Symptoms can include confusion, hallucinations, coma, loss of muscle coordination and vision problems such as double vision and involuntary eye movements.
Untreated, the condition can lead to irreversible brain damage and death, according to neurologists at Loyola University Medical Centre.
Wernicke encephalopathy is an example of the wide range of brain diseases, called encephalopathies, that are caused by metabolic disorders and toxic substances, researchers said.
Thiamine deficiency is among the nutritional deficiencies that can cause brain diseases such as Wernicke encephalopathy.
"Particularly in those who suffer from alcoholism or AIDS, the diagnosis is missed on clinical examination in 75 to 80 per cent of cases," they said.
Untreated, Wernicke encephalopathy can lead to Korsakoff syndrome (KS), characterised by profound memory loss and inability to form memories - patients often can't remember events within the past 30 minutes.
Other KS symptoms can include apathy, anxiety and confabulation (fabricating imaginary experiences to compensate for memory loss), researchers said.
About 80 per cent of Wernicke encephalopathy patients develop KS, and once this occurs, only about 20 per cent of patients recover.
"In the absence of treatment, deficiency can lead to irreversible brain damage and death with an estimated mortality of 20 per cent," researchers said.
The study was published in the journal Scientific American Medicine.
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