What is Thiamine and Importance of Thiamine for Alcoholics?
Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is an essential nutrient our body needs to maintain health. Thiamine takes part in many different biochemical reactions taking place in our body to provide us energy. Such enzymatic reactions help our body convert sugars (carbohydrates) into energy, which can be used to perform all the biological tasks.
Medical Disorders Due to Thiamine Deficiency
Thiamine deficiency for alcoholics may result in the following medical conditions.
Beriberi, Wernicke’s disease, Edma and neuropathy are some of the common medical disorders among others which result due to prolonged thiamine deficiency.
Thiamine for Alcoholics
Alcoholics are at a greater risk of thiamine deficiency, and such prolonged deficiency can result in medical disorders listed above, among many others. Data from National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests that around 80% of alcoholics develop thiamine deficiencies.
Thiamine for alcoholics is very vital. Thiamine plays a huge role in maintaining healthy nervous system. Blurred vision, difficulty in walking, slurred speech, very slow reaction time and impaired memory clearly indicate that alcohol abuse affects the brain. Regular alcohol abuse can lead to thiamine deficiency, which in turn causes a number of psychological and neurological disorders. If thiamine deficiency is left untreated, it can progress to psychosis and later on may cause degeneration in certain areas of the brain.
Severity of the damage to the brain, caused via alcohol abuse, depends on a number of external factors. How often and how much alcohol an individual consumes positively correlate with the severity of the damage to the brain. Increased alcohol consumption leads to greater thiamine deficiency, resulting in most of the symptoms listed above and finally, damage to the brain.
Other factors that dictate the severity of the damage are the person’s age when he or she starts drinking, gender, education, family history of alcoholism and genetic history. Studies suggest that women are more vulnerable to alcohol’s effect on the brain. Alcoholic women develop cirrhosis (damage of heart muscle due to alcohol abuse) and nerve damage faster than men.
Thiamine for alcoholics is usually provided via vitamin supplements containing thiamine. It is always a good idea to maintain a healthy diet, containing all essential nutrients that our body needs and is unable to synthesize all by itself. Apart from maintaining a healthy diet, alcohol use must be limited. It is helpful to seek professional help to withdraw alcohol abuse. Thiamine for alcoholics is therefore very essential to prevent any sort of brain damage in the long term.