Common Causes Of Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
A blend of Wernicke's encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a neurological disorder of the brain that happens due to the absence of the essential vitamin B1. Vitamin B1 is often referred to as thiamine, which is essential for the synthesis of glucose into energy, particularly for the brain. Without thiamine, the part of the brain called the hypothalamus is starved of energy, causing the functions of the pituitary gland, such as hormone secretion, metabolism, and mammillary bodies, to become impaired. Symptoms that manifest with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are mainly cognitive and include a decline in short term memory, amnesia, and mental disorientation. Most often, individuals who have Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome advance on to have a chronic memory disorder. Learn about what can cause the absence of vitamin B1 and eventually, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome now.
Colon Cancer
Patients who have been diagnosed with colon cancer have an increased risk of developing Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome because of disease progression, malnutrition, and the administration of chemotherapeutic medications. Cancer progression and tumor growth are cells that multiply rapidly and out of control that metastasis or spread throughout the body. This rapid cell division process depletes reserves of important nutrients, including thiamine. Additionally, patients who present with colon cancer have a higher than normal basal metabolic rate. Elevated basal metabolic rate is known to trigger an abnormal process of thiamine depletion. Some forms of chemotherapy treatment medications containing agent 5-fluorouracil can also induce an advanced metabolism of thiamine. Patients who undergo chemotherapy and suffer from colon cancer often have severe pain that is only manageable with powerful painkilling medications that completely deplete the patient's appetite. In the case of colon cancer, thiamine deficiency and then Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are more associated with malnutrition than with poor absorption of nutrients.
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Gastric Bypass Surgery
Gastric bypass surgery is a surgery done to improve the weight loss outcomes of individuals considered morbidly obese or those who have detrimental health issues and are also overweight or obese. Essentially, the stomach is made smaller and then the excess part of the stomach is bypassed right to the small intestine. This inhibits the absorption of calories from some food, which induces weight loss due to a lower caloric intake. However, for the same amount of calories bypassed, the nutrients, including thiamine, are also bypassed and not properly absorbed. This means the only thiamine absorbed for use by the body would be from the very small portions of food that do not follow through the bypass pathway.
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is not a very common complication following gastric bypass surgery, but it is a risk of undergoing bariatric surgery. Usually, the very first subtle symptoms of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome will begin around thirty to one hundred days following gastric bypass surgery.
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