Urinary tract allergy.

Abstract

In 1922 Duke 1 described the bladder symptoms arising from food allergy and felt that this cause should be considered in those urologic patients who exhibit little or no disease in the urinary tract. He listed frequent and painful urination, bladder tenesmus, a continuous severe pain over the bladder, and polyps from allergic edema as among these symptoms and stated that The condition may vary from slight discomfort to pain and tenesmus, which confines the patient to bed for months. Bladder allergy of long standing may be complicated by infection, in which case the symptoms of cystitis obscure the diagnosis. In patients having chronic bladder allergy no pathology may be found by internists, urologists, neurologists, roentgenologists, or pathologists, except hypersensitiveness to foods. Frequently the case may be misdiagnosed as cystitis, urethral carbuncle, misplaced uterus, or pelvic inflammatory disease. Treatment of such conditions often gives partial relief, but, as a rule,