Similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Lactose is a carbohydrate found in milk, and requires lactase (an enzyme) to break it down into galactose and glucose before absorption is possible. Some people are not able to produce enough lactase to digest lactose in milk. When this happens, it is left to bacteria in the colon to do the breaking-down. Lactose cannot readily be absorbed in the colon; it attracts water and precipitates diarrhoea.
A substitute for the lactase enzyme is commercially available, “Lactaid”. See: DIARRHOEA.
The inability to digest lactose (see lactase deficiency).
is due to lack in the INTESTINE of the ENZYME known as LACTASE which is responsible for the digestion of lactose, the sugar in milk. The result is that drinking milk or eating milk-containing products is followed by nausea, a sensation of bloating, or distension, in the gut, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. (Similar disturbances after taking milk may also occur in those who do not lack lactase but have an allergy to milk protein). Treatment is by means of a low-lactose diet avoiding fresh or powdered milk and milk puddings. Many can tolerate fermented milk products, as well as the small amounts of milk used in baking and added to margarine and sausages. However, infamts may have to be fed exclusively on a lactose-free formula as even breast milk may produce symptoms.
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