friend has wernike korsakoff

[glander2405]

Hi, a good friend of our family initially started losing feeling in her legs, pins and needles and then things turned for worse where she has severe amnesia, loses track of what's being talked about within minutes of things being said. she has also lost ability to walk without assistance. She has been into emergency room now and administered thiamine and also been told there may be evidence of guillane barre also. She doesn't have other symptoms of end stage liver disease like swollen stomach or ankles.or yellow skin or eyes. Question is if this brain damage is permanent and can you get to this stage without end stage liver disease. We are her friends so haven't got all details of tests performed and results but chronic alcoholism was mentioned and must have had severe b1 deficiency if they had to administer iv thiamine.

Has anyone recovered from this type of brain damage and been able to return to work, she is in America so we are really worriesld she could lose everything to hospital bills and care bills.

[AyrshireK]

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is an unusual type of memory disorder due to a lack of thiamin (vitamin B1) requiring immediate treatment. It most often happens in people with alcohol use disorder and malnutrition. While there isn’t a cure, healthcare providers can recommend treatments to manage your symptoms.

It is UNRELATED to liver disease.

However, there is a brain issue that can happen with advanced liver disease which is called Hepatic Encephalopathy but whilst this may have similar symptoms it is nothing to do with WKS and is due to the liver failing to deal wih toxins which then build up in the blood stream and cross the blood, brain barrier leading to brain problems. My husband had cirrhosis (non alcohol related) with Hepatic Encephalopathy and he needed a transplant due to it BUT did not have 'obvious' liver symptoms - maybe mild jaundice but no ascites or fluid build up. Indeed even his blood results didn't reveal how poorly he was.

The Cleveland Clinic webpage has a very detailed page about Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome which might provide you some good guidance. Sorry not allowed to post you a link for it here.

Katie