Temporary Lactose Intolerance

Few people realize that writers seldom get to choose their own titles for their work. That's especially true for newspaper and magazine writers. They never have any idea how their articles will wind up formatted on the printed page, so editors, not writers, have to create headlines that fit the appropriate space.

Even though space is not a problem on the Internet, this old habit is too ingrained to be broken. So when you see a particularly stupid or obvious headline, don't blame the poor writer. He or she is probably seeing it for the first time when you do.

I say this because of one of the stupidest headlines I've ever seen, a headline irritatingly idiotic because it may prevent you from reading what is really a good article on a subject of importance and interest.

Lactose intolerance symptoms not always present from birth.

Well, duh. In fact, lactose intolerance are virtually never, ever, ever seen at birth. As I recently explained, what's known as Congenital LI is exceptionally rare. Although doctors are discovering a few more cases of it, it probably happens in less than one in 100,000,000 births. Most doctors will never see a case in their lifetimes.

What doctors do see, and what parents do need to watch out for, is what is known as Secondary or Temporary LI. Temporary is the better name for it, because it's usually caused by a simple and normal gastrointestinal problem that knocks out the lactase-making ability of the intestines. This is easy to do in children, but fortunately easy to recover from. Once the intestines heal, which takes a few weeks, the child can go back to drinking milk.

Dr. Helen Minciotti, the columnist stuck with that appalling headline, explains all this fairly well in her article. Go read it. Then explain it to the editor.

Temporary Lactose Intolerance - It Can Happen to You

There are three types of lactose intolerance.

Congenital lactose intolerance is extremely rare. It occurs in a very few babies who can't make lactase at all. If they aren't put on a dairy-free formula immediately, they starve to death.

Primary lactose intolerance is also called, imprecisely, adult-onset lactose intolerance. In reality it can occur any time after the age of weaning. The ability to make lactase decreases or disappears and the symptoms of lactose intolerance strike.

But there is also secondary lactose intolerance, sometimes called temporary lactose intolerance. It occurs whenever there is damage to the intestines that knocks out - temporarily or permanently - the ability to manufacture lactase. Many conditions, from surgery on the intestines, to diseases, to drugs, to long-term abuse of the system can cause it. Whether the ability to manufacture lactase comes back depends entirely on the original cause of the damage and how well the intestines heal.

I mention temporary lactose intolerance now because there's a celebrity case of it in the news.



Golfer Trevor Immelman is back to full health after losing 22 pounds in a few weeks to a parasite.

The South African lost 22 pounds after it was diagnosed he had picked up a parasite which severely affected him for three weeks, but having regained his health, Immelman found himself in fine fettle again as he posted a solid four-under-par 68 to lead the South African challenge at Quail Hollow.

The 27-year-old described how he picked up a debilitating bug a month ago, just two days before the start of the Masters.

"I started feeling really ill. I pretty much slept in the restroom. My stomach felt like it was moving around inside me," Immelman recalled.

The cure? Antibiotics, of course. And his doctor also put him on a lactose-free diet.

Why? Two possible reasons. Without knowing more about the parasite or its effects, it might be that the bug affected the intestines and the extremely delicate and sensitive lactase-making villi, tiny projections on the insides of the intestines.

And antibiotics themselves are designed to kill bacteria. It's hard to discriminate among bad bacteria and good bacteria, so the "good" bacteria that live in the large intestine and digest any lactose that comes their way also get killed when a person takes a course of antibiotics. That means that the symptoms of undigested lactose often occur. The last time I took a course of antibiotics, it was a horrible week of roiling intestines and spasming diarrhea.

Oddly, the answer for this can be milk. Or, much more specifically, yogurt with the live and active cultures that work to recolonize the intestines. Unfortunately, time is still the best healer for temporary lactose intolerance from most of its causes.