Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
A milk challenge is a simpler way of diagnosing lactose
intolerance than an elimination diet. A person fasts overnight and then drinks a
glass of milk in the morning. Nothing further is eaten or drunk for 3-5 hours.
If a person is lactose intolerant, the milk should produce symptoms within
several hours of ingestion. If there are no symptoms or symptoms are
substantially milder than the usual symptoms, it is unlikely that
lactose intolerance is the cause of the symptoms. It is important that the milk
that is used is fat-free in order to eliminate the possibility that fat in the
milk is the cause of symptoms. It is not possible to eliminate the possibility
that symptoms are due to milk allergy, a very different condition than lactose intolerance; however,
this usually is not confusing since
allergy to milk is rare and primarily occurs
in infants and young children. (If milk allergy is a consideration, pure lactose
can be used instead of milk.)
An important issue is the amount of milk required for the milk challenge.
If a person drinks several glasses of milk or ingests large amounts of
milk-containing products in their normal diet, then a larger amount of milk
should be used in the challenge, 8-16 ounces in an adult, equivalent to one or
two large glasses of milk.
If the person being tested usually does not drink several glasses of milk or
ingest larger quantities of milk-containing products, there may be a problem
with using 8-16 ounces of milk for testing. These larger quantities of milk used
for testing may cause symptoms, but the smaller amounts of milk or milk products
that these persons ingest in their normal diet may not be enough to cause
symptoms. Technically, they may be lactose intolerant when they are tested with
larger amounts of milk, but lactose in their normal diet cannot be responsible
for their usual symptoms.
Recognition of this issue is important in interpreting the results of a milk
challenge.
Lactose Intolerance - Symptoms at Onset of DiseaseQuestion: The symptoms of lactose intolerance can vary greatly from patient to patient. What were your symptoms at the onset of your disease?
Abdominal pain is pain in the belly and can be acute or chronic. Causes include inflammation, distention of an organ, and loss of the blood supply to an organ. Abdominal pain can reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix, gallbladder, large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, colon, duodenum, and spleen.
Diarrhea is a change is the frequency and looseness of bowel movements. Cramping, abdominal pain, and the sensation of rectal urgency are all symptoms of diarrhea. Absorbents and anti-motility medications are used to treat diarrhea.
Gas or "intestinal gas" means different things to different people. Everyone has gas and eliminates it by belching or farting (passing it through the rectum).
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease,
primarily involving the small and large intestine, but which can
affect other parts of the digestive system as well. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and weight loss are
common symptoms.
Nausea is an uneasiness of the stomach that often precedes vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, but they are symptoms of many conditions. The causes of vomiting differ according to age, and treatment depends upon the cause of nausea and vomiting.
Celiac disease is a result of an immune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat or related grains and present in many foods that we eat. Celiac disease causes impaired absorption and digestion of nutrients through the small intestine. Signs and symptoms of celiac disease include malabsorbption (diarrhea, foul smelling gas, bloating, and increased amounts of fat in the stool) and malnutrition (weight loss, edema, anemia, bruising easily, neuropathy, and infertility). Treatment for celiac disease is a gluten free diet, and at times if necessary, medications
Learn about osteoporosis, a condition characterized by the loss of bone density, which leads to an increased risk of bone fracture. Unless one experiences a fracture, a person may have osteoporosis for decades without knowing it. Treatment for osteoporosis may involve medications that stop bone loss and increase bone strength and bone formation, as well as quitting smoking, regular exercise, cutting back on alcohol intake, and eating a calcium- and vitamin D-rich balanced diet.
Dyspepsia (indigestion) is a functional disease in which the gastrointestinal organs, primarily the stomach and first part of the small intestine, function abnormally. It is a chronic disease in which the symptoms fluctuate infrequency and intensity. Symptoms of dyspepsia include upper abdominal pain, belching, nausea, vomiting, abdominal bloating, early satiety, and abdominal distention (swelling). These symptoms are most often provoked by eating.
The most common food allergies are to eggs, nuts, milk, peanuts, fish, shellfish, strawberries and tomatoes. Symptoms and signs include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, itching, hives, eczema, asthma, lightheadedness, and anaphylaxis. Allergy skin tests, RAST, and ELISA tests may be used to diagnose a food allergy. Though dietary avoidance may be sufficient treatment for mild allergies, the use of an Epipen may be necessary for severe food allergies.
There are a number of different methods of birth control to include: barrier methods, IUDs, hormonal methods, natural methods, and surgical sterilization. Birth control methods can be reversible or permanent. In simple terms, all methods of birth control are based on either preventing a man's sperm from reaching and entering a woman's egg (fertilization) or preventing the fertilized egg from implanting in the woman's uterus (her womb) and starting to grow.
Digestion is the complex process of turning food you eat into the energy you need to survive. The digestive process also involves creating waste to be eliminated, and is made of a series of muscles that coordinate the movement of food.
Setting a good example for your children when it comes to diet and exercise will help them to make healthy decisions about nutrition and fitness. Eating calcium-rich foods and performing weight-bearing exercise will help your children prevent osteoporosis and fractures later in life.
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