Lactose intolerance linked to ancestral environment [Darwinian medicine]

Medical News Today ^ | 02 June 2005 | Staff

[PatrickHenry]

Bold and underlining added by me.

Darwinian medicine. Something new to think about. Everyone be nice.

[PatrickHenry]

EvolutionPing

A pro-evolution science list with over 280 names. See the list's description at my freeper homepage. Then FReepmail to be added or dropped.

[ARCADIA]

Darwinian medicine.

That will be the brave new world of the 21th century.

[keithtoo]

Most Chinese are lactose intolerant and China doesn't fit this scenario at all. So I guess Darwinianism doesn't apply to 1/5 of humanity.

[crazyhorse691]

Never heard of this new medicical discipline before. My first impression is it is perilously close to Lamarckian Evolution. Guess it is time to google.

[KarlInOhio]

I saw Darwinian medicine and I expected it to deal with treating people who used fluorescent tubes and gasoline to make light sabers.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Pure and unadulterated BS. Many peoples of equatorial Africa for centuries have had milk as a main source of their diet. Some fermented it, mixed it with cereal grains, some still today relish a mixture of cow's blood and milk, which they have drank since time immemorial.

[KarlInOhio]

Are there any native cattle (or other milk producing animals) which were dometicated in China? If not, then ability to digest lactose wouldn't be a survival benefit. On the other hand, if you have a Germanic tribe where Johann's family can drink milk but Wilhelm's family can't, that could be the difference between living and dying during a tough year growing crops.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I don't know about all of this, but I am descended from Scottish, English, French, and German ancestors, all of whom are part of the dairying peoples, and I am lactose intolerant, as is my father, and at least one of my nieces.

[Xenophobic Alien]

Pure and Simple B.S.

My family is from Poland, They came to America and settled in Wisconsin, owned dairy farms. If I drink a glass of milk I cramp and (other things I would rather not mention) for days.

[furball4paws]

1. Fermented milk products have had the lactose removed.

2. Lots of people are lactose intolerant, most specifically Asians. The biochemistry is simple. As an infact the enzyme beta-galactosidase operates to split lactose to glucose and galactose. In adult life a new enzyme appears, lactase that also cleaves lactose. The beta-glalctosidase levels drop. People who are lactose intolerant don't make much lactase, but the bacteria in their intestinal tracts love it, so it gives you intestinal problems.

Bugs 1, people 0

[etcetera]

A similar Darwinian explanantion should apply to the effects of alcohol on Native Americans.

[ET(end tyranny)]

Wonder what is different between cow's milk and goat's milk? My father in law was so intolerant of cow's milk, he was weened on goat's milk. He wsas from Germany.

[WildHorseCrash]

Pure and Simple B.S.

My family is from Poland, They came to America and settled in Wisconsin, owned dairy farms. If I drink a glass of milk I cramp and (other things I would rather not mention) for days.

Not B.S.

My family is from Poland, They came to America and settled in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and consumed a lot of dairy products. If I drink a glass of milk, I don't cramp, but enjoy every drop of that homogenized dairy goodness. Cheese and Ice cream, too. MMMMmmMMm.

[Right Wing Professor]

Pure and unadulterated BS. Many peoples of equatorial Africa for centuries have had milk as a main source of their diet. Some fermented it, mixed it with cereal grains, some still today relish a mixture of cow's blood and milk, which they have drank since time immemorial.

The Bantu people arose in equatorial and West Africa, true, but they certainly have not had cattle since 'time immemorial'. Cattle were introduced from the north probably around 100 AD.

BTW, fermenting it destroys the lactose.

[tubebender]

I developed a milk intolerance several years ago. My wife fed me Acidofilus milk for a while and Bam...I was able to drink whole milk again

[fire and forget]

Fascinating. What a stunning reproof of ID. Their already hyper-strained arguments must now be further strained by the insistence that this only suggests God "created" different groups' ability to metabolize milk according to the groups' proximities to dairy-friendly regions.

[JimSEA]

A new Cornell University study finds that it is primarily people whose ancestors came from places where dairy herds could be raised safely and economically, such as in Europe, who have developed the ability to digest milk.

I live in Southeast Asia where, at least, the majority of my friends and in-laws are lactose intolerant. To my knowledge, Tibet and Mongolia are the exceptions to the no milk products tendency of this part of the world. It would interest me to know the results of such a study in those areas. I know that in Chiang Mai, while people love ice cream, most cannot handle much and many cannot handle any. BTW the Dairies and cheese makers are all German.

[PatrickHenry]

A similar Darwinian explanantion should apply to the effects of alcohol on Native Americans.

A Google search reveals that you're on to something:
Forbidden fruit: understanding alcoholism in the context of evolution.

[TASMANIANRED]

What about the Zulu's that drink blood.