Disease Information for Korsakoff's psychosis/Alcohol dementia

Korsakoff"s psychosis and syndrome; Korsakoff"s disease;

Korsakoff’s psychosis; Korsakoff’s symptom complex;

Meynert’s amentia; Amnestic confabulatory syndrome, amnestic syndrome, cerebropathia psychica toxemica, polyneuritic psychosis, psychosis associated with polyneuritis, psychosis polyneuritica;

Korsakoff’s syndrome is a condition that mainly affects chronic alcoholics; It is due to the direct effects of alcohol or to the severe nutritional deficiencies that are associated with chronic alcoholism, and has been seen in association with vitamin B deficiency; The syndrome also occurs in other severe brain disturbances, ( paralysis, dementia, brain damage, infections and poisonings); In chronic alcoholism the condition usually occurs following delirium tremens; The syndrome is characterized by a severe memory defect, especially for recent event, for which the patient compensates by confabulation - the reciting of imaginary experiences; Psychologists working with these patients often have great problems sorting out what is truth and what is lies of what patients say - this is story-telling on a high level; Other symptoms may include delirium, anxiety, fear, depression, confusion, delusions and insomnia; painful extremities, sometimes bilateral wrist drop, more frequent bilateral foot drop with pain or pressure over the long nerves; Confabulation, a requisite for the classic syndrome, is not always present in mild conditions; With or without polyneuropathy;

---------------------------[whonamedit.com 2005]---------

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