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| Allergies Home » Types of Allergies » Food Allergies » Lactose Intolerance |
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Lactose Intolerance |
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Lactose Intolerance – an Introduction
Lactose Intolerance is the inability to digest certain amount of lactose, a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Due to the shortage or absence of the enzyme lactase, the digest system cannot digest the lactose and hence one experience Lactose Intolerance. Lactase has a very important role to play in the human digest system as it breaks down milk sugar into two simpler forms, viz. Glucose and galactose. These two are then absorbed into the bloodstream. When one has the deficiency of the lactase, the body can't break down the sugar and the problems arise.
Though there might be several types of symptoms for Lactose Intolerance, but one should not confuse Lactose Intolerance with cow's milk intolerance, as some of the symptoms are often the same. Where the cow's milk intolerance is a sort of allergic reaction triggered by the immune system, on the other hand, the problem of Lactose Intolerance is caused by the digestive system.
Causes of Lactose Intolerance
The primary cause of the Lactose Intolerance is the scarcity of lactase inside the body. The human body starts to develop less lactase after the age of two, though most of the human beings cannot notice it until they get much older.
Lactose Intolerance may also happen if the small intestine gets injured somehow. Due to certain digestive diseases like celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease etc., human body also produce lesser amount of lactase.
Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance
There may be a few types of symptoms one can find for Lactose Intolerance. One who has got Lactose Intolerance may feel uncomfortable digesting milk products. One may experience nausea, cramps, bloating, gas and diarrhea. Who has got Lactose Intolerance, would start experiencing those symptoms 30 minutes to 2 hours after taking food or drinks containing lactose.
Treatment of Lactose Intolerance
Lactose Intolerance is not a very complex problem and is quite easy to treat. Though one cannot improve the ability of the body to produce lactase, but one can surely control the symptoms through the proper treatment and diet. Infants and young children who have lactase deficiency, should avoid any
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food or drink containing lactose until they become able to tolerate lactose digestion. But the children who are a little bit grown-up or the adults do not have to avoid lactose completely. Instead, they should take lactose in small quantity. They can also monitor the quantity of lactose that their body can tolerate.
Various medicines are also available to cope with the Lactose Intolerance. Lactase enzyme tablets are available in the market that can help you to digest food containing lactose. In that case, the tablets have to be taken with the first bite of the dairy food.
For more information on Food Allergies, please go through the site www.allergieshub.com.
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