The ability to guzzle down huge quantities of alcohol is one thing, but what happens when everything one consumes, turns into alcohol inside the body, leaving a person with an really long hangover. Such is the case of a woman from New York, who appeared before court for drunk driving.
The woman is 35-year-old school teacher, who was stopped in Eerie County after authorities received reports of rough driving. Although she admitted to having three drinks earlier in the day, alcohol content in her blood was four times the limit at 0.33 %.
In her defence the woman said that her body was generating alcohol on its own, in other words her body was a brewery in itself. She asked for an opinion by experts who found that even when she wasn’t drinking, the alcohol levels crossed limit.
The health condition causing the reaction, has been dubbed as the auto-brewery syndrome, but is known as fermentation syndrome. People suffering from it have abnormally high levels of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, which is better known as yeast.
Her attorney told Buffalo News that, “She can register a blood alcohol content that would have you or I falling down drunk, but she can function.” Any sugars or carbohydrates consumed are turned into alcohol by yeast.
A similar case was reported by Vice News in 2014, as Matthew Hogg was described as constantly having a hangover, due to alcohol generated by yeast stuck in his small intestine, a complication that started as severe digestive upsets at a young age.
Only 50 to 100 people have been diagnosed for the fermentation syndrome, as experts suggest that around 90% of affected people might not even know that they are actually suffering from it.
Feature image source: Reuters