Clinical Efficacy of 1-Year Intensive Systematic Dietary Manipulation as Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies on Female Patients With Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

Abstract

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of intensive systematic dietary manipulation (ISDM) for female patients with interstitial cystitis (IC)/bladder pain syndrome (BPS) in stable condition who were followed up in our hospital. In cooperation with the nutrition control team, we created a basic IC/BPS diet menu for 1 month. Data regarding daily food intake and food-related symptoms were collected by conducting a detailed interview of each patient, and we set meal menu to control IC/BPS symptoms and advised the patients to reduce the intake of specific food items to the maximum possible extent. The following food items were removed from or restricted in the diet of patients: tomatoes, tomato products, soybean, tofu product, spices, excessive potassium, citrus, high-acidity-inducing substances, etc. We evaluated the following factors 3 months and 1 year after the start of the intervention: O'Leary-Sant symptom index, O'Leary-Sant problem index, urgency visual analogue scale score, bladder or pelvic pain visual analogue scale score, and numerical patient-reported quality of life index. All evaluated factors improved statistically significantly when the intensive group was compared with the nonintensive group (baseline to 3 months and 3 months to 1 year ISDM, P <.05, respectively). ISDM was found to alleviate the symptoms of IC/BPS in almost 3 months and continued clinical efficacy for at least 1 year. ISDM as one of the conservative treatment modality for IC/BPS should be attempted more strictly because of its noninvasiveness, without alterations to the other treatments.