He talked about it Francesca Neri, well-known actress and film producer, who told how the pain he would have pushed her to cherish the idea of suicide. We are talking about the interstitial cystitis, painful pathology that affects the urinary tract weakening the walls of the bladder.
With the thinning of the membrane, some irritating compounds contained in the urine can cause even serious irritation, up to giving rise to inflammatory processes that tend to become chronic. More frequent in the female population that in the male, it can affect not only the general state of health but also the psychological one, leading to anxiety and depressive states.
Interstitial cystitis, those symptoms that hurt
As with bacterial cystitis, the first symptom that appears is that of painful urination, associated with a frequent urge. According to science, the causes of its appearance do not predict the presence of bacteria; for this reason, antibiotic-based therapies are excluded, since they would be completely useless for solving the problem.
The pain, in most cases, can particularly weaken the physique of those suffering from interstitial cystitis; even the psyche comes out tested: the chronic nature weighs on everyday life, at work and the sex life. In the women it is often associated with fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome or vulvar vestibulitis while, in the men, the pain is concentrated in the testicles and scrotum, also involving the pubis, perineum and the phase of ejaculation which can cause pain.
Interstitial cystitis, how it is diagnosed
Given the similarities with the more common cystitis, diagnosing this particular disease is not always easy. Sometimes it proceeds to attempts, excluding those with which he may be confused due to shared symptoms. Among these are urine tests, including urine culture, and ultrasound scans of the entire urinary tract. More targeted, on the other hand, are the tests that identify the presence of ulcers and punctiform hemorrhages, such asurethrocystoscopy under general anesthesia, after distension of the bladder, also functional in the reduction of painful symptoms.
To exclude the possible presence of more serious degenerations, it is possible to subject patients tohistological examination. In this way it is also possible to determine the progression of inflammation of the inner wall of the bladder, taking a fragment and analyzing it carefully through targeted observation methods.
Interstitial cystitis, how to treat it
A rather tenacious pathology, the treatments to eliminate interstitial cystitis act on several fronts, treating the inflammation and at the same time limiting the symptoms. Between medications most used there are those administered for orally, capable of acting directly on the damaged bladder mucosa. To these, then, are also added anti-inflammatory and analgesics to combat pain, as well as antidepressants for the patient’s mental well-being.
Those are often added to oral therapies intravesical, capable of decreasing the intensity of pain; the most used are solutions of glycosaminoglycans, based on hyaluronic acid or chondroitin sulfate. To assign a therapy adequate, doctors emphasize the importance of one early diagnosis; only in this way is it possible to act quickly on interstitial cystitis and avoid irreversible damage to the mucosa present on the walls of the bladder.
It is not to be underestimated, then, the diet. It is important to keep away spicy foods or rich in potassium, guilty of affecting the irritation already present. Smoking and alcohol must also be banned. To loosen it stress it is correct to rely on relaxation exercises as well as strengthening the pelvic muscles, including Kegel exercises; maintaining a correct psychophysical balance, in fact, helps to focus on the search for mental positivity, avoiding that negative thoughts can make living with the disease more difficult.