to 80 percent of cases," the Loyola neurologists write.

Untreated, Wernicke encephalopathy can lead to Korsakoff syndrome (KS), characterized by profound memory loss and inability to form memories – patients often can't remember events within the past 30 minutes. Other KS symptoms can include apathy, anxiety and confabulation (fabricating imaginary experiences to compensate for memory loss).

About 80 percent of Wernicke encephalopathy patients develop KS, and once this occurs, only about 20 percent of patients recover.

Wernicke encephalopathy is a medical emergency that requires immediate thiamine treatment, either by injection or IV. "In the absence of treatment, deficiency can lead to irreversible brain damage and death with an estimated mortality of 20 percent," the Loyola neurologists write.

INFORMATION:

McCoyd is an assistant professor, Ruland is an associate professor and Biller is a professor and chair of the Department of Neurology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Investigators from Montefiore and Einstein to present data at 2014 ASTRO Meeting

2014-09-11

NEW YORK (September 10, 2014) – Members of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care (MECCC) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University's NCI–designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center will present new study findings at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) revealing the impact socioeconomic status has on radiation treatment compliance, predictive indicators for clinical outcomes and on radiation therapy duration and dosing recommendations. ASTRO is being held September 14 ...

Two new species of carabid beetles found in Ethiopia

2014-09-11

There are more than 150 species of beetles in the genus Calathus, 17 of which have only been found in the mountains of the Ethiopian Highlands. Now scientists have found two new ones — Calathus juan and Calathus carballalae — and have described them in Annals of the Entomological Society of America. C. juan is named for Juan Novoa, the son of one of the authors, in recognition of his help on various beetle-collecting expeditions. Adults are black and shiny, and are 9.5-11.5 millimeters long. It was found under stones at the base of giant, tree-like plants called lobelias ...

How salt causes buildings to crumble

2014-09-11

This news release is available in German. Historic stone buildings are tourist magnets. The Jordanian rock city of Petra, the medieval town of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea and the sandstone temples at Luxor, Egypt, for example, attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. These cultural assets all have one thing in common: they suffer from weathering caused by salts. These crystallise inside the porous building materials and generate enough force for the stone to break or crumble. The same problem also occurs in concrete buildings in this country. Researchers at ...

Ticks that vector Lyme disease move west into North Dakota

2014-09-11

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, there are more than 300,000 cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. each year. Last year, most Lyme disease cases reported to the CDC were concentrated heavily in the Northeast and upper Midwest, with 96 percent of cases in 13 states. In fact, the disease gets its name from the northeastern town of Lyme, Connecticut, where it was first discovered. However, a new article published in the Journal of Medical Entomology reports that the ticks that vector Lyme disease — Ixodes scapularis, also known as blacklegged ticks or deer ...

Increased access to nature trails could decrease youth obesity rates, MU study finds

2014-09-11

VIDEO: Researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Minnesota have found that local governments can help reduce youth obesity levels by increasing the amount and type of public... Click here for more information. COLUMBIA, Mo. – As youth obesity levels in America remain at record high levels, health professionals and policymakers continue to search for solutions to this national health issue. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri and the University ...

Study finds high protein diets lead to lower blood pressure

2014-09-11

(Boston)--Adults who consume a high-protein diet may be at a lower risk for developing high blood pressure (HBP). The study, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), found participants consuming the highest amount of protein (an average of 100 g protein/day) had a 40 percent lower risk of having high blood pressure compared to the lowest intake level. One of three U.S. adults has hypertension and 78.6 million are clinically obese, a risk factor for the development of hypertension. Because of the ...

New defense mechanism against viruses discovered

2014-09-11

This news release is available in German. When it comes to defence against viruses, the immune system has an arsenal of weapons at its disposal including killer cells, antibodies and messenger molecules, to name just a few. When a pathogen attacks the body, the immune system usually activates the appropriate mechanisms. However, some of the mechanisms do not have to be triggered; they are continuously active as a standing army. Researchers from ETH Zurich, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Bern, have now discovered a new form of this so-called ...

UM research reveals secrets of animal weapons

2014-09-11

MISSOULA – From antlers to horns, humans have long been fascinated by animals' ability to defend themselves with their natural-born weapons. But until now, no studies have directly tested whether those weapons perform better at the animals' own style of fighting than they would using the fighting style of another species. Researchers at the University of Montana recently discovered each species' weapons are structurally adapted to meet their own functional demands of fighting. The groundbreaking research, conducted over the past year by UM doctoral student Erin McCullough ...

Excitonic dark states shed light on TMDC atomic layers

2014-09-11

A team of Berkeley Lab researchers believes it has uncovered the secret behind the unusual optoelectronic properties of single atomic layers of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials, the two-dimensional semiconductors that hold great promise for nanoelectronic and photonic applications. Using two-photon excitation spectroscopy, the researchers probed monolayers of tungsten disulfide, one of the most promising of 2D materials, and found evidence for the existence of excitonic dark states – energy states in which single photons can be neither absorbed nor emitted. ...

Cutting health-care costs 1 appendix at a time

2014-09-11

(SALT LAKE CITY)—Consumer price comparison is almost nonexistent in the U.S. health care system, but a new study shows that when given the choice between a less costly "open" operation or a pricier laparoscopy for their children's appendicitis, parents were almost twice as likely to choose the less expensive procedure – when they were aware of the cost difference. The study, published in the September issue of Annals of Surgery online, shows that providing pricing information upfront can influence patient choice of surgical procedures and potentially lead to cost savings ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

iRECODE: A new computational method that brings clarity to single-cell analysis

New NUS-MOH study: Singapore’s healthcare sector carbon emissions 18% lower than expected, a milestone in the city-state’s net zero journey

Type 2 diabetes may accelerate development of multiple chronic diseases, particularly in the early stages, UK Biobank study suggests

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5