HOW PEOPLE WITH LACTOSE INTOLERANT SYMPTOMS ARE DIAGNOSED

There are many people who have self diagnosed themselves as being lactose intolerant. There is a case in which one fifth of people think they have this condition if they experience lactose intolerant symptoms, when they are actually not lactose intolerant. The same goes for the one fifth of people who do not think they are lactose intolerant actually are. Because lactose intolerant is a well known condition many people just assume they if they have lactose intolerant symptoms that they are lactose intolerant when really these symptoms could be caused by something completely different. When these symptoms are properly tested the cause can be quickly become known. There are a series of tests to determine if someone is lactose intolerant. It is always best to check with your doctor so he/she can give correct instructions to help diagnose a cause for lactose intolerant symptoms.

There are several ways to diagnose someone who is experiencing lactose intolerant symptoms:
- The Elimination Diet
- Breath test
- Milk test
- Intestinal Biopsy
- Blood Glucose test
- Stool acidity test

The Elimination Diet
This is the most common way people tend to self diagnose lactose intolerant. This diet eliminates milk and milk products containing lactose. If all products containing milk sugar are not eliminated, many prepared food items contain a small amount of milk, many people still experience lactose intolerant symptoms and will believe that these are not caused by lactose intolerance. This type of diet needs to have trials over a period of weeks, rather than days to ensure it is a subjective and accurate test. A placebo effect can also occur, in which the person thinks they feel better when actually they are not better. If this diet is to be taken seriously, it needs to be applied with help of a dietitian or a detailed lactose elimination diet book.

Milk Test
The milk test is conducted when a person does not eat overnight then drinks about a glass of milk first thing in the morning. Within several hours, symptoms should appear, if the person is lactose intolerant. If symptoms do not appear, it is likely that something else is causing the lactose intolerant symptoms. In young children and infants, milk allergies can sometimes be the reason for symptoms, only lactose should be taken instead of milk. There are several factors that can give the test an incorrect result. These include, not drinking more milk than they would usually and confusing large amounts of milk that cause lactose intolerant symptoms and small amounts that cause no symptoms resulting in another reason for the cause.

The Breath Test
This is a common, convenient and accurate way to test for lactose intolerant and lactase deficiency. A person consuming about 25 grams of lactose conducts this test. They will fast overnight and be ingested with water. In the morning breath samples are taken every 15 minutes up to 5 hours, and analyzed for methane or hydrogen. If there are traces of hydrogen or methane found, this means that the small intestine was unable to digest and absorb all of the lactose causing the traces of hydrogen/ methane. If high levels of either were recorder the more severe the deficiency. This is not an indication of the severity of the symptoms. The factors that can give an inadequate result of the test include the amount of lactose taken, a destroyed lining in the small intestine, other conditions resulting in high traces of methane/ hydrogen.

The Blood Glucose Test
This test consists of lactose ingested in the morning after an overnight fast to diagnose a person who experiences from lactose intolerant symptoms. Blood samples are taken and analyzed for Glucose. The samples are then tested for levels of normality of lactase. There are several reasons that conclude for this test to be hardly used. These include the need for multiple blood samples taken, false positive tests, and abnormal tests in people who have normal lactase levels.

The Stool Acid Test
This test is mainly used to detect lactase deficiency and test lactose intolerant symptoms in young children and infants. The person will consume a small amount of lactose. Several hours later the stools samples are tested for acidity. If the person is lactase deficient then the stool should be very acidic. This test is carried out infrequently due to it's superior breath test is much easier to conduct and very similar.

The Intestinal Biopsy Test
This test is conducted with the use of endoscopy or capsules that are then analyzed for lactase levels. This type of testing is mainly used for research, as the specialized analysis of lactase levels in the biopsy requires procedures that are not always available.

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