Interstitial Cystitis

Ok, today, you're going to learn something, so put on your thinking caps:
Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic inflammation of the bladder wall.  Sometimes known as painful bladder syndrome or chronic urethral syndrome....the bottom line is that this condition is quite painful and there is NO KNOWN CURE for it.  IC affects all age groups, but particularly those from 20 to 50 years of age.   The symptoms include:  urinary frequency, urgency and pain.  Symptoms can be caused by radiation therapy or from spinal injuries.  There is no diffinitive diagnostic test to determine IC, so it is a condition of exclusion (in other words, we rule out other conditions first).  Au contraire to what you might think, cranberry juice will make the symptoms of IC worse.
So, what exactly is IC?  There is a layer that protects the body's membranes from urine, bacteria and other damage called GAG (glycosaminoglycan layer).  If this layer is damaged, a low level of bacteria that cannot be detected via normal testing can create inflammation of the bladder's lining.  These bacteria embed themselves deep into the tissue where antibiotics can't get to them (smart buggers!).  This causes the inflammatory condition.  If a virus attacks the GAG, damage can occur to the bladder.  If the body attacks itself (an autoimmune process), the urinary bladder is a favorite battle spot.  Usually, persons with many different types of allergies have hypersensitive immune systems and these patients often suffer with IC. 
There are several types of medical treatments for IC:  analgesics, muscle relaxants, antihistamines, and drugs to repair the GAG layer.  In severe cases, the bladder needs to be surgically removed. 

Here's Your Healty Tip of the Day:  Guess what?  There have been several double blind clinical studies conducted for the treatment of IC with acupuncture.  60% of respondents rated acupuncture bringing them to a 75 to 100% recovery.  Western treatment was reported to give NO relief to 45% of respondents.  Acupuncture not only treated the physical manifestations of IC, but also treated the psychological stress accompanied by the condition....drug free, effective and relatively cheap when you consider the long run.  This is because acupuncture boosts and rebalances the immune system.  This allows the body to fight the viral or bacterial infections on a much deeper level and produce more red and white blood cells to help repair damaged tissue.
Source:  Journal of Chinese Medicine, 94, Oct 2010 An Investigation into the Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis with Acupuncture, Holford and Tucker.