What is Auto Brewery Syndrome?

What are the symptoms of ABS?

How can we treat ABS?

Currently, the only real way we can treat this condition is by going onto a diet with no alcohol, no sugar, and low carbs while also taking anti-fungal medication. Even this though doesn't really cure it since it's still in your body, it only lessens the effects of it.

Some of the known symptoms of ABS include difficulties concentrating, difficulties with memory, increased fatigue, aches and pains, pains in the stomach, bloating, changes in bowel movements, sneezing and coughing, and also cravings for sugar. People with this condition also seem to have an extremely high tolerence to alcohol since those with it have to live with alcohol constantly in their blood, to give an example, people with this condition can function normally with a blood alcohol level of .20-.30, for a normal person, that would put them into a comatose or just kill them.

How to Diagnose ABS

List of Sources

A way to self diagnose ABS is to buy a DOT approved breathalyzer and test your blood alcohol concentration, obviously this doesn't work if you had any alcoholic beverages. A note to have is that it is possible that you can have symptoms of yeast overgrowth as well.

Wikipedia- General information

CBC, VICE, and other news/reporting sites- Information from people who had suffered with the condition.

The Bustle- A good amount of information, and a bit of humour.

Autobrewery.info- Information on diagnosis.

What causes ABS?

What is Auto Brewery Syndrome?

Researchers assume that Auto-Brewery Syndome is caused by an overabundance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a type of yeast used in the brewing of beer. It's speculated that the overabundance of this yeast is caused by it out growing the bacteria in our body to keep it in check and can also possibly be caused by anti-bacterial medication killing them off which allows it to grow out of control more easily.

Auto Brewery Syndrome is a rare condition that researchers believe is caused by an overabundance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a type of yeast used in the brewing of beer.

Treatment of ABS

Treatment for ABS is fairly limited, so at the moment we only really have one good way to deal with it and that is to have a low carb, high protein diet. This is because sugar is fermenting in the yeast, and since carbs are broken down into sugar, that is fermented as well. Some doctors also prescribe anti-fungal medication to try and cut back at the yeast.

What are the probable causes of ABS

Some of the causes scientists and doctors think may cause ABS are anti-bacterial medication since it can't distinguish between good and bad bacteria, thus killing the yeast eating bacteria which can have it grow out of control more easily.

What behavioral changes occur due to ABS

Changes in behaviour due to ABS are akin to those caused by being drunk, so things such as increased aggression, self disclosure, and more. On a side note, it is speculated that alcohol causes this by causing our brain to not foresee what would be obvious negative consequences from our actions.