Prosecuted for drunk driving, a 40-year-old Belgian had his conviction overturned after proving that he suffered from auto-brewery syndrome. This rare disease causes the digestive system to produce alcohol. Explanations.
“No, Mr. Agent, I assure you that I have not drunk a drop of alcohol“… This time, this sentence uttered by a Belgian motorist was not a lie. Prosecuted for repeat drunken driving, the man was released on Monday after having managed to prove that he was suffering from alcohol syndrome. alcoholic self-fermentation or auto-brewery syndrome. What is it?
A rare syndrome favored by the consumption of sugars
This disorder makes people who suffer from it drunk, after a meal rich in carbohydrates and without having consumed a single drop of alcohol. “These are yeasts normally present in the intestine but developing abnormally in affected patients, which are believed to be responsible for this disorder.“, explained Jean-Christophe Saurin, gastroenterologist at the Edouard-Herriot hospital center in Lyon.
The first study to describe the phenomenon was Japanese and dates from 1976. Each year since then, a few cases have been discovered and made the headlines, but this syndrome remains rare. In a healthy person, the starch contained in potatoes, pasta or bread is normally broken down by yeasts present in the intestine, through a fermentation process. “It is an excess of different yeasts, called Candida Albicans or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which leads to excessive fermentation and therefore excessive production of alcohol, which passes into the blood and makes you drunk.“, explains Dr Saurin.
Significant consequences on health
“Actually, everyone is capable of making some alcohol in their gut in the presence of yeast, which is quite common,” he continues. But the level of alcohol produced in a healthy person is very low, it varies from 0 to 0.008 mg/100 mL of blood. That of these patients has reached records! Depending on the production of ethanol produced, the patient may feel a slight feeling of inebriation (headaches, nausea, fatigue, etc.) but depending on the carbohydrates consumed, this can give rise to speech problems and confusion. …and a real hangover the next day.
And if the phenomenon becomes chronic, the risks linked to chronic exposure to alcohol are also possible: cirrhosis, hepatitis, liver cancer, road accidents, risky behavior, etc.
A treatment to rebalance the microbiota and reduce sugar intake
After being diagnosed, the treatment for patients with this auto-brewery syndrome boils down to taking an antifungal medication, to reduce the presence of the offending yeasts and adhering to a diet depleted in carbohydrates. “It is the imbalance of the microbiota, the intestinal flora, which is to blame“, insisted Jean-Christophe Saurin. An antifungal treatment combined with a diet can correct the problem“.
Objective: to avoid the feeling of drunkenness and especially the production of alcohol by yeast, which is harmful to the body in the long term.
