Alcohol intakes and deficiencies in thiamine and vitamin B6 in black patients with cardiac failure.

Thiamine and vitamin B6 status was evaluated in 73 consecutive black patients with cardiac failure at Baragwanath Hospital. They consumed moderate to large amounts of traditional as well as Western-type beer and liquor. Thirty per cent had erythrocyte thiamine concentrations below the reference range. The transketolase response to thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP effect) suggested thiamine deficiency in 32.4%, of whom 13.2% were classified as severely deficient. Vitamin B6 deficiency was present in 21.4%, with a further 42.9% in the very low normal range. Only one patient had beriberi heart disease. Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy was the main cause of cardiac failure. It is suggested that excessive alcohol consumption is an important factor contributing to cardiac morbidity in urban blacks.