American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 26, 1320-1322, Copyright © 1973 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Lactose malabsorption in Oklahoma Indians

¹ Assistant Professor of Human Nutrition, Department of Food, Nutrition and Institution Administration, Oklahoma State University
² Professor and Head, Department of Gastroenterology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Lactose malabsorption was studied in 41 American Indians of various tribes. There were 36 adults (age 18 to 57 years) and 5 children (age 3 to 22 months). Thirty-seven had only an oral lactose tolerance test (LTT), two had only an assay of intestinal enzymes, and two had both the LTT and assay. LTTs were performed using 1 g lactose/kg body wt. Capillary blood glucose was determined by the Nelson-Somogyi method, and a rise of blood glucose of 20 mg/l00 ml or less was considered to indicate lactose malabsorption. Twenty-nine of the 36 adults (80%) and none of the 5 children had lactose malabsorption. Of the 24 adults who were symptomatic, 10 recognized intolerance to milk previously. Seven drank no milk at all and therefore could not indicate whether or not they were symptomatic. Thirty-one of the 36 adults drank less than 1 qt of milk/week. There was no apparent relationship between present milk drinking and lactose absorption. The mean blood glucose rise for the 7 adult absorbers was 41 mg/100 ml, and the 29 adult non-absorbers had a mean rise of 7 mg/100 ml. Two of the absorbers and 24 of the non-absorbers had symptoms.