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New Delhi:
In a rare case, doctors in Canada treated a 50-year-old woman with a syndrome that causes her intestines to produce alcohol and make her feel intoxicated without getting drunk, according to a case report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday. .
Doctors from the University of Toronto and Mount Sinai diagnosed the woman with autobrewery syndrome — a rare condition in which intestinal fungi create alcohol through fermentation.
For two years the woman suffered from extreme daytime drowsiness and slurred speech and, despite not consuming alcohol, had high levels of alcohol in her blood and alcohol in her breath.
However, each time the doctors dismissed the case with a diagnosis of drunkenness – despite saying she had not been drinking.
In the last 5 years, he had recurrent Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), which required frequent courses of proton pump inhibitors, ciprofloxacin and nitrofurantoin, in addition to gastrointestinal reflux disease, treated with dexlansoprazole.
In the past, she would drink a glass of wine on holidays; however, in recent years, she has completely stopped drinking because of her religious beliefs.
Along with her husband and children, she attended the emergency room seven times before the correct diagnosis could be made, demonstrating a lack of knowledge of the syndrome among doctors.
“Automatic brewery syndrome has substantial social, legal and medical consequences for patients and their loved ones,” said co-authors Dr. Rahel Zewude of the University of Toronto.
Doctors “suspect that recurrent antibiotics for UTI and use of dexlansoprazole led to intestinal dysbiosis with a potential genetic contribution,” resulting in the rare syndrome.
The woman was treated with antifungal medications and a low-carb diet.
Autobrewery syndrome occurs when microorganisms capable of fermenting alcohol from carbohydrates outnumber the normal intestinal flora.
It is rare because it requires multiple host factors to interact with a substantial overpopulation of fermenting microorganisms and high carbohydrate consumption.
“Comorbidities such as diabetes, liver disease, intestinal motility disorders and inflammatory bowel disease are associated with autobrewery syndrome,” the study showed.
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