38 years
Can lactose intolerance disappear as the kid grows up or is it a life-long condition?
Aug 28, 2013
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Infants commonly suffer from a poor ability to properly digest lactose, the milk sugar, but this is not usually due to a deficiency in the enzyme lactase (found on the inner walls if the intestines) which is very very rare in children, but rather due to immaturity of their digestive system, so they have lactose malabsoprtion, the physiologic problem that manifests as lactose intolerance and is explained by the lack of balance between the amount of ingested lactose in milk and the capacity for lactase to break down the lactose.
Lactose-free milk formulae are used for babies with this condition.
Lactose intolerance is diagnosed when one or more of the following symptoms are present: abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, flatulence, and/or bloating after the ingestion of lactose or lactose-containing foods. This condition also occurs transiently after severe diarrhea.
To diagnose it, a special breath test is performed after ingestion of lactose.
To diagnose it, a special breath test is performed after ingestion of lactose.
Treatment is by following a lactose-free diet .
But you need to distinguish between lactose intolerance and mil protein allergy, a more common condition in infants causing similar symptoms. Milk protein allergy involves the immune system which recognizes the milk protein as something the body should destroy. This starts an allergic reaction, so you notice that the infant gets fussy and irritable after feeding, and cause an upset stomach and other symptoms. Milk–protein intolerance occurs in infants within the first 1 to 3 months of life; babies with this condition benefit from partially or completely hydrolyzed milk (the large milk protein is broken down into smaller peptides or amino acids to save the child the trouble of digestion). It typically resolves by 1 year of age or a bit later with gradual re-introduction of regular milk.
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