Introduction:
Indeed, some medical conditions share the same medical sign and symptoms but have an entirely different root cause. Dairy allergy and lactose intolerance are digestive tracts associated disorders. Although there is a clear difference between these two diseases, people are still have confusion during diagnosis.
Furthermore, you will figure out how dairy allergy test helps detect these two diseases.
What is Dairy Allergy?
When you suffer through the pain in your tummy after consuming a product made of milk, the first thought that comes to your mind is that you have a dairy allergy. However, there is a possibility that you may have lactose intolerance.
Allergy can be defined as the hyper-immune response of the body against a particle to neutralize its effect. Sometimes, the immune cells fail to differentiate between non-pathogenic and infectious agents. This error leads to the production of neutralizing antibodies against non-pathogenic particles.
In the case of dairy allergy, the milk components appear as foreign infective agents which activate the immune response. As a result, immune cells start secreting IgE antibodies, mainly responsible for the inflammatory response.
The inflammatory response leads to damage to the internal cellular lining of the intestine, which may lead to mal-absorption of nutrients. As a result, the person has to face diarrhea, weight loss, rashes, and difficulty breathing due to throat tightness.
Dairy allergy is associated with cow milk consumption, but it’s not a thumb rule. You may face the same medical condition while consuming goat or camel’s milk.
What is Lactose Intolerance?
There are several different components in our diet that our body cannot digest due to the unavailability of several enzymes. For example, like human gut cannot digest cellulose as it lacks the cellulase enzyme.
Lactose is also a carbohydrate like cellulose, but it is much less complex in structure. Lactose is also known as milk sugar and is present in most dairy products and vegetables.
If you feel bloating, tummy aches, or diarrhea, you may be lactose intolerant. There is no involvement of immune response in the case of lactose intolerance, nor is it a severe condition as lactose compared to a dairy allergy.
The gut of a lactose intolerant person lacks lactase enzyme. It may be due to a genetic disorder or any damage to the intestinal cell lining.
As you can see, these diseases share the same signs and symptoms; hence guessing the disease isn’t the right way. Instead, the proper way to initiate the treatment is to consult your doctor and go for a dairy allergy test!
Why Should You Need Lactose Allergy Test?
You can go for the RAST test, which is performed to detect dairy allergy, but those who are needle phobic should avoid this test.
A dairy allergen is injected into the skin to check for any redness or reaction to the allergen. On the other hand, a dairy allergy test is relatively easy to perform.
You can either give your blood sample, your stool sample, or your exhaled air to check whether you are lactose intolerant or not.
Take-Home Message:
Mixing up the signs and symptoms and initiating the treatment without any consultation with your doctor complicate the intensity of the disease. Hence avoid self-diagnosis and go for testing.
