Everyone thought she was an alcoholic. But then a doctor finally made the right diagnosis: An American woman suffers from a previously unknown illness.
- The urine tests of an American woman repeatedly tested positive for alcohol.
- Doctors suspected that the victim was secretly an alcoholic.
- But she is suffering from a previously unknown illness.
Her urine tests were repeatedly tested positive for alcohol. A 61-year-old American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, repeatedly claimed that she had no alcohol problem - but her doctors didn't believe her. Against the background of the fact that many people hide their alcohol addiction *, the doctors kept to the facts.
But the 61-year-old, who is not known by name, sought help from other doctors. When she introduced herself at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the doctors finally made the right diagnosis there: The woman suffers from the so-called bladder fermentation syndrome .
Bizarre phenomenon: patient converts sugar into alcohol in her own bladder
If the patient consumes sugar - for example in the form of glucose in carbohydrates - her bladder converts it into yeast. Doctors found high amounts of Candida glabrata in the patient's urine. This yeast is similar to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a fungus known as brewer's yeast . Brewers use the mushroom to convert the carbohydrates in the grain to alcohol. In the 61-year-old patient, this process happened in the bladder.
The diagnosed bladder fermentation syndrome is the first known case worldwide according to the treating physicians. It is similar to the so-called Eigenbrauer syndrome *: those affected produce alcohol in their intestines by converting carbohydrates from food into alcohol in the intestine. Here too, those affected face the problem of being accused of alcoholism.
Bladder fermentation syndrome: patient is waiting for a new liver
In the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the doctors at the University of Pittsburgh warned not to prematurely label patients as alcoholics, but to consider Eigenbrauer syndrome and bladder fermentation syndrome . These can be treated with drug therapy, such as antifungals: drugs that are used to treat fungal infections.
People with bladder fermentation syndrome or Eigenbrauer syndrome run the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver if they are not treated. In most cases, cirrhosis is the result of alcohol abuse . The liver * of the 61-year-old from Pittsburgh is also damaged by the bladder fermentation syndrome, since it had to break down alcohol daily as the most important detoxification organ for years. The patient is on the waiting list for a liver transplant, the British news portal Daily Mail reported.
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