A man in Vietnam was rushed to the hospital and it was found he was dying of alcohol poisoning. Nguyen Van Nhat had fallen unconscious on Christmas Day. Doctor's found that he had 1,000 times the recommended limit of methanol in his body. To save his life, they pumped him full of beer; 15 in total.
There are two kinds of alcohol which are methanol and ethanol. The average consumer drinks ethanol when drinking a glass of wine or a beer rather than methanol. The latter is not well processed by the liver. Methanol is produced naturally during the fermentation process, however most manufacturers remove it before commercial sale. However, it is still found in bootleg liquor as well as in paint thinner, anti-freeze, and cleaning products.
According to Newsweek...
"Normally, when we consume drinks containing ethanol, an enzyme in the body known as alcohol dehydrogenase breaks down the compound into a toxic substance and known carcinogen called acetaldehyde. This is then metabolized into a byproduct known as acetate, which is further broken down into water and carbon dioxide, before being eliminated from the body."
They went on to explain that when methanol is processed by the body, it is turned into formaldehyde, or formic acid. When ethanol is introduced to the body, the production of formic acid is slowed to prioritize the breaking down of ethanol. The 15 beers that doctors gave to this patient helped buy them time to perform dialysis and get his liver functioning again.
Twitter was full of reactions.
Now, beer has been linked to some very American ailments.
We kid, we kid! We're glad to hear that Nguyen Van Nhat is okay!
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram