Englishman Matthew Hogg has been suffering from this relatively unknown medical condition for nearly twenty-five years. In an interview with Vice, he revealed that this condition is not as much fun as one might think it might be.
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Hogg has the auto-brewery syndrome, which means that as soon as he eats any food containing yeast – like a majority of carbohydrates – his body converts it into ethanolwhich is assimilating directly into the bloodstream.
The best-case scenario is that he receives all the fun side effects of having a few drinks. More often than not, he has the pleasure of suffering through a hangover without any of the fun from the night before: headaches, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, dry mouth, and cold sweats.
A lifetime of suffering
This syndrome has plagued Matthew Hogg since he was just 16 years old. At the time, he was athletic but since stopped playing sports entirely due to extreme fatigue. His academic progress deteriorated and his social life fell by the wayside.
The worst part is he’s not had the chance to go to uni because of his condition, which forces him to collect disability benefits to survive.
These days, he runs a site called “The Environmental Illness Resource” which looks to educate people on unknown or poorly understood chronic illnesses. His goal is to help people who are in a similar situation.
Check out the video above for more on Matthew's incredibly rare condition...
