Details
Xylose, a 5-carbon pentose sugar, is used in a screening test for enteropathy, in which its malabsorption indicates a deficiency in intestinal transport capability/integrity potentially due to mucosal damage. This essentially results in a persons body to absorb nutrients, minerals and vitamins.
If xylose is not absorbed, it will move to the colon and the production of H2 and or CH4 may signal its malabsorption.
Common symptoms include:
- Chronic Diarrhea
- Weight Loss and Weakness
- Malnutrition
Abnormal absorption of Xylose may indicate:
- Celiac Disease (sprue)
- Crohn's Disease
- Giardia Lamblia
- Lymphatic Obstruction
- Radiation Enteropathy
- Viral gastroenteritis
- Suggestion to test for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
No specific indication of the above possibilities come directly from breath-test results. Breath-tests can only simply indicate that your body is malabsorbing this particular sugar, or that the sugar has meet with bacteria in the proximal part of the small intestine which may lead you to want to test for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth before making final determination on treatments or regiment changes. Your medical professional should review the results in conjunction with your medical history to best make a determination of an issue based on your breath test results.