Lactose malabsorption in Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking populations in Finland
Sahi, T.
Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 9(3): 303-308
1974
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-5521 PMID: 4852638 Document Number: 72736
Lactose malabsorption (LM) was examined in 156 Finnish-speaking and 91 Swedish-speaking students both of whose parents and >3 of whose grandparents spoke the same language as the students themselves. Students and their parents were born in Helsinki, and they were considered to represent the mixed Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking populations in Finland. A simple lactose tolerance test with ethanol administration (LTTE) was performed on all those examined. A serum galactose concn. of more than or equal to 10 mg/100 ml was considered to indicate normal lactose absorption. In persons with a galactose concn. of 0-9 mg/100 ml, LM was verified by a complete LTTE in which both serum glucose and galactose concn. were determined. According to the criteria used, 27 Finnish-speaking and 7 Swedish-speaking students had LM. This gave respective prevalences of LM of 17.3% and 7.7% and the frequencies of LM gene of 0.416 and 0.277. The difference between gene frequencies was statistically significant. The result fits the genetic nature of LM, and the knowledge that the Swedish-speaking population in Finland is a mixture derived from the Finnish-speaking population in Finland and the population in Sweden (LM frequency <0.1).