BERI BERI

Maybe it's not the best first message....but I told you that beri beri was quite famous....

I Causes
Beriberi is caused by a lack of thiamine. It is common in people whose diet consists mainly of polished white rice, which contains little or no thiamine, and in chronic alcoholics with impaired liver function. If a baby is fed the milk of a mother who suffers from a deficiency in thiamine, the child may develop beriberi.
The disease has been seen traditionally in people in Asian countries (especially in the nineteenth century and before) due to those countries' reliance on rice as a staple food.
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Symptoms and effects
There are two forms of the disease: wet beriberi and dry beriberi.
Wet beriberi affects the heart; it is sometimes fatal, as it causes a combination of heart failure and weakening of the capillary walls, which causes the peripheral tissues to become waterlogged. Dry beriberi causes wasting and partial paralysis resulting from damaged peripheral nerves