What Is Hypolactasia?

Causes Of Hypolactasia

There are three main types of hypolactasia, each of which is caused by different circumstances. Different factors affect each type, and the severity is also varied across all three types. Some patients may only experience symptoms after consuming a lot of dairy, while others may need to cut dairy out of their diet entirely to avoid having symptoms. Primary hypolactasia is the most common kind, and individuals with this type start their life with more than enough lactase to get by. This is necessary for infants, since they receive all their nutrition through breast milk. However, as milk is replaced with other foods, the body's production of lactase goes through a natural decrease. In a normal digestive system, there's still enough lactase to digest the amount of dairy found in the average adult diet. However, with primary hypolactasia, there's a much sharper dropoff in lactase production. By the time these patients reach adulthood, they have a harder time with digesting dairy products. In secondary lactose intolerance, the body stops producing as much lactase after there's been surgery, illness, or injury to the small intestine where lactase is normally produced. In congenital hypolactasia, the rarest form, infants are completely unable to produce lactase due to a genetic condition.

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