Researchers at Richmond University Hospital in New York have found that developing fungi in the gastrointestinal tract can cause carbohydrates to ferment and convert to just alcohol, CNN reports.
The syndrome is called auto-brewery system (ABS), roughly "self-brewing". The researchers discovered the condition of a man who, several years before the discovery, had been stopped by the police for suspected drunk driving. Although, during a sobriety test, he was found to have 0.2 ppm in his blood, he denied that he drank a drop.
After several years of health problems and without being believed by health care professionals, he finally came into contact with the scientists in New York who gave him medicine to change the bacterial culture in the gastrointestinal system. The researchers believe that an antibiotic course that the man took three years earlier led to the fermentation process.
-These patients show the same symptoms as alcoholics. It is noticeable on the breath, the smell, the drowsiness and on the go, says Fahad Malik, who led the study, to CNN.
Although the idea of a brewery in the stomach may sound appealing to some, the syndrome can cause, among other things, severe mood swings and delirium. It is effectively treated with medicine and changes in diet.