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Determination of lactose intolerance by breath analysis

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Summary

Lactose tolerance was evaluated by measuring the amount of hydrogen present in expired air at 30-min intervals for 8 hr after a test dose was given. One Afro-American and five Chinese men showed peak bacterial production of hydrogen 21/2–3 hr after taking 48 gm of lactose as such or as milk, and had sustained high values near 100 ppm hydrogen in expired air. Under the same conditions, Caucasians who tolerated milk well had less than 20 ppm hydrogen in the breath. The method offers several advantages over other diagnostic tests and is particularly well suited to field use.

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References

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Author notes

  1. Edwin L. Murphy PhD

    Present address: US Department of Agriculture, Western Regional Utilization Research Laboratory, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.

    Doris Howes Calloway PhD, Edwin L. Murphy PhD & Diana Bauer MS

Authors
  1. Doris Howes Calloway PhD
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  2. Edwin L. Murphy PhD
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  3. Diana Bauer MS
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Calloway, D.H., Murphy, E.L. & Bauer, D. Determination of lactose intolerance by breath analysis. Digest Dis Sci 14, 811–815 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02235972

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02235972

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