Suffering from auto-brewery syndrome, a Belgian man managed to have his conviction for drunk driving overturned. Explanations.
- Auto-brewery syndrome causes sufferers to produce alcohol in their stomach.
- As a result, they can be intoxicated without having drunk alcohol.
- A Belgian accused of drunk driving has benefited from a dismissal of the charges after proving that he suffered from auto-brewery syndrome (SAB).
A Belgian accused of drunk driving was dismissed after proving he had auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), a rare disease that causes sufferers to brew alcohol right inside their stomach.
In April 2022, the 40-year-old was charged after being given a breathalyzer test by police, which revealed an alcohol level of 0.91 milligrams per liter exhaled, well above the limit of 0. .22 milligram per liter set by Belgium. He was previously fined and had his license suspended in 2019 for drunk driving. However, in both cases, he had not drunk a drop of alcohol before getting behind the wheel.
The man was unaware of his auto-brewery syndrome until his latest arrest, according to reports by AFP.
What is auto-brewery syndrome?
Everyone’s intestines produce a small amount of alcohol when digesting sugary and starchy foods, but when certain bacteria (klebsiella pneumonia, enterococcus faecium, e. faecalis, citrobacter freundii) or yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae, s. boulardii) are present in your system, a much greater amount of ethanol can be produced and tip into auto-brewery syndrome. Several cases have been reported in recent years, usually of disconcerted people who were arrested for drunk driving after having had nothing to drink.
Given the rarity of the syndrome, patients are often unaware of what is happening and report neurological problems, chronic fatigue, nausea and other manifestations associated with intoxication ( euphoria, headache, excessive thirst, stomach aches, etc.).
How to treat auto-brewery syndrome?
Once diagnosed, sufferers are often advised to avoid carbohydrates, which are essential to the brewing process. There are also some treatments for rare individuals with auto-brewery syndrome.
“Anything that causes an imbalance between harmful and beneficial bacteria can potentially increase fermentation in the gut. Antibiotics should therefore be avoided where possible. If antibiotic treatment is necessary, a plan should be put in place to re-test for fermentation pathogens and treat if necessary”, explain a scientific journal dedicated to the subject.
“Patients suffering from long-term chronic relapses may require fecal microbiota transplants,” she also indicates.
Now that the charges have been dropped against him, please note that our Belgian patient has reduced his carbohydrate consumption.