A 50-year-old woman’s potentially fatal illness was dismissed seven times by doctors, who accused her of being drunk.
The woman from Canada suffered from the rare and intriguing auto-brewery syndrome, in which alcohol is produced in the body, leading to symptoms such as slurred speech, sudden drowsiness and blurred vision – as if the patient is drunk.
However, it took two years for her to be diagnosed as doctors ignored her persistent claims that she had not been drinking.
On one occasion, an emergency doctor wrongly diagnosed her with a psychiatric condition and she was certified under the Mental Health Act, meaning doctors could treat her against her will.
Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) causes carbohydrates to be fermented in the stomach, raising blood ethanol levels and causing signs of intoxication
Alyssa Kelsch, 26, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was also diagnosed with the condition in 2018 after months of doctor appointments and specialist visits. Pictured: The tattoo artist with glassy eyes during an episode where he felt ‘drunk’
Auto-brewery syndrome is a condition that affects fewer than 100 people worldwide and causes microbes in the intestines to spontaneously convert sugar into alcohol.
It is thought to be caused by a poor diet, antibiotics, or other factors that lead to diabetes dominance of yeast and other microorganisms in the intestines that help make alcohol.
The substance is absorbed into the bloodstream, causing a person to become ‘drunk’, even if he or she has not been drinking.
Two years before she was diagnosed, the woman began feeling extremely sleepy during the day and would suddenly fall asleep while getting ready for work or preparing dinner, as reported in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
She sometimes drank a glass of wine during her holidays, but in recent years she had stopped drinking completely due to her religious beliefs.
The woman visited her doctor several times with excessive fatigue and also went to the emergency room with slurred speech, the smell of alcohol on her breath and falls caused by her drowsiness.
On her first visit to the ER, her alcohol level was 39 millimoles per liter (less than two is considered a normal level).
Doctors discharged her from the ER saying she was drunk, despite the fact that there were no reports of her drinking, which was confirmed by her family.
During subsequent visits, she received three separate assessments by psychiatrists who provided addiction medicine care at the hospital.
On her seventh visit to the ER, she was diagnosed with autobrewery syndrome.
She was referred to a dietitian, who put her on a low-carbohydrate diet, which alleviated her symptoms.
A low-carb, sugar-free diet helps by reducing the amount of yeast that builds up in the intestines and would turn into alcohol in the stomach.
“Autobrewery syndrome has substantial social, legal and medical implications for patients and their loved ones,” said Dr. Rahel Zewude, University of Toronto, of the doctors who documented the woman’s case.
‘Our patient underwent several (emergency department) visits, was assessed by internists and psychiatrists and was certified under the Mental Health Act before being diagnosed with auto-brewery syndrome, highlighting how awareness of this syndrome is essential to clinical diagnosis and treatment. ‘
This isn’t the first time the bizarre disease has been documented in the medical literature.
Alyssa Kelsch, 26, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was also diagnosed with the condition in 2018 after months of doctor appointments and specialist visits.
She had ‘fruity breath’, blurred eyes, burst into fits of laughter and slurred her speech.
The tattoo artist is now taking a course of antifungal medication to prevent her from becoming ‘drunk’ from eating.