Pain in interstitial cystitis: Changing attitudes, changing treatments

Abstract

Kream and Carr have described the suffering caused by medicine's denial and dismissal of interstitial cystitis (IC), and the improved diagnosis and treatment of IC resulting from patient advocacy by the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA). The ICA's efforts helped initiate National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to study this disorder. Recent research suggests that IC is 50% more common than previously thought, affecting nearly 700,000 people. Most IC patients are women, but both men and children have been diagnosed with increasing frequency. No universally effective treatment exists, and many patients do not respond to available therapies. Until the etiology of IC is clearly understood and new, more effective treatments are found, it is imperative that IC pain be adequately addressed and treated.