他沒有喝酒，但他的身體會產(chǎn)生酒精

他沒有喝酒，但他的身體會產(chǎn)生酒精

When a man in North Carolina was pulled over on suspicion of driving drunk, police didn't believe him when he said he hadn't had any alcohol.

當(dāng)一名北卡羅萊納州的男子因涉嫌酒后駕車被警察攔下時，他說自己沒有喝酒，但警察并不相信。

The man, in his late 40's at the time, refused to take a breathalyzer test and was taken to a hospital, where his initial blood alcohol level was found to be 0.2% — about 2.5 times the legal limit and the equivalent of consuming 10 drinks an hour. Despite the man swearing up and down that he hadn't had anything to drink, doctors didn't believe him either.

這名男子當(dāng)時年近40，拒絕接受酒精測試，然后被送往醫(yī)院。他最初血液中的酒精含量為0.2%，約為法定上限的2.5倍，相當(dāng)于每小時喝10杯酒。盡管這名男子堅持發(fā)誓說他沒有喝任何東西，但醫(yī)生們也不相信他。

But researchers at the Richmond University Medical Center in New York eventually discovered that the man was telling the truth. He wasn't downing beers or cocktails — instead, there was yeast in his gut that was likely converting carbohydrates in the food he ate to alcohol.

但紐約里士滿大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)中心的研究人員最終發(fā)現(xiàn)，這名男子說的是實話。他沒有喝啤酒或雞尾酒——相反，他的腸道里有酵母，可能會把他吃的食物中的碳水化合物轉(zhuǎn)化成酒精。

In other words, his body was brewing beer.

換句話說，他的身體正在釀造啤酒。

The findings were reported in a study in BMJ Open Gastroenterology. The man, whose identity has not been revealed, had a rarely diagnosed medical condition called auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), also known as gut fermentation syndrome.

這一發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《BMJ開放胃腸病學(xué)》雜志上。這名男子的身份尚未透露，他患有一種罕見的疾病，名為“自動產(chǎn)酒精綜合癥”，也被稱為腸道發(fā)酵綜合癥。

Gut fermentation syndrome occurs when yeast in the gastrointestinal tract causes the body to convert carbohydrates ingested through food into alcohol. The process typically takes place in the upper GI tract, which includes the stomach and the first part of the small intestine.

腸道發(fā)酵綜合癥是由于胃腸道內(nèi)的酵母導(dǎo)致人體將通過食物攝取的碳水化合物轉(zhuǎn)化為酒精。這個過程通常發(fā)生在上消化道，包括胃和小腸的上半段。

"These patients have the exact same implications of alcoholism: the smell, the breath, drowsiness, gait changes," Fahad Malik, the study's lead author and the chief internal medicine resident at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told CNN. "They will present as someone who's intoxicated by alcohol, but the only difference here is that these patients can be treated by antifungal medications."

該研究的主要作者、阿拉巴馬大學(xué)伯明翰分校的首席內(nèi)科住院醫(yī)師法哈德•馬利克告訴CNN:“這些患者都有著與酗酒完全相同的癥狀:氣味、呼吸、困倦、步態(tài)變化。”“他們會表現(xiàn)得像喝醉了酒的人，但唯一的區(qū)別是這些病人可以通過抗真菌藥物治療。”

Researchers treated him with antifungal medications

研究人員用抗真菌藥物治療他

Things weren't the same for the man after he completed a course of antibiotics to treat a thumb injury. His personality started to change, researchers wrote in the study, and he experienced episodes of depression, 'brain fog,' memory loss and aggressive behavior that was out of character for him.

這名男子在接受了治療拇指損傷的抗生素醫(yī)療后，情況就不一樣了。研究人員在研究報告中寫道，他的性格開始發(fā)生變化，他經(jīng)歷了抑郁、“腦子模糊”、失憶以及與他性格不符的攻擊行為。

Three years later, after his suspected drunk driving arrest, the man's aunt bought a breathalyzer to record his alcohol levels. She had heard about a similar case that had been successfully treated by a doctor in Ohio and convinced her nephew to seek treatment there too.

三年后，在他涉嫌酒后駕車被捕后，他的阿姨買了一個酒精測試儀來記錄他的酒精含量。她聽說在俄亥俄州的一位醫(yī)生成功治療了一個類似的病例，并說服她的侄子也去那里尋求治療。

His basic lab tests turned out normal. But doctors found two strains of yeast in his stool: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a yeast commonly used in beer brewing, winemaking and baking, as well as another fungus.

他基本的實驗室測試結(jié)果正常。但醫(yī)生在他的糞便中發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩種酵母:釀酒酵母，這種酵母用在啤酒釀造，酒精釀造和烘培中，以及另一種真菌。

The man was successfully treated at the Ohio clinic and told to stick to a strict carbohydrate-free diet along with some special supplements. But after a few weeks, his symptoms started to flare up again. This time, no treatment seemed to work despite visits to numerous medical professionals.

這名男子在俄亥俄州的診所接受了成功的治療，并被告知要堅持嚴(yán)格的無碳水化合物飲食和一些特殊補充劑。但幾周后，他的癥狀又開始發(fā)作。這一次，盡管拜訪了許多醫(yī)學(xué)專家，但似乎沒有任何治療有效。

At one point, the man became so inebriated that he fell and experienced bleeding in his brain. He was taken to a neurosurgical center where he spontaneously recovered in 10 days, researchers said.

有一次，這名男子酩酊大醉，以至于摔倒，腦部出血。研究人員說，他被帶到一家神經(jīng)外科中心，在那里他進(jìn)行10天的自行康復(fù)。

The condition is rarely diagnosed

這種情況很少被診斷出來

There have only been a few studies documenting cases of gut fermentation syndrome and the condition is rarely diagnosed, Malik said. In the past, it's even been regarded as a myth.

馬利克說，只有少數(shù)研究記錄了腸道發(fā)酵綜合癥的病例，這種情況很少被診斷出來。在過去，它甚至被當(dāng)作一個謎。