noun

• A disease causing inflammation of the nerves and heart failure, ascribed to a deficiency of vitamin B₁.

  ‘This was determined to be one of the vitamins that prevented beriberi, a deficiency disease marked by inflammatory or degenerative changes of the nerves, digestive system and heart.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The troops suffered from malaria, dengue fever, beriberi, hookworm and pellagra.’
  • ‘Diseases such as beriberi and malaria have become more common as problems with sanitation have increased.’
  • ‘His body was ridden with disease - beriberi, dysentery and scurvy - and his doctor's prognosis was grim.’
  • ‘When they examined the explorers' journals, they found recorded a classic progression of the symptoms of thiamine deficiency, or the disease known as beriberi.’