In Reply to: Re: my two problems posted by Cynthia on January 22, 19100 at 06:56:38:

: : 2. the controversy of the lactose.. well if in doubt don't, if you wish to offer yoguart only offer it only a couple of times a week.

: It is not the lactose as we first thought that causes the problem it is the galactinaze. You can research this in any opthamologic text. My opthamologist says that many animals do not have the enzimes necessary to metabolize dairy products once they are weaned. You can also find more on this in the archives of Clara's bulletin board, Glider Central.

I've been doing some research on this lately. Most humans have the ability to process galactose sugar although there are some that cannot due to a genetic problem which causes a deficiency in galactokinase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down galactose. Only these people develop cataracts. There were also a few studies with dairy products and kangaroos to determine if they were a good model for studying the disease in humans but they could only induce cataracts in baby kangaroos fed cows milk not in adults. They determined adult kangaroos were able to metabolize galactose but through a different means than they had expected. I was looking at the gliders diet in the wild to see if galactose was present in any of their natural foods (which would probably mean they could break it down) and I found that ALL tree gums contain significant amounts of galactose sugars and in many it is the main sugar. Galactose can also be found in a lot of the other foods we commonly feed our gliders such as beans and most fruits and vegetables to a lesser degree.

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