Rarely but real man brewed beer in the stomach

Eigenbrauer Syndrome: Disease of the gastrointestinal tract causes beer to brew in a man's stomach

09/27/2013

To be drunk without drinking alcohol? Until recently, doctors at a Texan hospital had not thought that possible. But that's exactly what happened to a 61-year-old American. The man had been admitted to the emergency room at 3.7 per thousand, even though he had not drunk a single drop of alcohol before. Guilt was a rare disease of the gastrointestinal potion.

Eigenbrauer syndrome makes beer brew in the stomach
For several years, a man from Texas was always drunk, even though he claims to have taken no alcohol. His family and acquaintances accused him of an alcohol problem, but the 61-year-old rejected vehemently. In November 2009 he was finally hospitalized with 3.7 per thousand. There, too, the man insisted on not drinking alcohol. At first the doctors did not believe him. However, a specialist in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract found after two months that the man suffered from an extremely rare disease, the so-called Eigenbrauer syndrome (English „Auto-Brewery Syndrome“).

When examining the patient, the doctor discovered traces of a yeast fungus in the digestive tract. He then performed an experiment. The man was isolated in a hospital room for 24 hours. To make sure he did not bring alcohol to the hospital, his belongings were searched. Then the man received again and again carbohydrate-containing food. As it turned out, the alcohol level increased after each meal.

Yeast was responsible for fermentation process
Blame was indeed the yeast fungus, which is normally safe in the stomach when the intestinal bacteria keep the intruder at bay. But that was exactly the problem with the man. After being operated on for a broken foot in 2004, he had to take antibiotics for a long period of time to attack his intestinal flora. As a result, the yeast fungi were able to reproduce better and created one „brewery“ in the man's stomach, feeding on carbohydrates (sugar) and nourishing a fermentation process.

„He could suddenly be drunk out of nowhere - on a Sunday morning after church or any other time“, reported Barbara Cordell from Panola College in Carthage, across the street „npr.org“. „His wife was so upset that she bought an alcohol meter.“ Together with Dr. Justin McCarthy investigated Cordell's case and published the results in the „International Journal of Clinical Medicine“. Meanwhile, the man is cured. He received medicines for the fungus and changed his diet. (Ag)