Definitions for "Beriberi"
An acute disease occurring in India, characterized by multiple inflammatory changes in the nerves, producing great muscular debility, a painful rigidity of the limbs, and cachexy.
severe thiamine deficiency leads to beriberi, a disease characterized by weakness, wasting, nerve inflammation and numbness of the hands and feet.
From the Singhalese, meaning "I cannot," since persons with severe beriberi cannot move easily. A condition caused by thiamin (Vitamin B) deficiency. It is characterized by numbness or tingling of toes and feet, stiffness of ankles, cramping pain in legs, difficulty in walking, and, finally paralysis of legs with atrophy of leg muscles.