Strange disease: He was drunk with food

The rare intestinal infection caused a 61-year-old man in Texas to suddenly get drunk on his own, though not taking any sips of alcohol.

The doctors did not believe when he was taken to the emergency room in the state of being drunk, then confessed not to take a sip of alcohol. However, that is absolutely true.

The NPR reported that the elderly male patient worked as a brewer at home. The results of the hospital test showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.37%, nearly 5 times higher than the permitted threshold for the driver of the vehicle in Texas.

Despite claims that he did not taste any sip of alcohol all day, doctors still concluded he was an insidious alcoholic . However, they finally found out, the patient's body produced itself causing a drug-intoxicating substance.

He could be drunk at any time after consuming starchy foods and drinks, including bread, pasta and soda water.(Artwork: Word Press)

"He used to suddenly get drunk, maybe on a Sunday morning after going to church or any other time ," said Barabara Cordell, chief of nursing at Panola College (USA).

Mrs. Cordell and her colleague - Dr. Justin McCarthy decided to follow the strange case. They set him up in a hospital room for 24 hours continuously. During this time, his grandfather ate carbohydrate-rich foods and then his blood alcohol level increased to 0.12%, exceeding the threshold to be considered alert.

The team discovered that his abdomen had turned into a bio-engine to brew alcohol due to the accumulation of a common yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae . When he eats or nibbles on foods and drinks that contain large amounts of starch, including bread, pasta and soda, the mushroom ferments sugar into alcohol (ethanol).

According to experts, the accumulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is rare after patients take antibiotics. The reason is, killing all the bacteria in one's intestines will pave the way for this yeast to multiply and grow. Another factor might be the brewing work at his grandfather's home, which requires him to keep countless yeasts around him.

The research team recently published this bizarre case in the International Journal of Clinical Medicine. His therapies were revealed to include a variety of antifungal drugs and a low-starch diet.