The relation between the blood type and lactose tolerance in people between 14 and 71 years old.

Investigation problem: ¿What is the relationship between the blood type of people in Bogotá,

which are between 14 and 71 years old, and the ability to digest lactose properly?

Theoretical framework (Background)

Lactose is a disaccharide made up by glucose and galactose that is broken down through

hydrolysis by the intestinal brush-border enzyme called lactase. This molecule is most

commonly find in dairy products.

It has been proven that the number of people tolerant to lactose has been decreasing along the

years due to the change of environment that humans have experienced. The Niche construction

stablishes that humans have inherited extra-genetically traits such as the low production of the

enzyme lactase, and that this has been due to the change in the culture and environment that had

taken place along the years. Therefore, there is a gene-culture coevolution that has been going

through years. The production of this enzyme is associated with environmental factors that

involve the ingestion of fresh lactose. This implies that those who work with milk producing

animals, such as cows, are most likely to digest correctly the sugar molecule. On the other hand,

those people who aren’t able to obtain the lactose from a direct source but instead through a

process that involves different chemicals, such as the people that live in the city, are less likely to

possess the LPH or LCT gene. The lactose intolerance can also be determine by some symptoms

that are presented posterior to the consumption of lactose. Some of these symptoms are: bloating,

flatulence, cramps, nausea and diarrhea (Mattar, R., Mazo, & Carrilho, 2012).
 Having this mind, another factor that might affect the ability to digest lactose is the blood type

of an individual. Blood type refers to the antigens found in the surface of your red blood cells.

(Barone, 2017) Therefore, different blood types will have diverse mutations and antigens. This is

the reason that blood transfusions weren’t successful in the early years since they weren’t aware

that a person’s immune system will identify unknown antigens as a threat to the body. Given

this, there are some diseases that people might be more vulnerable to depending on the antigens

present in their bodies. According to Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, the blood type of an individual has

influences in the dieting of the human. Therefore, people with blood type A shouldn’t have the

same diet as people with blood type O, since these two possess different characteristics that

makes them unique. Consequently, each blood type is susceptible to different diseases, they

should eat different foods and exercise in a completely different manner (D'Adamo, 2018).

This susceptibilities towards certain food and diseases can be seen in a study made by the

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology researchers, were they analyzed the data of

62,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and 27,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-

up Study. The results of the study showed that people with blood type AB seemed to have a 23%

higher risk of a cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile those with blood type A presented a 5% risk

only. However, it was determined that even though they weren’t highly susceptible to

cardiovascular diseases they did presented high percentage levels for obtaining LDL or bad

cholesterol.

The exploration made in this investigation began with the main idea of studying the relation

between lactose tolerance and its decrease along the years. However, since it is a known fact that

the ability to digest lactose properly has been decreasing considerably along the worldwide
population. Therefore, I had to come up with another perspective of the topic in which I could

make new discoveries or contribute to the scientific community in a small way, so during the

research I discovered that some physicians were prescribing certain diet according to the blood

type of the individual. An example of this was Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, who recommends avoiding

certain foods depending on the blood type of the individual.

Variables (Independent, dependent and constant)

Independent: Blood type (A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, AB-)

Dependent: lactose tolerance (This will be obtained through the survey by asking the

participants whether they are lactose tolerant or intolerant)

Controlled:

- Method: The data recollection method will be a survey designed by the student. The

survey will contain question such as: Blood type, age range, sex, are you lactose

intolerant?

- Size of sample: There will be used 100 participants.

- Population: The participants will be between the 14 and the 71 years old.

Hypothesis

H0 = There isn’t a relationship between the blood type of an individual and the tolerance to

lactose.

H| = There is a relationship between the blood type of an individual and the tolerance to lactose.

Method

In order to collect the data I designed a survey with my advisor in order to gather the

information needed. In order for doing this first you need to define your control variables and

stablish what age range you will use, also the population you will target.
Then you proceed to selecting the platform that will be used to make the survey, it can be done

online or physical.

After creating your survey is important to send it or deliver it to your target population. I was

able to recollect the information of 100 participants through snowball sampling; since I sent the

survey to a minimum amount of people, and then they re-send it to other people.

Materials and equipment

- 100 electronic surveys on the platform survey monkey

- Participants form 14 to 71 years old that live in Bogotá.

- Computer that contains the platforms excel and word

- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PSK8FBQ

Ethical concerns, environmental concerns, safety precautions

Along the experiment it was stablished and clarified to the participants that they will

experience no harm. Additionally since it was a voluntary survey no individuals were forced to

participate in it. Furthermore, it was stablished that information provided by the subjects is

completely anonymous and only myself and external evaluators were going to be able to access

to them; they also have the right to withdraw at any moment.

Nevertheless, it is important to mention that there was a fundamental environmental concern

taken into account since the survey was done online and not physical. This way avoiding the

unnecessary use of paper. In addition, it can be said that the only safety precaution that will need

to be taken into account is the treatment of data and information.

Data tables and graphs

Raw data table #1. Blood type, gender, age and intolerance to lactose.
Blood type Gender Age Lactose intolerance
1 A+ Female 14 - 17 Yes
2 O+ Female 14 - 17 Yes
3 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
4 A+ Female 18 - 25 No
5 A+ Male 14 - 17 No
6 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
7 A- Female 18 - 25 No
8 O+ Male 18 - 25 No
9 A+ Male 14 - 17 No
10 O- Male 14 - 17 No
11 O+ Female 18 - 25 No
12 O+ Female 18 - 25 No
13 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
14 A+ Female 14 - 17 Yes
15 A+ Male 14 - 17 No
16 O- Female 14 - 17 No
17 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
18 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
19 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
20 O- Male 14 - 17 No
21 A+ Male 14 - 17 No
22 O+ Male 14 - 17 Yes
23 A- Female 14 - 17 No
24 B+ Female 14 - 17 No
25 A+ Female 14 - 17 No
26 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
27 O+ Female 14 - 17 Yes
28 O+ Female 47 - 51 Yes
29 O+ Female 47 - 51 No
30 B+ Female 14 - 17 No
31 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
32 A+ Male 42 - 46 No
33 O+ Male 18 - 25 No
34 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
35 B+ Female 26 - 31 Yes
36 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
37 O+ Female 18 - 25 No
38 A+ Female 14 - 17 Yes
39 O+ Female 14 - 17 No
40 A+ Female 18 - 25 No
41 B+ Female 14 - 17 No
42 A+ Female 14 - 17 No
43 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
44 A+ Male 42 - 46 No
45 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
46 A+ Female 14 - 17 No
47 A+ Female 18 - 25 No
48 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
49 A+ Male 14 - 17 No
50 B+ Female 14 - 17 No
51 O+ Female 18 - 25 No
52 O+ Male 14 - 17 No
53 B+ Male 18 - 25 No
54 O- Male 26 - 31 No
55 O+ Female 57 - 61 Yes
56 O+ Male 37 - 41 No
57 A+ Male 18 - 25 Yes
58 O+ Male 18 - 25 No
59 O+ Male 47 - 51 Yes
60 O+ Male 47 - 51 Yes
61 O+ Male 47 - 51 No
62 O+ Female 42 - 46 Yes
63 O+ Male 47 - 51 No
64 A+ Other 47 - 51 No
65 O+ Female 32 - 36 No
66 A+ Male 26 - 31 No
67 B+ Male 47 - 51 No
68 O+ Female 47 - 51 Yes
69 O+ Male 47 - 51 No
70 A+ Female 42 - 46 No
71 B+ Male 42 - 46 No
72 A+ Male 42 - 46 No
73 A+ Female 42 - 46 Yes
74 O+ Female 42 - 46 No
75 B+ Female 32 - 36 Yes
76 O+ Female 42 - 46 Yes
77 O+ Female 42 - 46 No
78 A+ Male 52 - 56 No
79 A+ Male 57 - 61 No
80 A+ Female 42 - 46 Yes
81 A+ Female 57 – 61 No
82 B+ Female 47 – 51 No
83 O+ Female 37 – 41 Yes
84 O+ Female 37 – 41 Yes
85 B+ Male 47 – 51 No
86 O+ Male 42 – 46 No
87 A+ Female 42 – 46 No
88 B+ Female 47 – 51 Yes
89 O+ Male 42 – 46 No
90 O+ Male 14 – 17 Yes
91 O+ Male 18 – 25 No
92 O+ Male 52 – 56 Yes
93 O+ Female 47 – 51 Yes
94 B+ Female 42 – 46 No
95 AB- Female 37 – 41 No
96 A+ Female 47 – 51 No
97 O+ Female 47- 51 Yes
98 A- Female 42 – 46 No
99 A+ Male 47 – 51 No
100 O+ Female 47 – 51 No
Table of processed data #1 Table of processed data #5
Blood type A+ Blood type O+

Gender/ Gender/
lactose Yes No Total lactose Yes No Total
intolerance intolerance
Male 0 13 13 Male 5 17 22
Female 6 9 15 Female 11 17 28
Other 0 1 1 Other 0 0 0
Total 6 23 29 Total 16 34 50
Table of processed data #2 Table of processed data #6
Blood type A- Blood type O-
Gender/ Gender/
lactose Yes No Total lactose Yes No Total
intolerance intolerance
Male 0 0 0 Male 0 3 3
Female 0 3 3 Female 0 1 1
Other 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0
Total 0 3 3 Total 0 4 4
Table of processed data #3 Table of processed data #7
Blood type B+ Blood type AB+
Gender/ Gender/
lactose Yes No Total lactose Yes No Total
intolerance intolerance
Male 0 4 4 Male 0 0 0
Female 3 6 9 Female 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0
Total 3 10 13 Total 0 0 0

Table of processed data #4 Table of processed data #8

Blood type B- Blood type AB-

Gender/ Gender/
lactose Yes No Total lactose Yes No Total
intolerance intolerance
Male 0 0 0 Male 0 0 0
Female 0 0 0 Female 0 1 1
Other 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 Total 0 1 1
Table of processed data #9 Graph of processed data #1
Number of people per blood type Number of people
AB+
O- AB-
Number of 0%
Blood type 4% 1%
people A+
A+ 29 29%
A- 3
B+ 13 A-
O+ 3%
B- 0 50%
O+ 50
B+
O- 4 B-
13%
AB+ 0 0%
AB- 1 A+ A- B+ B- O+ O- AB+ AB-

Table of processed data #10

Gender/ Graph of processed data #2
Lactose Yes No Total
Gender/ Lactose intolerance
tolerance
100
Male 8 34 42 Frequency
Female 17 40 57 0
Male Female Other
Other 0 1 1 -100
Lactose tolerance
Total 25 75 100
Yes No

Chi-squared test
Table of processed data #11 Table of processed data #12

Observed values Expected values

Yes No Total Yes No
A+ 6 23 29 A+ 7,25 21,75
A- 0 3 3 A- 0,75 2,25
B+ 3 10 13 B+ 3,25 9,75
B- 0 0 0 B- 0 0
O+ 16 34 50 O+ 12,5 37,5
O- 0 4 4 O- 1 3
AB+ 0 0 0
AB+ 0 0
AB- 0 1 1
AB- 0 0,75
Total 25 75 100

𝜶 = 𝟎, 𝟗𝟗
𝐷𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 = (# 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑠 − 1)(# 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛𝑠 − 1)
= (8 − 1)(3 − 1)

= 14 𝑪. 𝑽 = 𝟒, 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟎

𝑂−𝐸 2
𝑋 2 = 𝑠𝑢𝑚 [ ]
𝐸

6−7,25 2 0−0,75 2 3−3,25 2 0−0 2 16−12,5 2 0−1 2 0−0 2 0−0 2 23−21,75 2

𝑋2 = [ 7,25
] +[ 0,75
] +[ 3,25
] +[ 0
] +[ 12,5
] +[ 1
] +[ 0
] +[ 0
] +[ 21,75
] +

3−2,25 2 10−9,75 2 0−0 2 34−37,5 2 4−3 2 0−0 2 1−0,75 2

[ 2,25
] +[ 9,75
] +[ 0
] +[ 37,5
] +[ 3
] +[ 0
] +[ 0,75
]

𝑋 2 = 2,46

Data analysis

The first graph presented of processed data shows that the most common blood type among the

participants was O+, since it represented the 50% of the total population. Then it was A+ with

29%, B+ with 13%, O- with 4%, A- with 3% and AB- with 1%. The blood types B- and AB+

represented a 0% of the sample since I wasn’t able to gather information from these blood types.

The table of processed data #10 shows the relationship between lactose intolerance and gender,

and later in the graph it can be seen that female show a greater tendency to be intolerant to

lactose than male and that other genders. Additionally, it can be observed that the female sample

was greater than the other genders in all the blood types.

Furthermore, in the chi squared tables of observed and expected values it can be seen that the

difference between the expected values and the observed ones is not very significant. This

indicates a high level of accuracy at the data taking stage of the exploration.

However, since the level of significance chosen was 0.99 the significance of the results is not as

high as expected, but after calculating the degrees of freedom it turn out that the critical value
was 4.6660. According to this, the null hypothesis can’t be rejected since the statistical value

obtained was 2.46, indicating that the obtained value is not within the rejection area.

Conclusion

Having in mind the results obtained it can be concluded that null hypothesis is the more accurate

one since the chi squared value obtained was lower than the critical value, indicating that it

wasn’t in the rejection area. As a result, showing that there isn’t a relationship between the blood

type of an individual and the tolerance to lactose. However, since the sample lacked of

significant data a generalization about the population in Bogotá can’t be stablished with

complete accuracy. In order to determine a generalization about a topic this wide it will be

necessary to do a study with a larger sample in which all the different blood types are present.

On the other hand, there could still exist a relationship between the blood type of an individual

and its diet since each category contains different antigens and characteristics that predispose the

organisms to certain factors, or certain foods.

Evaluation

The method used during this experiment was highly accurate and didn’t presented any bias since

all the data presented was done through an online survey that presented the information without

any modification. Additionally, the physical and psychological integrity of the participants was

taken into account at all times to avoid any disturbance to their health.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t able to gather information about the blood types B- and AB+, this might

be due to the size of the sample since it wasn’t completely significant and the rareness of this

types of blood. According to the Stanford School of Medicine Blood Center only 3.4% of the

American population present positive Rh; this means that 1 out of 29 people possesses this
combination. Moreover, only 1.5% of the American population has this type of blood. In that

case, it is very complicated to find individuals that possess these conditions.

Bibliography

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https://www.dadamo.com/txt/index.pl?1003

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