“Are celiac disease and lactose intolerance related?”
My son has celiac disease and was diagnosed with it around 5 years ago. He's been on a gluten-free diet ever since. However, now I noticed that he's having issues digesting dairy products. Could celiac disease be related to lactose intolerance?
4 Answers
No direct relationship between the two. Lactose intolerance is a common condition that may arise with or without celiac disease, which is not common (<1% of US population). Might help to diagnose lactose intolerance with a breath test. Also important to confirm that the celiac disease is completely controlled, by checking antibodies or getting duodenal biopsies, since
gluten can easily sneak into foods even when on a GFD.
gluten can easily sneak into foods even when on a GFD.
These are 2 different entities. Check with his GI physician.
Celiac disease and lactose intolerance are two different conditions. One may exacerbate the symptoms of the other condition, but they are different conditions. Both these conditions can be confirmed with different tests available in the office.
Not really. When your celiac disease is active, it wipes out your intestinal lining and can cause lactose intolerance because of that. That is temporary and on the diet the lining recovers and the enzymes come back. However, celiac disease is fairly common and lactose intolerance is very common. So, just by chance the odds stack up that some individuals are unlucky enough to have both.
Mark R. Corkins, M.D., S.P.R., C.N.S.C., F.A.S.P.E.N., A.G.A.F., F.A.A.P.
Mark R. Corkins, M.D., S.P.R., C.N.S.C., F.A.S.P.E.N., A.G.A.F., F.A.A.P.
