Lacto-Freedom - Sometime in the Future?

Google News allows you to customize a page for searchwords of your choice. I've been following all the articles that contain the words lactose or lactase for years. All stuff that I said here on the blog years ago - and in my books decades ago. Yawn.

Then yesterday, bam. A bolt of lightning. A possible new way of attacking the symptoms of lactose intolerance (LI). It's not here yet. You won't see it for years, even if the testing works - and in the real world testing often fails. I still had to share this with you.

His invention targets lactose intolerance was the title of a story by Jesseca DiNapoli on RecordOnline.com, the website of the Hudden Valley newspaper the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, NY. 

Ken Manzo, who started Manzo Pharmaceuticals in his Shohola home, has a longer-lasting remedy in development. It's a patented, genetically modified probiotic supplement called Lacto-Freedom. Preliminary research on Manzo's invention suggests several doses of the probiotic taken during a 24-hour period will alleviate the symptoms of the food allergy for at least three months. ...

People suffering from lactose intolerance can't digest the sugar found in dairy foods, so it ferments — bubbling into acids and gases — in the large intestine.

Fermentation causes the stomachache, said Manzo, a pharmacist at Aliton's in Port Jervis. The genetically modified probiotic in Lacto-Freedom prevents the fermentation. It stays in the walls of the intestine, properly breaking down any ingested lactose, he explained.

"A regular probiotic produces some lactase," Manzo said, referring to the enzyme that breaks down lactose. "This one is way more."

Our bodies naturally make lactase in the walls of the small intestine so this mimics the way that our digestive tract should work. It's the failure to make sufficient quantities of lactase that results in the LI symptoms we all know.

Ken Lanzo

Enough science. You want to know if this really works and when you can get your hands on it.Well, it works on rats in preliminary studies. The next stage is ... another rat study. Then maybe a human study. If he can get the funding.

Because this is 2014, he's got a campaign going on Medstartr, a medical version of Kickstarter. You can see it at Lacto-Freedom Probiotic. He needs to raise $50,000. By February 20, 2014. Yeah, that made me blink, too. I wish him luck, but...

A couple of other odd things popped up in the newspaper article. He worked with a a California biotechnology company on the first round of testing. That was back in 2006. Why the eight-year lag? Good question.

And that brings up the question of what Ritter Phamaceuticals, the maker of Lactagen, has been doing. Is Ritter the "California biotechnology company"? Probably not. I have news on that too, which I'll save for tomorrow's article.