Diarrhea caused by carbohydrate malabsorption.

This article will focus on the role of the colon in the pathogenesis of diarrhea in carbohydrate malabsorption or physiologically incomplete absorption of carbohydrates, and on the most common manifestation of carbohydrate malabsorption, lactose malabsorption. In addition, incomplete fructose absorption, the role of carbohydrate malabsorption in other malabsorptive diseases, and congenital defects that lead to malabsorption will be covered. The article concludes with a section on diagnostic tools to evaluate carbohydrate malabsorption.