WHEN patients present with symptoms of liver failure, excessive drinking can usually be assumed.
However, for one 61-year-old woman who had been placed on a transplant list, doctors' assumptions that she had an alcohol dependency issue were misguided, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed.
Despite the patient insisting she was not a drinker, she was ushered into an alcohol abuse treatment program, on the presumption she was being economical with the truth.
Adding weight to the theory the woman was a secret drinker with the result of a urine test, which showed the presence of a high concentration of alcohol, although she did not show any signs of being intoxicated.
The urine sample also contained sugar and yeast - two ingredients needed for fermentation, and lab tests found the yeast-rich urine became increasingly alcoholic when the sugars were allowed to ferment leading researchers to theorise that the woman was in fact a human brewery, with the yeast and sugars fermenting in her bladder, a condition known as "urinary auto-brewery syndrome".
The conclusion of the study did not specify if the woman had been subcontracted by Anheuser-Busch InBev to produce Budweiser, but we can only assume it would be an improvement on what is a piss poor beer.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 26 Feb 20
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 26 Feb 20