Lactose intolerance
The inability to digest lactose, a component of milk and some other dairy products. The basis for lactose intolerance is the lack of an enzyme called lactase in the small intestine. The most common symptoms of lactose intolerance are diarrhea, bloating, and gas. The diagnosis may be made via a trial of a lactose-free diet or by special testing. Treatment involves avoidance of products that contain lactose or use of lactase enzyme supplements before eating. See also deficiency, lactase.
Read Also:
- Lacuna
A small pit, cavity, defect or gap. The space occupied by cells of calcified tissues.
- Lamarckism
The theory of acquired characteristics put forth by Jean-Baptiste P.A. Lamarck (1744-1829), a French botanist, zoologist and biological philosopher. According to Lamarck, evolution occurs because organisms can inherit traits acquired by their ancestors. Giraffes can only survive by eating leaves high up on trees so they stretch their necks to reach the leaves and this […]
- Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome
An autoimmune disease characterized by weakness and fatigue of the proximal muscles (those near the trunk), particularly the muscles of the pelvic girdle (the pelvis and hips) and the thighs, with relative sparing of eye and respiratory muscles. Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) is associated in 40% of cases with cancer, most often with small cell […]
- Lamella
A thin leaf, plate, disk, or wafer, such as in bone tissue.
- Lamin A
Progeria syndrome, Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy type 2, Limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 1B, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder type 2B1, The Dunnigan type of familial partial lipodystrophy, Mandibuloacral dysplasia and A familial form of dilated cardiomyopathy.