Drink driver was producing beer in his gut

The yeast is instrumental in beer brewing as it helps ferment carbohydrates and produces alcohol. Photo / 123rf

An American started producing beer in his own gut after a fungal growth produced high levels of yeast, a study has found.

It describes how the 46-year-old's rare condition was only discovered after he was pulled over by police on suspicion of drink driving.

Hospital tests showed the unnamed construction worker had a blood-alcohol level of 200 mg/dL, equivalent to consuming around 10 alcoholic drinks, although he repeatedly denied he had drunk any alcohol.

The strange symptoms of auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) are recounted by researchers in a case study published in the British Medical Journal. In the report, the researchers reveal how a once healthy, light social drinker began experiencing all the effects of alcoholism despite becoming teetotal.

The man first began experiencing uncharacteristic episodes of depression, "brain fog" and aggressive behaviour in 2011 after taking a course of antibiotics for a thumb injury.

The true cause for his symptoms only became apparent years later, following his arrest for suspected drink driving. The study outlined how the man, after being discharged from hospital, first sought treatment at an Ohio clinic where a stool sample revealed the presence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (also known as brewer's yeast) and a related fungus in his system.

The yeast is instrumental in beer brewing as it helps ferment carbohydrates and produces alcohol.

Experts eventually used anti-fungal therapies and probiotics to treat the gut microflora. The fungal growths appear to have been completely retreated.