What is Lactose Intolerance? Causes and symptoms of lactose intolerance

Lactose Intolerance is a syndrome that causes discomfort in the body if dairy products are consumed. To better understand Lactose Intolerance syndrome, symptoms and treatment, lassho.edu.vn invites you to follow the following article!

What is Lactose Intolerance?

Lactose Intolerance is also known as lactose intolerance. Lactose is a type of double sugar, often found in milk of all kinds of animals. Lactose is also the main component of breast milk. Lactose intolerance is a digestive disorder caused by the body’s inability to digest and absorb the lactose in dairy products .

Lactose intolerance is a digestive disorder caused by the inability of the body to digest and absorb lactose

When the body cannot absorb lactose, it means that when drinking milk or dairy products such as bread, cheese … the process of secreting lactase enzyme to support digestion and absorption of sugar will be incomplete. enough. The result is diarrhea and vomiting after eating or drinking dairy products . This syndrome is common in both adults and children but rarely occurs in infants.

Causes of Lactose Intolerance

The main cause of this disease is the lactase enzyme production is not enough or not produced. Some of the causes of lactase deficiency include:

Primary lactose intolerance

During infancy, a baby’s main source of nutrition is from lactose in breast milk, during this stage high levels of the enzyme lactase help digest milk. Research shows that if babies are not given breast milk and substituted with other types of milk, lactase production is often reduced, but still enough to digest the amount of milk in the diet. After a long time, lactase production will decrease sharply, making dairy products difficult to digest when mature.

Lactase decreased in children who were not given breast milk but substituted with other milks

Secondary lactose intolerance

Lactase deficiency occurs after a gastrointestinal infection, injury, or surgery involving the small intestine .

Lactase enzyme deficiency occurs after the body has a gastrointestinal infection

Congenital lactase deficiency

Congenital lactase deficiency is rare and is usually inherited from parents . According to research, premature babies born before 32 weeks have lower levels of lactase enzyme activity than other babies.

Premature babies have lower levels of lactase enzyme activity than other babies

Subjects at risk of lactose intolerance

In addition to the causes of lactose intolerance, the following people are also at high risk for the disease:

• Maturity and the elderly : Lactose intolerance is common in adulthood and in the elderly population.
• Premature babies : Babies born prematurely are likely to have low levels of lactase because this enzyme is highly produced and increased in the fetus at the end of pregnancy.
• Small Intestinal Diseases : Small bowel problems that can cause lactose intolerance include dysbacteriosis, celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease.
• Cancer treatment people : If you have had radiation therapy to treat cancer or have had digestive complications from chemotherapy, your risk of lactose intolerance is higher.

Group of subjects at high risk of lactose intolerance

Prevention of Lactose Intolerance

Currently, scientists have not found a way to prevent people with lactose intolerance. But you should note the following points to detect the disease at an early stage:

• Regular check-ups are needed so your doctor can monitor your health.
• Observe your body’s reaction after drinking milk or eating dairy products containing lactose.
• It is necessary to check the lactose content of foods , especially dairy products.
• If you have lactose intolerance, you should pay attention to the symptoms of your children , because the syndrome is inherited, your child is also at risk for lactose intolerance.

Regular check-ups are needed so that your doctor can monitor your health

Measures to diagnose lactose intolerance

If the body has reactions after using dairy products, you need to go to medical centers and hospitals for screening to know exactly about your medical condition. Some of the following methods are currently being applied to diagnose the syndrome:

Lactose tolerance test

Lactose tolerance tests determine the body’s response to liquids containing high levels of lactose. The amount of glucose in the blood is measured to confirm the risk of the syndrome, if glucose levels do not rise, it means that the person’s body is not properly digesting and absorbing lactose.

Lactose tolerance test

Hydrogen breath test

In the human body, only anaerobic bacteria in the colon are capable of producing hydrogen. When exposed to non-absorbable foods such as sugars and carbohydrates, the bacteria produce hydrogen. Through the concentration of hydrogen in the breath, it is possible to diagnose a number of conditions that cause digestive symptoms including lactose intolerance.

Hydrogen breath test

Check stool acidity

This method is often used with young children. If lactose is not digested, the lactose is fermented, producing lactic acid and other acids. By performing a stool examination, the doctor can determine the type of acid as well as the concentration of lactose in the stool.

Check stool acidity

Treatments for Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance will force us to minimize the use of dairy products, but this reduction can make you deficient in calcium and some important substances.

Since there is currently no cure because there is no way to increase your body’s production of the enzyme lactase, you can often avoid the discomfort of lactose intolerance by:

Treatment with diet control

Avoid eating a lot of milk and dairy products , replace it with lactose-free products . To avoid calcium deficiency, you should supplement calcium with foods such as:

• Cauliflower, spinach, kale
• Calcium-fortified functional foods
• Salmon
• Milk substitutes, such as soy milk, nut milk
• Oranges, bananas

In addition, make sure to provide enough vitamin D for the body, by eating products such as eggs, yogurt …

Avoid eating a lot of milk and dairy products, replace it with lactose-free products

Treatment with alternative medicine

Currently, probiotics are used as a means to increase the amount of lactose in the intestinal tract . Probiotics are living organisms found in the gut that help maintain a healthy digestive system and cure gastrointestinal diseases, such as diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome. Probiotics are generally considered a safe way to treat lactose intolerance.

Probiotics are generally considered a safe way to treat lactose intolerance

Hope the article has provided useful information related to lactose intolerance syndrome. If you have the above symptoms, go to the hospital to get checked as soon as possible!

Source: Vinmec

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