Lactose is a sugar found in milk, it is digested by an enzyme called Lactase, found in the intestines. So if you don't have enough lactase, you wont be able to fully digest the lactose.
Undigested lactose is fermented by bacterial, which releases gasses, meaning you have symptoms such as, stomach cramps, wind and bloating.
Diarrhoea is caused by having a high concentration of lactose in the intestines, this causes the water to move out of the blood and into the intestines (by osmosis). The increase in water means you get runny faeces.
Milk can be artificially treated with purified lactase to make it suitable for lactose intolerant people. Its fairly common to be lactose intolerant.
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