Can the lactose intolerant take drugs with lactose in them?

Those who are lactose intolerant might be worried to find out some medications have lactose in them as a filler, but the amount of lactose is usually too small to be of concern. — dpa

For roughly 70% of the people around the world with lactose intolerance, certain medicines can both heal you and take the blame for causing stomach pains and diarrhoea.

That’s because many tablets and capsules contain a small amount of lactose, used as a filler to help with their consistency when being manufactured.

Intolerance to this substance – typically found in dairy – varies from region to region around the world.

While around 5% have intolerance in Europe and North America, upwards of 70% have it in Asian countries.

People with an intolerance to lactose may wonder whether they can take such medicines.

According to Ursula Sellerberg of the German Federal Chamber of Pharmacists, these medicines should be unproblematic for almost all patients.

Only small amounts of lactose in the milligramme range are found in medicines.

For comparison, a 250 millilitre glass of milk contains about 13 grammes of lactose.

However, manufacturers still often make lactose-free alternatives for those with high sensitivity.

Patients do not necessarily have to take a lactase tablet as a precaution before taking medicine with lactose.

If the medication is your only source of lactose on that day, then a lactase tablet won’t be necessary in most cases.

Rather than watching out for lactose in tablets, those with lactose intolerance may want to focus more on their calcium intake.

Calcium is a vital mineral that helps bones stay strong and healthy, as well as helps blood to clot.

That means that if you’re avoiding dairy products, you should make sure to get calcium elsewhere.

One calcium source can be mineral water that contains at least 500mg of calcium per 100ml.

Spinach, fennel, sesame seeds and almonds are also rich calcium sources.

People who are lactose intolerant need not avoid all dairy completely: Many types of cheese are very low in lactose, as the lactose component usually breaks down during the maturing process.

Butter is also very low in lactose, and therefore, usually nothing to worry about. – dpa