Auto-brewery syndrome: A medical mixed blessing if I ever heard of one

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You probably need to consume a lot of the active yeast and have a particularly weak stomach acid for this. Thereā€™s likely more to it than that, but I can dream, canā€™t I?

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Definitely a mixed blessing. On the one hand he shouldnā€™t be driving. On the other hand heā€™ll never need to drive to the store to pick up a case of Milwaukeeā€™s Best.

I assume that only a little bit of yeast has to make it past the stomach and into the intestines, which are much more convivial for microbes. I assume that the locals, already established by the billion, normally give them a rather hostile reception (which is presumably what keeps this so uncommon); but if they are depleted by antibiotics or other factorsā€¦

This is clearly the first step towards Culture-style drug glands, and we should hail this fellow as a saint.

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Also heā€™ll fart like a brewery.

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Per wikipedia, stomach acidā€™s pH is between 1.5 and 3.5. Typical pH for beers is 4.0 or a little more acidic, and wines are around 3.0. And thatā€™s the desirable levels of acidity - a hardy yeast can tolerate much more acidic conditions than would make for a good tasting wine or beer.

The story deserves more skepticism, what with being (a) published in a bottom-feeding non-peer-review vanity-press journal, and (b) written by an aromatherapist.

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Donā€™t discount the scenario of someone choosing to use take their home-brewed, yeast-intensive beer in through the back door, so to speak. Alien thought? To me, sureā€¦ but far, far stranger things have happened.

Imagine yeast with a mutation that makes them competitive against our normal gut flora. We could end up with a drunken plague.

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How would the mutants pass person-to-person?

Sure weā€™ll be able to gland beer, but will we be able to gland pretzels?

Pretzels are mostly carb. Heā€™s glanding pretzels into beer.

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To amplify my earlier Bah-humbuggery:

  1. The ā€œInternational Journal of Clinical Medicineā€ is a SCIRP journal, this being a publishing house where the editorial overview consists of cashing the authorsā€™ cheques; known for previously accepting ā€˜papersā€™ generated by random-number software. In this case, editorial overview certainly did not include ā€œproof-readingā€ ā€“ the first typo is in the list of keywords.

  2. The first author ā€“ the one pimping out the story with press releases to Fox News, Huffington Post and similar reputable media ā€“ is an aromatherapeutic quack. The second author is lying low and saying nothing.

  3. According to a quick education from the University of Google, the possibility of ā€œauto-fermentation syndromeā€ as an excuse for drunk driving was most recently laughed out of the house in a 2000 review.

MKB was pwned.

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Aside from the factors that smut_clyde mentions above: has no one else here ever homebrewed? You need to have the wort (the slurry of malt, hops, water and yeast) in a container, sitting still, so that the yeast can digest the sugar in the malt. The stuff in your intestines is constantly on the move; if it isnā€™t, youā€™ve got way bigger problems than an internal yeast infection. My guess is that the guy is a secret drunk.

Given how much carbon dioxide yeast produces when itā€™s fermenting sugars to alcohol, he must have blown up like a balloon. Or the storyā€™s bogus, one of the two.

Even the stories about elephants getting drunk on fermenting fruit appear not to be substantiated: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1219_051219_drunk_elephant.html

I donā€™t know the journal, but everything I can find on it does indicate that the International Journal of Clinical Medicine is peer reviewed. Also, that aromatherapist, sheā€™s also got a Bachelor of Science and is a registered nurse. Oh and the other author, heā€™s a Gastroenterologist (or there is another Justin McCarthy, who has worked with a woman from Texas on an article about a condition beginning in the gut).

Bartender! One bowl of Cheerios, neat!

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And now after looking a little deeper I see youā€™ve done more research than your initial comment. I stand corrected.

UPDATE: this comment replies to comment #17; I had not read Itsumishiā€™s comment #19 when I wrote it.

everything I can find on it does indicate that the International Journal of Clinical Medicine is peer reviewed

I refer readers to the Whackywedia item on its publisher, [SCIRP][1]. In particular, its imprints are known for [including people on Editorial Boards without telling them][2] (as well as plagiarising content). Yes, the IJCM claims to be peer reviewed, but predatory open-access journals usually do.

Also, that aromatherapist, sheā€™s also got a Bachelor of Science and is a registered nurse.
And she offers training courses in ā€œclinical aromatherapyā€.

ā€¦in the clinical use of essential oils in their practice. Students
gain knowledge in the application and controlled use of essential oils
for specific, measurable outcomes. This four module course
encompasses the history, core concepts, research and chemistry of
aromatherapy and essential oils with an emphasis on the key concepts
of the use of essential oils within a health care framework. Specific
references for stress, psychoneuroimmunology, inflammation, pain,
insomnia, cancer, AIDS, and womenā€™s health are covered in the course.

Aromatherapy for cancer? I am in awe.

the other author, heā€™s a Gastroenterologist

His qualifications are not in question. I am unsure how much input he had to the paperā€¦ despite being the author with the relevant expertise, he is not the one promoting it with interviews and press releases.
[1]: Scientific Research Publishing - Wikipedia
[2]: Two new journals copy the old | Nature

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