Lactose and milk intolerance: clinical implications.
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.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D044383:Black People; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000009:adverse effects; D004032:Diet; D005006:Ethnicity; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007787:Lactose Intolerance / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007789:Lactose Tolerance Test; D008286:Malabsorption Syndromes / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D008875:Middle Aged; D008892:Milk / Q000009:adverse effects*; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American
D002241:Carbohydrates