How Some People Get Drunk Without Drinking

There’s an extremely rare condition that afflicts at least 100 people around the world called auto-brewery syndrome, or ABS. Scientists aren’t sure how many people have ABS largely because of the stigma associated with the disease, “as patients may be mislabeled as drinkers who hide their habits,” writes Nautilus’s Molly Glick.

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To family, friends, and anyone who comes into contact with someone with ABS, it appears that the individual is drunk. ABS sufferers are known to have been arrested for intoxication, experienced family problems, and suffered from isolation. 

There has been only one peer-reviewed study performed on people with ABS, and it was extremely limited. Just five patients were studied in a 2023 survey. 

“Auto-brewery syndrome is a misunderstood condition with few tests and