What Are the Signs of Lactose Intolerance in Toddlers?
Lactose intolerance, also known as lactose indigestion or lactose malabsorption, refers to a state in which the body does not produce lactase that breaks down lactose. It is an innate genetic expression that occurs frequently in Asia. Because the patient's intestine cannot secrete enzymes that break down lactose, lactose is digested and absorbed, which is used by the human body. Lactose will be broken down by bacteria in the intestine into lactic acid, which will destroy the alkaline environment of the intestine, and make the intestine secrete a large amount of alkaline digestive juice to neutralize lactic acid. So prone to mild diarrhea.
Lactose intolerance
- The main symptoms are diarrhea and bloating after ingesting a large amount of lactose. The symptoms are genetically determined and not contagious. Some people's symptoms may decrease or worsen over time.
- Fresh milk is the main food for young children before weaning. Consult a doctor in time for lactose intolerance during this period to avoid malnutrition. Lactose intolerance after weaning is common in people other than white people.
- People with lactose intolerance do not immediately experience symptoms such as diarrhea once they consume a small amount of lactose, but they do not appear until they consume more than a certain amount. So most people with lactose intolerance can still drink milk, but not overdose. For example, although more than 90% of the Japanese have lactose intolerance, most people can drink 200 ml of milk a day without any discomfort.
- If ordinary people don't drink milk often, there will be diarrhea, which is also a manifestation of lactose intolerance. Lactase will disappear in the human body if not used for a long time. With long-term drinking of milk, lactase will regenerate, so diarrhea People should stick to drinking milk for a while, then there will be no diarrhea.
- However, yoghurt is fermented to ferment lactose in milk into lactic acid, so it will not cause the symptoms of human diarrhea. The value of milk and yogurt is the same.
- There is no scientific consensus on when and where this mutation occurs. Some people think that it was about 4000 years ago
- In the absence of lactase, the human ingested lactose cannot be digested and absorbed into the blood, but stays in the intestine. Gut bacteria produce a large amount of gas during the process of lactose fermentation. Causes bloating and farting. Excessive lactose can also increase the osmotic pressure inside the intestine, preventing the absorption of water and causing diarrhea.
- Mammalian larvae gradually reduce lactase synthesis after weaning. Toddlers in humans typically lose 90% of their lactose digestion capacity at the age of 4, but the differences vary widely from person to person. Gene mutations on chromosome 2 in some races have been shown to stop lactase-reducing traits, so these races can digest lactose throughout their lives.
- After an overnight fast, a certain amount of aqueous lactose solution was taken orally. Lactose intolerance can be diagnosed by one of the following methods: The presence of bloating or abdominal discomfort, the intestinal bacterial lactose metabolism has detected an increase in hydrogen blood glucose, which is much smaller than the same amount of glucose and galactose (lactase digestion) The most rigorous diagnostic method is to perform an intestinal biopsy to determine the level of lactase activity. Observing the correlation between the intake of various dairy products and the symptoms of bloating and diarrhea can also be used as a rough non-medical diagnostic method. For example, drink two glasses of milk on the first day, and eat a considerable amount of hard cheese the next day, and observe whether there are symptoms. However, if you have symptoms on the first day, it may be lactose intolerance. If you have symptoms on the first two days, you may be allergic to dairy products.
- Drink milk in small quantities
- The occurrence of lactose intolerance is often caused by excessive intake of lactose, but it cannot be fully digested and absorbed into the blood. Therefore, drinking a small amount of milk several times, gradually increasing from 50 ml, to help the intestine gradually adapt. Goat milk is known as the gospel of lactose intolerance, and oligosaccharide goat milk powder replaces some of the goat milk lactose components with oligosaccharides, which is easier to digest and absorb, which is suitable for human intestinal function. It is best to eat it with solid foods such as bread, biscuits, or steamed buns, which can dilute the lactose concentration in milk and effectively alleviate or avoid discomfort. [1]
- The above lactose-tolerant mutant gene is a dominant gene, that is, as long as there is one dominant gene in the two alleles, it exhibits a dominant trait, that is, lactose tolerance. Only when both alleles are invisible lactose intolerant genes will lactose intolerance be manifested.
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- Source: "Lactose and Lactase", Scientific American, October, 1972, by Norman Kretchmer. Because the number of samples in each population is different, the statistically significant differences are also different.
- It is interesting that domestic cats have a similar trend: many domestic cats, especially Asian breeds, are intolerant to lactose intake when they are adults, and they will have diarrhea if they drink milk. Many European breeds do not have this problem because of similar genetic variations.