- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
(CNN) - When a man in North Carolina was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, the police did not believe him when he said he had not consumed alcohol.
MIRA: Klobuchar: "My father had big problems with alcoholism"
The man, 40 years old at that time, refused to take a breathalyzer test and was taken to a hospital, where his initial blood alcohol level was found to be 0.2%, approximately 2.5 times the legal limit and the equivalent of consuming ten drinks in one hour. Despite the man swearing from top to bottom that he had not drunk anything, the doctors didn't believe him either.
But researchers at the University of Richmond Medical Center in New York finally discovered that the man was telling the truth. I wasn't drinking beers or cocktails; instead, there was yeast in his gut that was probably turning the carbohydrates of the foods he ate into alcohol.
In other words, his body was brewing.
READ: Alcohol addiction: a problem that affects the addict, but also the closest environment
The findings were reported in a study in BMJ Open Gastroenterology. The man, whose identity has not been revealed, had a rarely diagnosed medical condition called auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), also known as intestinal fermentation syndrome.
The intestinal fermentation syndrome occurs when the yeast in the gastrointestinal tract causes the body to convert the carbohydrates ingested through food into alcohol. The process usually takes place in the upper gastrointestinal tract, which includes the stomach and the first part of the small intestine.
"These patients have exactly the same implications of alcoholism: smell, breath, drowsiness, gait changes," Fahad Malik, lead author of the study and head of internal medicine residents at the University of Alabama, told CNN. Birmingham "They will present themselves as someone intoxicated by alcohol, but the only difference here is that these patients can be treated with antifungal medications."
The researchers treated him with antifungal medications
Things were not the same for the man after completing a cycle of antibiotics to treat a thumb injury. His personality began to change, the researchers wrote in the study, and he experienced episodes of depression, "brain fog," memory loss and aggressive behavior that was out of place for him.
LOOK: Not only university students drink too much, but also older adults, says new study
Three years later, after her alleged arrest for drunk driving, the man's aunt bought a breathalyzer to record his alcohol levels. He had heard of a similar case that had been treated successfully by a doctor in Ohio and convinced his nephew to seek treatment there as well.
His basic laboratory tests were normal. But doctors found two strains of yeast in their feces: Saccharomyces cerevisiae , a yeast that is commonly used in brewing, winemaking and baking, as well as another mushroom.
The man was successfully treated at the Ohio clinic and was told to follow a strict carbohydrate-free diet along with some special supplements. But after a few weeks, his symptoms began to reappear. This time, no treatment seemed to work despite visits to numerous medical professionals.
At one point, the man got so drunk that he fell and experienced bleeding in his brain. The researchers said they took him to a neurosurgery center where he recovered spontaneously in 10 days.
READ: Party, but sober: bars, clubs and stadiums open alcohol-free spaces
"In this institution, their blood alcohol levels ranged from 50 to 400 mg / dL," the researchers wrote. "Here too, the medical staff refused to believe that he did not drink alcohol despite his persistent denials."
Finally, the man sought help from an online support group and contacted researchers at the University of Richmond Medical Center, who said in the study that they believed that the antibiotics he took years ago altered his intestinal microbiome and allowed fungal growth in your gastrointestinal tract
Then, the researchers used antifungal and probiotic therapies to help normalize bacteria in their intestines, a treatment that has continued. And apart from a relapse that happened after eating pizza and soda without telling researchers, it seems to be working.
And you can eat pizza again.
"Approximately 1.5 years later, he remains asymptomatic and has resumed his previous lifestyle, including a normal diet, while still checking his breath alcohol levels sporadically," the authors wrote in the study.
The condition is rarely diagnosed.
There have only been a few studies documenting cases of intestinal fermentation syndrome and the condition is rarely diagnosed, Malik said. In the past, it has even been considered a myth.
The intestinal fermentation syndrome was described in 1912 as "fermentation of carbohydrates by germs", and was studied in the 1930s and 1940s as a contributing factor to vitamin deficiencies and irritable bowel syndrome. A group of 20 to 30 cases appeared in Japan in the 1970s and the first cases in the USA. UU. They were informed about 10 years later.
There have been a handful of cases reported in recent years. A 2013 study described a case of a 61-year-old man who for years seemed to be drunk all the time before he was diagnosed with intestinal fermentation syndrome. In 2015, a woman in northern New York State had an DUI dismissed after presenting evidence that she had the condition.
The authors of the University of Richmond Medical Center study recommend that doctors investigate the condition, especially when a patient shows high levels of alcohol in the blood despite denying that they have consumed alcohol.
The first signs of intestinal fermentation syndrome may include mood swings, delirium and brain fog, the researchers wrote, even before a patient begins to show symptoms of alcoholic intoxication.
The study says that more research should be done on the use of probiotics as a treatment for the condition.
"This is a condition that can be treated with dietary modifications, appropriate antifungal therapy and possibly probiotics," the researchers wrote. "The use of probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation could be considered for future studies."
Sandee LaMotte of CNN contributed to this report.
Alcohol Sickness Yeast Syndrome