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CASE BACKGROUND

A healthy twenty-six year old Asian graduate presented abdominal discomfort after eating a cheeseburger and a milkshake. She rarely eats meals heavy with dairy or dairy in general. Usually she eats traditional Asian cuisine, which is dairy-free.

SYMPTOMS

• Diarrhea

• Abdominal pain

• Nausea

• Cramps

DIAGNOSIS

She was given a lactose tolerance blood test and was found to be lactose intolerant. Her blood glucose level did not change after consuming a lactose rich fluid indicating that she can’t break the substrate lactose (disaccharide) into the monosaccharide form of glucose and galactose.

TREATMENT

There is no cure, but lactase pills are an option in order to break down lactose. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks the disaccharide into glucose and galactose. Then it would permeate through the lining of the small intestine into the blood stream.

INTERESTING FACTS

• Lactose intolerance is very prevalent in Asian, Northern American and African descent.

• People of Northern European descent are least likely to have lactose intolerance.

• Different from a milk allergy because histamines are not produced. Lactose intolerance is just the inability to break down lactose.

• Fructose intolerance is the inability to break down monosaccharides in fruit