This article will scare those with weak alcohol stomachs, but send the hard core drinkers into cheers. I am just kidding, but seriously this is one of the strangest human medical conditions I have ever read about. The article is entitled, "Beer Gut: Man's Belly Brews Own Beer," and it was written by Dan Vergano. It seems a man was hospitalized with an incredibly high blood alcohol level, but he had not consumed any alcohol. What a mystery!
The man was sixty-one years old and did not have a history of drinking, but he seemed to have unusually high BAC's over five years. It turns out he had gut fermentation syndrome, a condition in which brewer's yeast (scientifically called saccharomyces cerevisiae) inhabits the gut and produces fermented alcohol within the body.
The doctors realized that whenever the man ate starch, the beer yeast would start to break the starch down and ferment it into alcohol. All it took was a big bowl of pasta for this man to become intoxicated. The problem was easily fixed with medication to kill the yeast and a specific diet for a couple of weeks.
This article is relevant to scientists and doctors' abilities to identify and treat patients' diseases or illnesses. Although this article may seem silly or quite humorous, there is a slightly serious message. If the doctors had not known about gut fermentation syndrome, the man could have died of alcohol poisoning or liver disease. The knowledge that doctors and scientists have and continue to build upon is the reason that humans' life expectancy has continued to be prolonged.
I chose this article because I thought it was entertaining and odd. I find animal and human body mysteries to be downright compelling. I wonder if he ever thinks about his condition? Probably only when he has to fork over the $20 for two overpriced martinis.
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