Current Events > Bud hates him: man's gut brews its own beer auto-brewery sybdrome Not the onion.

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Police and doctors didn't believe a 46-year-old man who swore that he hadn't had alcohol before he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

His blood alcohol level was 0.2, more than twice the legal limit for operating a car. He refused a breathalyzer test, was hospitalized and later released. But the facts remained in contention.

Then researchers discovered the unusual truth: Fungi in the man's digestive system was turning carbohydrates into alcohol - a rarely diagnosed condition known as "auto-brewery syndrome."

In people with the syndrome, fermenting fungi or bacteria in the gut produce ethanol and can cause the patients to show signs of drunkenness. The condition, also known as gut fermentation syndrome, can occur in otherwise healthy people but is more common in patients with diabetes, obesity or Crohn's disease.

"A person is intoxicated from this fermenting yeast, and it's a horrible illness," said Barbara Cordell, a researcher of auto-brewery syndrome and the author of "My Gut Makes Alcohol."

"Everybody thought that he was a liar, he was a closet drinker," said Fahad Malik, the lead researcher on the study.

After his arrest on a drunken-driving charge, the man's aunt remembered hearing about a similar situation addressed by a doctor in Ohio. She bought her nephew a tool to test his blood alcohol levels and persuaded him to get treatment.

Doctors there gave the man a carbohydrate-heavy meal and watched his blood alcohol level shoot up to 0.57. He left on strict orders not to eat carbs - commonly found in bread, pasta and beer, among other foods - but soon started having flare-ups again. When his intoxication at one point caused him to fall and suffer a brain bleed, the doctors again refused to believe that he hadn't been drinking.

People with auto-brewery syndrome may smell like alcohol or feel too tired to work or spend time with family. Some patients are unemployed because of the condition, Malik said, and others skip meals to be sober for longer periods.

What's the cure

What's the cure

Hess, of Columbus, Ohio, said his wife didn't believe that he hadn't been drinking when he started exhibiting symptoms. At one point, he said, she started recording him to ensure he wasn't sneaking alcohol.

What she saw, Hess said, was just him playing video games all day.

this was a storyline on the good doctor this week. like identical. weird.

this was a storyline on the good doctor this week. like identical. weird.