Can you develop lactose intolerance later in life?

I know that it's the lack of the lactase enzyme and it's something you're born with, but can you also develope it at a later date? Is there any medication or diseases whos side effect is lactose intolerance?

Yeap, I developed it after my daughter was born, it has progressively gotten worst. First just milk bothered me, then cheese, now yogurt . . . it sucks! As far as diseases or medications which cause it, I am not aware of any, but I would suppose that anything which would kill the bacteria in your gut could have some type of affect. Lactose intolerance, as you stated, is simply a lack of an enzyme that the bateria in your gut make to break-down lactose. I read (although I can not reference it at this moment) that if you stop ingesting dairy products, the bacteria stop making the enzyme, I am not sure if this is 100% correct, but perhaps it's a type of "evolutionary process" our individual bodies go through in adapting to our environment . . . that's my hypothesis :-) Also, various ethnic groups, particulary hispanic's are lactose intolerant.
I find it helpful to take those lactose pills, I have to take two if I want to drink a glass of milk, but every once in a while I just get a craving to go crazy on the dairy.

yes, it can develop later in life. I'm not sure about it as a side effect.

I dunno, I have it, but it really didn't effect me much.

yes, i did when i was 24, i went on a camping trip and all the food we ate for 3 weeks had powdered milk in it, so for some reason i developed and intolerance.. but it will wane as you get older as it did for me, just stay away from milk protiens and whey ,or eat yougurt with acidophulus cultures in it, it helps to break down the protiens, and you dont get the gas or cramps...:(

it is normal for children to produce lots of lactase enzymes but as you get older you produce a lot less and acording to wikipedia, they say that the majority of adults are lactose intolerant (they can't have more than 1 cup of milk a day).

Try not to work as hard in the heat as you would in the cold. The body doesn't adjust to temperature changes, especially working in the kitchen.

Yes. In fact, a lot of people who are lactose intolerant develop it later in life.