Lactose Intolerance
Tuula H. Vesa, PhD, Philippe Marteau, PhD, MD, and Riitta Korpela, PhD
Foundation for Nutrition Research, Helsinki, Finland (T.H.V., R.K.) and Laennec Hospital, Paris, France (P.M.)
Lactose maldigestion has been under intensive research since its discovery in the 1960’s. We know the prevalence of lactose maldigestion in a great number of countries and races. However, often there is no provision made for secondary type of maldigestion, and the study populations have sometimes been selected rather than picked at random. New methods for the measurement of lactose digestion have been developed, and its genetic mechanisms have received a great deal of attention during the last few years. However, in many studies the measurement and/or reporting of symptoms has quite often been overlooked. In this review, various topics related to lactose intolerance are reviewed with a special emphasis on the symptoms of lactose intolerance.