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Tue, 16 Sep 1997 17:08:02 -0500 |
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In medical parlance bm is "bowel movement". Probably better to spell it
out.
The amount of lactose in breastmilk is the same whether we are talking
of foremilk and hindmilk. What Fisher and Woolridge were talking about
in their article was that if the baby drinks mostly foremilk, the
stomach empties quickly. (This is analogous to "dumping syndrome" seen
in adults that have had certain types of stomach and pylorus surgery).
Because so much lactose arrives so quickly into the small intestine, the
lactase is overwhelmed and cannot metabolise all that lactose at once,
resulting in the signs of lactose intolerance. But this does not occur
because of too much lactose in foremilk, but too much lactose too
quickly. The high fat milk slows gastric emptying and results in fewer
symptoms. It is also the reason the problem improves with time (babies
increase their lactase as they get older--a three month old has more
than a newborn).
If I may, I dislike the term foremilk-hindmilk imbalance. It sounds
like so much jargon, and more scientific than it really is.
Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC
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