Allergy to Cow Milk Protein versus Lactose Intolerance: Differences and Similarities

Abstract

Breast milk is a nutrient-rich food with a chemical composition featuring ideal characteristics for infant digestion and metabolism. Early introduction of cow milk in infants’ intake caused a downgrade in breastfeeding with such consequences as an increase in pathologies due to early weaning. Pathologies include allergy to cow milk protein (ACMP) and lactose intolerance (LI) since both show similar characteristics which may make difficult their clinical diagnosis. ACMP affects the immune system and triggers reactions against the antigen which in this particular case are cow milk proteins causing symptoms posterior to milk intake. Lactose, ‘the sugar in cow milk’, is the cause of LI. In the absence of the enzyme lactase’s activity, it does not occur after lactose absorption but accumulates itself with uncomfortable results. The two conditions may be easily mistaken one for another by health professionals, due to their similarities such as their origin from cow milk. When details are compared, they reveal themselves highly different.