This Gut Bacteria Makes People Drunk Without Drinking — And Causes Liver Disease

By Jillian Mock
Sep 19, 2019 10:00 AMNov 11, 2019 9:56 PM
Klebsiella-pneumoniae shutterstock
Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria grown in culture. (Credit: Sirirat/Shutterstock)

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Three years ago, a woman in upstate New York was charged with drunk driving and then exonerated when she proved her high blood alcohol level was the result of a rare condition in which her body brews its own alcohol. At the time, the bizarre story made national headlines. Now, auto-brewery syndrome, as the condition is called, may have helped researchers unlock some of the secrets of a common but little-understood liver disease.

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