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Reason for thiamine deficiency in Alcoholics ??? - usmledreamz - Printable Version

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Reason for thiamine deficiency in Alcoholics ??? - usmledreamz - ArchivalUser - 03-23-2014

what is the reason for Thiamine deficiency in alcoholics???


0 - ArchivalUser - 03-23-2014

Alcohol interferes with active intestinal transport of thiamine and through impaired metabolism in a damaged liver (decreased activation of thiamine pyrophosphate and ability to store thiamine). The link back to biochemistry is that the resulting decreased thiamine pyrophosphate leads to decreased transketolase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activities.


0 - ArchivalUser - 03-23-2014

The affected patients have impaired utilization of glucose by the brain, and some areas of the brain are more sensitive to damage, including the hippocampus, which controls short-term memory. The confabulation is a defense mechanism in which patients with severe short-term memory loss make up explanations, without knowing it, that link together the bits of information they do remember. Because the short-term memory is impaired, they can’t remember the explanation they gave to the person they talked to 15 minutes before.