> >I found that since I discovered that I was lactose intollerant that I
> >cannot digest fats very easily...
>>and I think that there was
> >damaged done to the lining of my intestines.
> >Hazel Green
> >
> Hazel,
>
> I have the identical problem but do not assume there was damage done.  I
> don't know about you but I'm pushing 50 and I just think that my body is
> changing and I have to listen to it.
>
> Judith Griffiths

I just celebrated my 50th b-day this past April.  While it's true that most
people as they get older produce less enzymes in the intestines, therefore
do not digest a lot of food properly.  A lot of people with Crohn's, and
with short bowel syndrome experience it too.
Fat in the stools is a very easy exam to do.  [If you  can catch it and
take it to the lab :-) ]
There is another study that they do that checks for quantities (as opposed
to qualities, if I remember correctly) etc. but is more complicated since
you have to collect stools for a few days, no easy task for "intolerant"
people ;-).
What the tests look for, is just undigested fat.  Quite easy and
straightforward.  You can also find out for yourself,  by having a greasy
meal (without milk, so you know is NOT the milk.) and then checking your
BM.  It will be VERY smelly for one, and it will look fatty like with a
film on top. It is called "Stratorrhea."  I know, I know, we shouldn't talk
like these, but then, how are we to find help in one another if we don't
spell out the "real" problems?
Chao,
Monica
[log in to unmask]