Lactose intolerance is a difficulty properly digesting lactose (milk sugar) and the various dairy products that contain lactose. It is very common with an estimated 30-50 million Americans affected, especially African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans. Lactose intolerance causes various digestive symptoms, usually after meals, including cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea.
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See full list of 8 causes of Lactose Intolerance
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Prognosis for Lactose Intolerance: Excellent. Well controlled through dietary changes.
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Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, the predominant sugar of milk. This inability results from a shortage of the enzyme lactase, which is normally produced by the cells that line the small intestine. (Source: excerpt from Lactose Intolerance: NIDDK)
Lactose intolerance means that you cannot digest foods with lactose in them. Lactose is the sugar found in milk and foods made with milk. (Source: excerpt from Why Does Milk Bother Me: NIDDK)
Another cause of food intolerance that is often confused with a food allergy is lactase deficiency. This most common food intolerance affects at least one out of ten people. Lactase is an enzyme that is in the lining of the gut. This enzyme degrades lactose, which is in milk. If a person does not have enough lactase, the body cannot digest the lactose in most milk products. Instead, the lactose is used by bacteria, gas is formed, and the person experiences bloating, abdominal pain, and sometimes diarrhea. There are a couple of diagnostic tests in which the patient ingests a specific amount of lactose and then the doctor measures the body's response by analyzing a blood sample. (Source: excerpt from Food Allergy and Intolerances, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)
Lactose intolerance is a condition in which the body is not able to easily digest foods that contain lactose, or the natural sugar that is found in dairy products. Once lactose is in the body, it needs to be broken down into two simple sugars, glucose and galactose, to be absorbed into the blood stream. People who are lactose intolerant have a shortage of lactase enzymes that break down lactose into these sugars. (Source: excerpt from Lactose Intolerance: NWHIC)
The condition resulting from the absence or deficiency of LACTASE in the MUCOSA cells of the GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT, and the inability to break down LACTOSE in milk for ABSORPTION. Bacterial fermentation of the unabsorbed lactose leads to symptoms that range from a mild indigestion (DYSPEPSIA) to severe DIARRHEA. Lactose intolerance may be an inborn error or acquired. - (Source - Diseases Database)
Congenital disorder consisting of an inability to digest milk and milk products; absence or deficiency of lactase results in an inability to hydrolyze lactose - (Source - WordNet 2.1)
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