"I only drank water, but now I walk like a penguin"...Woman in her 30s suffers brain damage after trying to lose 20 kg in two weeks [Health Talk]

[Financial News] In China, a woman in her 30s lost 20 kg in just two weeks by following an extreme fast in which she drank only water, but was later diagnosed with a brain disorder that could leave permanent disabilities. The case shows how severe dietary restriction can directly lead to brain damage.
According to foreign media outlets, including the South China Morning Post (SCMP), on the 25th local time, a 31-year-old woman identified as A, who lives in Henan Province and is 160 cm tall, weighed 70 kg before she spent 15 days drinking only water in imitation of a Taoist fasting practice known as bi gu, or abstaining from grains. Her weight dropped into the 50-kg range, but after the fast she was unable to keep her balance while walking and began showing severe memory loss, prompting her to seek medical care.
Gui-Fang Sun, a neurologist at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, diagnosed A with Wernicke encephalopathy. The doctor warned that A was showing an unstable, penguin-like gait and that this kind of neurological damage may not fully recover.

Wernicke encephalopathy is an acute neurological emergency caused by a deficiency of thiamine, an essential vitamin, which damages brain tissue such as the hypothalamus and mammillary bodies. Thiamine is vital for the metabolic process that allows brain cells to convert glucose into energy. The condition can develop when intake or absorption drops sharply because of prolonged fasting, severe malnutrition, or chronic alcoholism.
The three hallmark signs of Wernicke encephalopathy are eye movement disorders, gait disturbance, and cognitive decline. In the early stages, patients may develop nystagmus, or involuntary eye movements, and diplopia, or double vision. Cerebellar damage can also cause ataxia, leading to a wide-legged, unsteady walk. Confusion about time and place, along with a sudden decline in memory, may also occur.
The key to treatment is acting within the "golden time" and providing rapid nutritional support. As soon as the condition is suspected, high-dose thiamine must be given urgently by intravenous or intramuscular injection. In particular, if carbohydrates such as glucose solution are administered first when the body’s thiamine stores are already depleted, brain damage can worsen rapidly, so thiamine must be given before glucose.
If early treatment is missed, the condition can progress to Korsakoff syndrome, a stage of permanent brain damage. Once this stage is reached, patients may suffer chronic gait problems, short-term memory loss that prevents them from forming new memories, and confabulation, in which they unconsciously invent missing memories. Normal daily life becomes impossible, and if left untreated, the condition can lead to coma or death.
Experts say that extreme fasting or water-only diets do not reduce body fat in a healthy way, but instead can cause serious neurological damage and organ failure. For healthy weight loss, they advise cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates while maintaining a sustainable diet that includes enough protein, vitamins, and other essential nutrients.

[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter