Dr. Mark R. Corkins, MD

If your son has Crohn's disease the treatment options are a very broad spectrum. For starters, Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease where your own immune system attacks your GI track. It is not curable, although with good medical treatment we talk about "remission" where the disease is suppressed with no signs as long as you keep taking the medicines. The medical therapy depends on the extent of the disease from simple anti-inflammatory agents to powerful immune suppression agents. It depends on how severe the disease is and his response.

True lactose intolerance is a lack of the lactase enzyme to digest the primary sugar in milk products. If you are lacking the enzyme you are always lacking it. Therefore, it would occur any time you take enough of the dairy product.

Medically the question has no answer. The therapy for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet. There is no medication or other treatment. So the issue is finding or creating foods that are gluten-free. Depending on where you live there are specific bakeries and grocers that specifically feature gluten-free products. Also, in my experience many parents experiment with alternative flours that are gluten-free for their own baking experiments.

Mark R. Corkins, M.D.

Medications for children are dosed by weight. There are plenty of safe medications including ranitidine and omeprazole which are available over the counter. However, for a child the dose depends on how big they are. If a child has reflux symptoms they probably should be assessed by someone to ensure the problem is truly reflux. Then if does appear to be reflux be able to select the correct dose of the best medication depending on the situation.

Mark R. Corkins, M.D.

Celiac disease is a unique process when an allergic reaction triggers an immune attack on the lining of the bowel. Although there is a specific rash that can be seen with it, this is usually not immediately. Individuals can also have a normal allergic reaction to wheat products that is not celiac disease. That type of reaction may be testable with standard allergy testing. Celiac disease is interesting because it has multiple presentations. The classic is bloating, diarrhea and poor weight gain. Sometimes, it is just poor weight gain. Celiac disease can be screened for with a very good blood test. However, the blood test is not perfect and confirmation requires a upper endoscopy and a biopsy of the small intestine lining.

Mark R. Corkins, M.D.