E73.8: Other lactose intolerance

You are lactose-intolerant.

Lactose (milk sugar) must be broken down by a specific protein in the intestines. Only then can lactose be absorbed. Your intestines cannot absorb and process lactose. Lactose then gets into intestinal segments where no sugar should be. The sugar is broken down there by normal gut bacteria. If you nonetheless consume lactose, you may thus for instance get abdominal pain or diarrhea.

Many people in the world have too little of this protein or the protein does not work properly. If your mother stopped giving you milk when you were a small child, the protein works less. Many dairy products are used in Germany. The body is thus trained to process lactose. The protein thus continues working normally after you are no longer receiving your mother’s milk. In other countries, fewer or no dairy products are used. For this reason, people from such regions are likely not to tolerate lactose.

Various diseases can damage the intestines. So your intestines can no longer process lactose. The intolerance can also be congenital, which means you were born with it.