What is this mysterious syndrome that causes a state of intoxication without drinking a single drop of alcohol?

Auto-brewery syndrome is a rare and poorly documented phenomenon.

In patients affected by this syndrome, the body naturally produces alcohol and causes a state of intoxication even though no drop has been consumed.

The symptoms are then the same as alcohol poisoning.

Headaches, dizziness, feeling drunk, dizziness, dry breath that smells of alcohol… Some people can feel these signs after a particularly drunken evening. It happens that these symptoms of alcohol poisoning also appear in others, even though they have not consumed a single drop of alcohol. This very rare phenomenon is called “auto-brewery syndrome” or “intestinal fermentation syndrome”.

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A rare syndrome

A first case of self-fermentation was reported in 1948 in a five-year-old African child. Auto-brewery syndrome was first described by Japanese scientists in the 1950s. However, it is a rare, poorly understood and relatively poorly documented phenomenon. In a study published in December 2020, in the journal “Analytical and Clinical Toxicology”, Professor Jean-Claude Alvarez and Dr Marie Martin explain that this syndrome “correspond to the endogenous production of ethanol during the fermentation of carbohydrates by yeasts in the gastrointestinal tract, which can reach up to more than 4 g/L”. The researchers add: “Excessive carbohydrate consumption appears to be associated with ethanol production. Repeated antibiotic therapy causing disruption of the intestinal microbiota promotes the proliferation of agents responsible for alcoholic fermentation“.

Symptoms of this pathology

The patient suffering from this syndrome then experiences the same symptoms as alcohol poisoning, namely headaches, chronic fatigue, stomach pain, nausea and a general feeling of inebriation. They may also have alcoholic breath. Patients suffering from this syndrome may also suffer from the social, medical and legal consequences of alcohol, which strongly impacts their daily lives. This condition can also lead to failed alcohol tests.

“A person who constantly shows signs of alcoholism does not go unnoticed. But often, patients have to struggle to prove that they are not drinking in secret, passing various tests.“, explains Professor Jean-Claude Alvarez, summarized by Health magazine. Currently, no cases have been described in France.