Abstract
A very successful 2 day symposium on the health hazards of milk was held at Manchester University in 1983, and David Freed edited the proceedings which were published the following year. Since then, the incidence of allergic diseases, especially food allergies, has increased at an alarming rate for reasons which have not yet been clearly defined. While the unravelling of the immunology of IgE-mediated allergy is proceeding rapidly, progress in understanding the causative mechanisms of intolerance is slow by comparison. The lack of properly authenticated laboratory tests which can indicate accurately which food is the cause of a problem must inevitably retard progress in the recognition of food intolerance. Until such tests are available food intolerance will not be recognized as a cause of serious chronic ill health, and the prescription of expensive drugs which suppress symptoms but do not cure will continue to be the usual approach. This paper is an expansion of the illustrated talk I gave at the symposium in June 2001, and is not only an attempt to review the subject, but also to demonstrate, by recounting some of my experiences over the last 45 years, how milk intolerance can affect any system of the body in innumerable subtle ways which are seldom recognized. At the present time the only diagnostic test for milk intolerance is to find out what will happen if milk products are totally avoided, but to many the very idea of doing without such an essential food is anathema. Considering all the other health hazards of milk which have been recognized would suggest that the cows have been inflicting a subtle revenge on us all for the last century.