TY - JOUR
T1 - Lactose and Milk Intolerance
T2 - Clinical Implications
AU - Bayless, Theodore M.
AU - Rothfeld, Benjamin
AU - Massa, Carol
AU - Wise, Ladymarie
AU - Paige, David
AU - Bedine, Marshall S.
PY - 1975/5/29
Y1 - 1975/5/29
N2 - We studied 166 hospitalized male patients to determine the clinical importance of tolerance-test-determined “lactose intolerance,” assumed to affect most of the world's adults. Abnormal lactose tolerance tests were found in 81% of 98 blacks, 12% of 59 whites of Scandinavian or Northwestern European extraction, and three of nine non-European whites. Seventy-two per cent of the “lactose-intolerant” subjects had previously realized that milk drinking could induce abdominal and bowel symptoms. Two hundred and forty milliliters of low-fat milk produced gaseousness or cramps in 59% of 44 “lactose-intolerant” men, and 68% were symptomatic with the equivalent amount of lactose. None of 18 “lactose-tolerant” men noted symptoms with milk or lactose. Refusal to drink 240 ml of low-fat milk served with meals correlated significantly with “lactose-intolerance”: 31.4% versus 12.9% among “lactose-tolerant” patients. “Lactose intolerance” is common in adults and is a clinically relevant problem. (N Engl J Med 292:1156–1159, 1975), LACTOSE intolerance,” as determined by conventional lactose-tolerance testing, is a genetic trait and is very common in otherwise healthy teen-agers and adults of many population groups. For example, over two thirds of randomly selected American blacks, Mexican-Americans, American Indians, Ashkenazic Jews and Orientals are “lactose intolerant.” Even in the lower prevalence groups, such as white Americans of Scandinavian or Northwestern European extraction, 5 to 15% are “lactose intolerant.”.
AB - We studied 166 hospitalized male patients to determine the clinical importance of tolerance-test-determined “lactose intolerance,” assumed to affect most of the world's adults. Abnormal lactose tolerance tests were found in 81% of 98 blacks, 12% of 59 whites of Scandinavian or Northwestern European extraction, and three of nine non-European whites. Seventy-two per cent of the “lactose-intolerant” subjects had previously realized that milk drinking could induce abdominal and bowel symptoms. Two hundred and forty milliliters of low-fat milk produced gaseousness or cramps in 59% of 44 “lactose-intolerant” men, and 68% were symptomatic with the equivalent amount of lactose. None of 18 “lactose-tolerant” men noted symptoms with milk or lactose. Refusal to drink 240 ml of low-fat milk served with meals correlated significantly with “lactose-intolerance”: 31.4% versus 12.9% among “lactose-tolerant” patients. “Lactose intolerance” is common in adults and is a clinically relevant problem. (N Engl J Med 292:1156–1159, 1975), LACTOSE intolerance,” as determined by conventional lactose-tolerance testing, is a genetic trait and is very common in otherwise healthy teen-agers and adults of many population groups. For example, over two thirds of randomly selected American blacks, Mexican-Americans, American Indians, Ashkenazic Jews and Orientals are “lactose intolerant.” Even in the lower prevalence groups, such as white Americans of Scandinavian or Northwestern European extraction, 5 to 15% are “lactose intolerant.”.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0016864315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0016864315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1056/NEJM197505292922205
DO - 10.1056/NEJM197505292922205
M3 - Article
C2 - 1173192
AN - SCOPUS:0016864315
SN - 0028-4793
VL - 292
SP - 1156
EP - 1159
JO - New England Journal of Medicine
JF - New England Journal of Medicine
IS - 22
ER -