Lactose intolerance – test, causes, symptoms, treatment

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Lactose intolerance is a very common condition. It rarely appears in a congenital form – most often over time the body loses the ability to digest milk sugar. See what are the symptoms of lactose intolerance, how to recognize it, and what diet to follow after a diagnosis is made.

What is lactose intolerance

Lactose is a milk disaccharide made of glucose and galactose molecules. The highest amount of lactose – as much as 5,1 g per 100 g – contains sweet sheep’s milk, but cow’s milk does not differ significantly from this amount and in 100 grams it contains from 4,6 to 4,9 g of lactose. Lactose intolerance is a popular food intolerance that becomes active when the body is deficient in lactase – an enzyme needed to break down lactose. Therefore, when we eat foods containing lactose or milk, we have unpleasant ailments from the digestive system.

Types of lactose intolerance

We talk about lactose intolerance when the body’s ability to digest this sugar is limited or completely blocked. Insufficient activity of lactase – an enzyme that breaks down lactose – causes unpleasant digestive ailments after consuming dairy products. In our country, about 1,5 percent suffer from this ailment. infants and up to 25 percent. adults.

Congenital intolerance is extremely rare. A newborn with this condition does not produce lactase at all and must be fed an artificial formula without milk sugar from the first days of life.

Primary lactose intolerance is when the affected person could consume milk in childhood, and only during adolescence or adulthood began to react badly to it. The underlying cause of this type of lactose intolerance is usually a reduction in the production of lactase or a decrease in its activity.

As a result of some injuries or past diseases, secondary lactose intolerance may develop, which is usually associated with damage to the intestinal mucosa.

The causes of lactose intolerance

The main cause of lactose intolerance is hereditary lactase deficiency, which usually becomes active from the age of two. Most often, however, this type of intolerance manifests itself in adolescence and in adults. Lactose intolerance in adults is inherited recessively and is caused by the lactase gene: LCT.

The causes of lactase intolerance can also be:

— consists of: it is a congenital lactase deficiency which causes the body to stop producing lactase. It happens that this type of intolerance will appear in newborns at the first feeding. The intolerance can be passed on to the offspring in turn.

– secondary / acquired intolerance: it is caused by diseases or factors causing the destruction of the intestinal epithelium and villi responsible for the production of lactase. Among these diseases we can distinguish:

1. Whipple’s disease;
2. Leśniowski-Crohn syndrome;
3. celiac disease;
4. parasites in the digestive tract. e.g. tapeworm;
5. short bowel syndrome;
6. necrotizing enteritis;
7. cystic fibrosis;
8. gastrointestinal infections characterized by acute diarrhea caused by viruses or bacteria (rotavirus);
9. food allergy to cow’s milk or soy protein;

In addition, destruction of intestinal villi can be caused by certain medications, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics, as well as alcohol, chemotherapeutic drugs and acetylsalicylic acid. Note: lactose intolerance may result from a completely dairy-free diet that lowers the activity of lactase secretion.

In parallel with lactose intolerance, there may be gluten intolerance. Do you want to get tested? You can choose a mail-order lactose and gluten intolerance test from Medonet Market.

Symptoms of lactose intolerance

In people with lactose intolerance, depending on the severity of the symptoms, symptoms appear from half an hour to two hours after eating dairy products. There are:

1. nausea,
2. abdominal pain,
3. flatulence
4. diarrhea
5. colic
6. expulsion of large amounts of gases.

This is because lactose, which is not broken down into simple sugars, cannot be absorbed in the intestine. It traps water in it, which leads to diarrhea. Moreover, it becomes a breeding ground for intestinal bacteria that break it down through fermentation, resulting in a very large amount of gas. Symptoms depend largely on the amount of food eaten, the more lactose products consumed, the more severe the symptoms.

Diagnosis of lactose intolerance – tests

Specialists in diagnosing lactose intolerance use the following tests.

1. Stool pH analysis – if the stool pH is acidic, it means food intolerance, as undigested lactose causes acidification of the stool.
2. Hydrogen breath test – consists in giving the patient (on an empty stomach) a certain dose of lactose and then measuring the concentration of hydrogen in the exhaled air. Exceeded hydrogen concentration indicates lactose intolerance, as it is fermented in the large intestine, releasing large amounts of hydrogen, which are subsequently removed through the respiratory tract. The hydrogen breath test is the best auxiliary test in the diagnosis of lactose intolerance.
3. Elimination test – involves the patient following a lactose-free diet for two weeks. It is monitored whether the symptoms disappear during this period, and whether they appear successively after consuming this sugar. The test helps confirm the suspicion of lactose intolerance.
4. Oral Lactose Administration Test – the patient (who is fasting) is given oral lactose, and then the doctor measures the glucose level in the blood.
5. Molecular study of lactase gene polymorphism (LCT) – this type of diagnosis helps to rule out ATH, i.e. hypolactasia in adults. Testing the LCT gene for lactose intolerance can be done in shipping mode. We collect a sample for testing and send it to the laboratory. We get the results after 2-3 weeks.
6. Endoscopy — it is one of the most invasive diagnostic methods, but at the same time the most effective. During the endoscopic examination, the doctor takes a section of the small intestine to determine its lactase content.
7. Blood test – non-invasive and safe testing for food intolerance.

To check if you have any other food intolerances, do the genetic tests for food intolerance to gluten, lactose and fructose, which you can find in one package on Medonet Market.

Treatment of lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance cannot be cured, but only beware of its consumption or take preparations containing the enzyme lactase. People with hereditary lactose intolerance should stop consuming lactose completely. People who begin to suffer from glucose intolerance in adulthood must adjust their diet to the severity of their symptoms. Usually there is no need to give up all dairy products altogether, because acidic kefir products contain little lactose and the bacteria that help break it down. Many hard cheeses are completely devoid of this disaccharide. There are also products on the market that contain lactase and help “cope” with the consumption of dairy products.

Do you have worrying symptoms after consuming dairy products? At Medonet Market you will find a mail-order diagnostic test for lactose intolerance.

Lactose intolerance in the world

It may seem that 25 percent. adults who suffer from lactose intolerance to some extent in Poland are a very large percentage. The truth is that most mammals lose the ability to digest milk sugar as they mature. The highest percentage of people who are lactose intolerant is found in Asia and is 100% in some ethnic groups.

Is lactose intolerance the same as milk intolerance?

Absolutely not! Lactose intolerance is not the same as milk intolerance. Milk allergy is related to the reaction of the immune system to contact with an allergen (in this case, milk protein).

The symptoms of a milk allergy are different. They appear even several hours after drinking it and are accompanied by skin eruptions – atopic dermatitis or urticaria.