Never heard of it, right? Yeah, me either. I had to consult the University of Google as soon as I heard the diagnosis. I had no idea what I would find, so reading all the info was like attending an intellectual buffet. It was all enticing.
But not so much for the person WITH said syndrome. Which, by the way, isn't pretty.
It's caused by a thiamine deficit in one's system. And before I go any further, let's discuss thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, briefly. I won't get into all the big words here, and believe me, I could--there's a lot of them. I'll just let you know that we all need B1 for neural functioning and for help with digesting those carbs that all the magazines tell us to not eat. It's water soluble, breaks down when heated, and found in all sorts of yummy stuff including: eggs, cauliflower, potatoes, oranges, brown rice, yeast (whoo hoo! Score one for beer!), and pork.
So how does one go about depriving themselves of B1? Well, malnutrition. So if you live in a third world country, your chances of contracting said syndrome are pretty good.
Say you: We don't live in a third world country.
Say me: An excellent point.
Say you: So how does one contract Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome in the developed world?
Well, there's always good 'ole alcoholism to help us out in times like this. Chronic drinkers tend to, you know, DRINK instead of eat. And when you don't eat, it's not a big leap to assume your body isn't getting the nutrients it requires to function. Not to mention the fact that alcohol inhibits your body's ability to absorb B1. So, even if you have a perfectly well balanced diet, if you're a drunk, you're still not getting the amount of B1 you really need.
And let's throw in a little anorexia-nervosa, just for kicks. Anorexics don't eat, either, so they're prone to the syndrome as well. (Small study abstract.)
So if you're an alcoholic AND anorexic? You win! Let's check out the prize, shall we?
I had to wade through a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo (e.g. vestibular paresis and abducens nuclei), but I got the gist of things pretty quickly. A German and a Russian respectively (read: Wernicke-Korsakoff) discovered and documented symptoms in the late 19th century. Medical professionals put it all together in the early 20th century. Enter bullet points:
- Nervous system damage, including difficulty walking, loss of memory, making up stories, hallucinations, and inability to form new memories. This stuff happens because parts of your brain literally start melting away. Eat your cauliflower!
- Eye problems: drooping eyelids, double vision (I refuse to link the Foreigner song. You're on your own if seeing those words has caused some sort of violent reaction in your brain, and now you just HAVE to hear it.), involuntary eye movement
- Coma and death if untreated.
- Affects slightly more men than women and between 1 to 2% of the population at large.
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