<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

At 09:18 PM 6/6/00 -0400, Angie Lussier wrote:

>Hypolactasia is a deficiency of the digestive enzyme which splits lactose,
>the sugar found in milk. Any condition which damages the mucosal lining of
>the small intestine can produce hypolactasia. It also occurs any time
>after three or four years of age as an inherited characteristic among a
>significant range of populations. Chronic diarrhoea results if large
>amounts of milk are consumed but the absorption of other foods is not affected.

Angie, thanks for the information. I would have one question about the last
paragraph: I wonder if that's the old traditional way of thinking about
lactose intolerance rather than a more up to date thinking. I lost the book
where I read this and I can't even remember the name of it now, but it was
a fairly recent book written by the head of England's largest allergy
clinic (though I have admit a certain prejudice toward the opinion of
allergists since they differ so much on just about everything). In the book
he said that genetic lactose intolerance is vary rare anywhere in the
world. He insisted that when you do not drink milk for a long period of
time you lose the ability to produce lactase off the tips of the villi in
the small intestine (which of course is the first thing damaged in celiac
so many of us are lactose intolerant for the first year or two till we
learn to avoid gluten and let the gut heal), and you cannot then ingest
dairy without discomfort.

He held that the reason some cultures seem to have so much lactose
intolerance among them is that they have tradition of not giving any dairy
to children after two or three years of age, so these children lose the
ability to digest it. He maintains that should they be willing to accept a
few months of discomfort they can regain that ability. He insists that a
congenital lactose intolerance is extremely rare anywhere in the world. His
explanation seems to make sense to me, but I'm sure there are other docs
who would disagree with him. -vance