E73.9: Lactose intolerance, unspecified
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.
Additional indicator
On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.
- G: Confirmed diagnosis
- V: Tentative diagnosis
- Z: Condition after
- A: Excluded diagnosis
- L: Left
- R: Right
- B: Both sides
Further information
Note
This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.
Source
Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).
