CLINICAL EFFICACY OF DIETARY MANIPULATION AS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE THERAPIES ON FEMALE INTERSTITIAL...

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Nutrition Science
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic condition causing bladder pain and urinary urgency.
• Current IC treatments have limitations, necessitating exploration of complementary therapies.
• Dietary factors are suspected to influence IC symptom severity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical efficacy of a structured dietary manipulation (DM) program for female patients with interstitial cystitis (IC).
• To assess the impact of DM on IC symptom indices and quality of life.
• To determine if DM can be a viable, non-invasive treatment for IC.

Main Methods:

• Twenty female IC patients in stable condition participated in a 1-month, 1500 kcal/day dietary intervention.
• The diet restricted common IC triggers like tomatoes, soy, spices, citrus, and acidic substances.
• Symptom severity (OSSI, OSPI, UVAS, PVAS) and quality of life (QOL) were assessed at baseline and 3 months.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in O'Leary-Sant Symptom Index (OSSI) and O'Leary-Sant Problem Index (OSPI).
• Urgency (UVAS) and pain (PVAS) visual analogue scale scores markedly decreased.
• Patient-reported quality of life (QOL) index showed significant improvement.

Conclusions:

• Systematic dietary manipulation (DM) effectively alleviates interstitial cystitis (IC) symptoms.
• DM is a non-invasive and potentially aggressive treatment modality for IC.
• This dietary approach should be more widely considered as part of IC management.