Beth Kevles wrote:
> someone talked about "true" allergy vs. gastric reaction. The word "allergy"
> isn't as well-defined as one might think. Some allergies lead to hives, asthma
> attacks, anaphyaxis. Others lead to severe gastric symptoms which may be
> confused with lactose intolerance, but are NOT lactose intolerance. (And some
> gastric reactions occur in parts of the digestive tract where lactose enzyme
> deficiency is a non-issue.) If the effect of consuming milk protein is nasty
> and consistent, it doesn't really matter what you call it; it matters that you
> avoid milk protein. And if it gets you safely through a restaurant meal to
> label your problem an "allergy" (a word that is taken seriously by people in
> the food service industry) then it's okay to call it that, no matter your true
> opinion of the word.

Hi Beth,

This "someone" was me and the question was rather less prosaic and more pragmatic.

An allergic person can also be lactose intollerant.
If that person was to react to a dairy challenge with GI symptoms, it would be helpful to know whether those symptoms are caused by LI (and therefore can be controlled with lactase, etc.) or from an allergic reaction (and thus can not).

Best wishes,
Alex.