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Lactase persistence is very high among northern Europeans, especially Irish people. Worldwide, most people are lactase non-persistent, [1] and are affected by varying degrees of lactose intolerance as adults. However, lactase persistence and lactose intolerance can overlap.
This form of lactose intolerance can occur in both infants and lactase persistent adults and is generally reversible. [29] It may be caused by acute gastroenteritis , coeliac disease , Crohn's disease , ulcerative colitis , [ 30 ] chemotherapy , intestinal parasites (such as giardia ), or other environmental causes.
In most mammals, production of lactase diminishes after infants are weaned from maternal milk. However, 5% to 90% of the human population possess an advantageous autosomal mutation in which lactase production persists after infancy. The geographic distribution of lactase persistence is concordant with areas of high milk intake.
The majority of humans actually follow this protocol as well, and down-regulate lactase production around 3-5 years of age. Interestingly, though, the majority of caucasians, mainly those from northern european background, continue to have elevated lactase activity all the way into adulthood, and so they exhibit “lactase persistence”.
Lactase (EC 3.2.1.108) is an enzyme produced by many organisms and is essential to the complete digestion of whole milk.It breaks down the sugar lactose into its component parts, galactose and glucose.
Many adult humans lack the lactase enzyme, which has the same function as β-galactosidase, so they are not able to properly digest dairy products. β-Galactose is used in such dairy products as yogurt, sour cream, and some cheeses which are treated with the enzyme to break down any lactose before human consumption. In recent years, β ...
Lactase persistence One of the best known examples is the prevalence of the genotype for adult lactose absorption in human populations, such as Northern Europeans and some African societies, with a long history of raising cattle for milk.
Lactose, or milk sugar, is a disaccharide composed of galactose and glucose and has the molecular formula C 12 H 22 O 11.Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from lact (gen. lactis), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix -ose used to name sugars.
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