乳糖不適症 lactose intolerance

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(For a rephrase in English, please scroll down.)

     對於住在歐美地區的東方人來說，“乳糖不適症”應該是一個很常見的現象。它是一種疾病嗎？

     所有哺乳動物的幼兒體內，都會分泌“乳糖脢”到十二指腸來分解母乳中的乳糖。在成長過程中，這種分泌會逐漸減少、消失。所以成年的哺乳動物，都有乳糖不適的現象。主要是因為沒有被分解的乳糖，會改變腸內的滲透壓，影響腸子的排水能力，而導致腹瀉。

     在哺乳動物中唯一的例外，是某些比例的人類。在大多數的人類族群裡，大約有10% 其分泌乳糖脢的能力會延續至成年。而在源於歐洲北部一些乳品畜牧業有悠久歷史的族群裡，這個比例可以高達70% 以上。

     從以上的數字可以看出，成年人的“乳糖不適現象”是完全正常的。反而是可以適應乳糖的成年人，是全人類中的少數，更是哺乳動物中的異數。

     可是，在以歐、美為基地而發展出來的西方醫學，還是本位主義地把成年人的乳糖不適現象視為一種疾病。所以下回如果您因為乳糖不適現象，而去找醫生的時候，不必受醫生的態度影響，而認為自己有病。只不過是為了想繼續食用乳製品，來服用乳糖脢錠劑而已。

       For Orientals residing in Europe or USA, “lactose intolerance” should be a common phenomenon. Is it a disease?

       For every species of mammal, their infant will secrete an enzyme “lactase” into duodenum to digest the lactose in mother’s milk. As the individual grows, the secretion of lactase will dwindle, and eventually cease. As a result, adult mammals generally are subject to “lactose intolerance”. The symptom is mainly caused by the fact that undigested lactose alters the osmotic pressure in the guts, hence affecting guts’ ability to extract water, and in turn leading to diarrhea.

       The only exception to this rule is some percentage of human being. In most human populations, there is about 10% of population whose secretion of lactase can last into adulthood. Furthermore, in some populations originated from northern Europe where there has been a long history of dairy farming, this percentage can be as high as 70%.

       From the statistics above, it can be seen that “adult lactose intolerance” is perfectly normal. In fact, “adult lactose tolerance” is a minority in human being, and an oddity in mammals.

       Unfortunately, western medicine still erroneously regards “adult lactose intolerance” as a disease or disorder. Next time when you visit a doctor because of “lactose intolerance”, there is no need to be swayed by the attitude of the doctor into thinking that you have some disorder. It is simply for the sake of continuing consuming dairy products that you are taking the lactase pill.