A Woman’s Bladder Is Making Alcohol Like a Microbrewery

By Mary Moore | Published on February 28, 2020
Reviewed By Gilmore Health | On: May 10, 2021

A bladder like a microbrewery

To further their research, the doctors took urine samples, which they then placed on petri dishes. Some had a lot of yeast, others almost none. A few hours later, the medical team discovered that the yeast had actually produced alcohol. In samples with more yeast, the alcohol content had even increased from 40 to 800 mg/dL. “That’s an extreme amount,” says Kenichi Tamama, pathologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. So you could say that this woman’s bladder has become a real microbrewery, because to produce alcohol you need water, sugar, yeast and no oxygen. All the ingredients were there to promote fermentation.

Soon the transplant

Besides this unusual discovery, this test proved that the patient did not lie and therefore did not consume alcohol. Currently doctors are trying to improve her health status and are hoping she could get a transplant in the future. They have already prescribed her an anti-fungal drug, but it did not work. Other treatment options are currently being investigated.