It’s easy to believe that, since there isn’t a lot of information about potential treatments, that cystitis is a relatively newly discovered disease. The facts about cystitis, however, are widely known already since its first diagnosis was made more than one hundred years ago. When you think about how widely believed it is that the disease is tied to lots of issues of the immune system, it’s actually kind of amazing. You may also be shocked to hear that some physicians even doubt this is a real disease or even exists. They don’t deny those symptoms or that the patients experience actual pain but they do raise quite a few questions about it.
The most frustrating aspect of cystitis is that modern medicine really has little to no idea as to the cause. Even though this condition has been around for decades, it has not been figured out nor have answers been provided. Although interstitial cystitis is the name that it typically goes by, it has other names as well.
This condition is caused by the inflammation of the bladder wall which will cause pain and irritation for the person that has it. The word "interstitial" simply means in between, referencing the wall of the bladder itself. If not treated, IC can actually manifest bleeding and ulcers to develop, becoming the new symptoms for this disease. While millions of people in the US are afflicted with cystitis, researchers have not pinpointed a definitive cause or a cure for it. Immune system compromised areas are the most likely candidates for this disease development. But it is not like doctors have no treatments for the condition. We’re about to tell you a little bit more about this disease in a general way. Even though there are treatments, more than likely they will only work in a limited fashion. There are serious side effects with the treatment, but no guarantee that it will actually work. If you have this condition, keep that in mind before you try one for yourself.
To figure out what IC really is, since it is very mysterious, doctors given new names trying to figure out what is going on. For example, Japanese doctors offered to name the condition, Hypersensitive Bladder Syndrome. This is in addition to IC and PBS. There are a few more as well.
This proposal by urologists in Japan came as little as five years ago in 2007. What they are attempting to do is narrow the focus to include patients with a set of symptoms including frequent urination. Anyone that is diagnosed with cystitis may have overwhelming pain as part of their symptoms as well. Despite the fact that volumes of information have been written on this topic, no one really knows why cystitis manifests. Studies have shown that women can develop cystitis much more easily than men. For some reason, sexual activity with women, and their age, seems to contribute to why they develop this condition. The statistic should not be taken as an absolute as it simply provides the probability that it could happen with women more than men.