1. What is the Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is a disorder that causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea, and poor weight gain, due to the inability to digest and absorb lactose because the activity of the enzyme that breaks down lactose, a sugar contained in milk, is reduced.
2. Causes of Lactose Intolerance
Usually, when lactose is ingested into the body, it is broken down into glucose and galactose by the lactase enzyme in the small intestine (Malik & Panuganti, 2022).
However, lactose intolerance is one of the most common disorders among adults and the elderly, as lactase enzyme activity gradually declines with age. If you have a congenital deficiency of the lactase enzyme, you may experience symptoms of lactose intolerance from an early age.
Also, another disease or treatment may damage the intestinal mucosa, leading to a deficiency of the lactase enzyme in the body.
For example, there are the following causes.
・"Gastroenteritis
・Celiac disease
・Crohn disease
・Ulcerative colitis
・Chemotherapy
・Antibiotics" (Malik & Panuganti, 2022, para.2)
3. Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance
You may experience the following symptoms 30 minutes to 1-2 hours after consuming dairy products such as cheese, butter, milk, or ice cream:
・"Diarrhea
・Abdominal bloating
・Abdominal pain
・Nausea and vomiting
・Fullness
・Flatulence" (Malik & Panuganti, 2022, para.6)
・Rarely headache, muscle and joint pain, etc.
4. How to check that I have Lactose Intolerance
The main methods used to identify and diagnose lactose intolerance are:
・Characteristic physical symptoms after intaking dairy products
・Symptoms resolved when dairy products were avoided
・Stool test: If the pH in your stool is lower than usual, you are more likely to be lactose intolerant (Malik & Panuganti, 2022).
・Breath test: If the breath hydrogen level after lactose rises by 20 ppm or above normal, you are diagnosed as lactose intolerant (Malik & Panuganti, 2022).
・Blood sugar level: If the blood sugar level is measured by administering 500 mL of milk and the blood sugar level rises less than 9 mg/dL, you are diagnosed as lactose intolerant (Malik & Panuganti, 2022).
5. How to treat Lactose Intolerance?
If there is a disorder causing lactose intolerance, that disorder is treated. It is often not medically treated when it is caused by aging or a genetic predisposition, and the symptoms are resolved by restricting dairy products. There is also a way to improve symptoms by ingesting the lactase enzyme into the body through supplements (Malik & Panuganti, 2022).
References
Foster, P. L. (2019). Lactose intolerant people may soon be able to eat "real" Ice cream again [Picture]. Inverse. Retrieved December 22, 2022, from https://www.inverse.com/article/55135-can-the-microbiome-reverse-lactose-intolerance
Malik, T. F., & Panuganti, K. K. (2022). Lactose Intolerance. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532285/
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