On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Jacques Laurin wrote:

> Todd Moody wrote:
> > Perhaps you are thinking of tolerance as it is sometimes applied
> > to drug addicts who, tolerate greater doses of the drug even as
> > they need greater doses to get the desired effect.
>
> No, I was thinking of tolerance as a breach of immunological surveillance. The body gives
> up defending itself, and from then on, the foreign protein can infiltrate through and
> through without being prevented by anything. Correct me if I'm wrong, but intolerances to
> cow's milk are not due to lactose, it not being an antigen, but rather to cow's dairy
> proteins.

Intolerance is a more general concept, I think.  Intolerance to
cow's milk may well be caused by the proteins, but it is also a
fact that many people cannot tolerate lactose.

I suppose one could think of the exhaustion of the immune system
as a kind of tolerance, in the same sense that a beaten woman
might be said to "tolerate" rape, i.e., she no longer struggles.
I guess I am simply not acquainted with this use of the term.

In any event, I suppose you now understand that what I meant by
"tolerance" was that a food does not cause immunological
resistance in the first place, and does not compromise health.

Todd Moody
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