Easily Treatable Condition Often Unrecognized in IBS Patients
This article refers to lactose intolerance being misdiagnosed as IBS. This gives more support to alternative practitioners’ treatment methods because avoidance of dairy is always at the top of the list for almost any condition; especially so with any GI related complaints.
European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2001;13:941-944 Prospectively, the effect of a lactose-restricted diet was evaluated among irritable bowel syndrome patients with lactose malabsorption. Lactose malabsorption was defined by a positive hydrogen breath test and a positive blood-glucose test. An analysis of symptoms was completed before, during, 6 weeks after and 5 years after starting the diet. In addition, the number of visits made by the patients to the outpatient clinic was scored during 6 years. Conclusions In a large majority of irritable bowel syndrome patients with lactose malabsorption, which was previously clinically unrecognized, a lactose-restricted diet improved symptoms markedly both in the short term and the long term. Furthermore, visits by all patients to the outpatient clinic were reduced by 75%. We conclude that diet therapy is extremely cost- and time-saving. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that lactose malabsorption, which is easily treatable, is excluded before diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome.