Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Beriberi medical therapy
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Beriberi is an easily treatable condition, using thiamine hydrochloride via oral or parentral routes. A rapid and dramatic recovery within hours can be made when this is administered to patients with beriberi.
Medical Therapy
Medical Therapy
- Treatment is with thiamine hydrochloride, either in tablet form or injection.
- A rapid and dramatic recovery within hours can be made when this is administered to patients with beriberi.
- The dose in chronic beriberi is 50 mg/day intravenously or intramuscularly for several days, followed by a maintainence dose of 2.5 to 5 mg/day orally.[1]
- In advanced dry or wet beriberi, the recommended dose is 200mg intravenous or orally thiamine three times/day till resolution of symptoms and then the maintainence dose should be 10 mg/day until expected recovery.
- In Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, the recommended dose is: Three doses of intravenous 500 mg daily during the first two days of treatment, then shift to 250 mg/day for additional three days.
- In Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, make sure to administer thiamine during the re-feeding period in alcoholic patients to avoid thiamine deficiency with lactic acidosis.[2]
References
References
- ↑ Lei Y, Zheng MH, Huang W, Zhang J, Lu Y (2018). “Wet beriberi with multiple organ failure remarkably reversed by thiamine administration: A case report and literature review”. Medicine (Baltimore). 97 (9): e0010. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000010010. PMC 5851725. PMID 29489643.
- ↑ “StatPearls”. 2019. PMID 30725889.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk, MD[2]