A woman who suffered from liver cirrhosis and diabetes was taken off the liver donor list and referred to an alcohol abuse program after doctors found she was urinating alcohol despite not drinking any.
Doctors diagnosed her with ‘urinary auto-brewery syndrome’ where yeast in her bladder ferments sugar in her urine to produce alcohol.
The 61-year-old woman was found to have Candida glabrata, a natural yeast produced in the body which accumulated in her body when she ate or drank sugar.
Doctors are now being warned to look for ‘urinary auto-brewery syndrome’ in liver transplant patients who may be mistaken for alcoholics.