Disease of the week-Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome

T

tharedhead

New member
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff's_syndrome
and
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/wernicke_korsakoff/wernicke-korsakoff.htm

Wernicke's encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disorder caused by the lack of thiamine (vitamin B1). It may result from alcohol abuse, dietary deficiencies, prolonged vomiting, eating disorders, or the effects of chemotherapy. Symptoms include mental confusion, vision impairment, stupor, coma, hypothermia, hypotension, and ataxia. Korsakoff's amnesic syndrome-a memory disorder-also results from a deficiency of thiamine, and is associated with alcoholism. The heart, vascular, and nervous system are involved. Symptoms include amnesia, confabulation, attention deficit, disorientation, and vision impairment. The main features of Korsakoff's amnesic syndrome are the impairments in acquiring new information or establishing new memories, and in retrieving previous memories. Although Wernicke's and Korsakoff's may appear to be two different disorders, they are generally considered to be different stages of the same disorder, which is called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Wernicke's encephalopathy represents the "acute" phase of the disorder, and Korsakoff's amnesic syndrome represents the "chronic" phase.
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Sounds like an awfully scary disease! Maybe someday people will find out how to cure all these types of diseases.
 
Red, you really should not start posting these diseases of the day sort of thing. I'll start thinking I have some of these diseases! :crazytongue:
 
:wave:

Have you all heard of MS. Well I have MS and it is really a scarey disease.
You don't know if you are having a stroke or a relapse then you remember it is
the MS.I have lived with this disease for at least 25 years because no one could
tell me what it was but like I say "I don't feel with my fingers,I feel with my heart.
I have MS but MS does not have me.Montel Williams has it too.Not very common but out there.
:wave:
 
jacquelinc said:
:wave:

Have you all heard of MS. Well I have MS and it is really a scarey disease.
You don't know if you are having a stroke or a relapse then you remember it is
the MS.I have lived with this disease for at least 25 years because no one could
tell me what it was but like I say "I don't feel with my fingers,I feel with my heart.
I have MS but MS does not have me.Montel Williams has it too.Not very common but out there.
:wave:
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MS is alot more common than you may think. I know lots of people all over the country with it. My brother was diagnosed with MS about 30 years ago. Thank God for the new drugs that are market within the last 10 years or he would have been dead. A close schoolmate of mine died last year from the effects of her MS. They really have made great strides in this disease. Now if they could only find a cure.
Annette Funicello and Teri Garr also have MS.
 
:wave:

Yes you hear more and more about MS and people with it but when I first had it
no one would say MS only bad nerves and medicate me for a nervous problem and now it is well known and the medicine cuts back on the relapses.I have daily injections and have done really well.I am pretty sure that is what Richard Pryer has.I have R&R (relapsing and remitting) where there are worse kinds and I
feel lucky with that.No wheel chair yet but depends on how you progress.

:wave:
 
Yes, Richard Pryor had the disease; but even many, many years ago this was a well-known disease. Most people then were in wheelchairs and usually did not survive it.
 
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