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| | New Survey Sheds Light on Mistaken Identities of Interstitial Cystitis |
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date: Aug 22nd 2006 10:05
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Women Often Confuse Painful Symptoms IC Remains Undiagnosed
While bladder conditions rank among the most familiar sensitive women s health issues, according to a new survey released today, interstitial cystitis (or IC), a particularly painful bladder syndrome, is barely recognized among women and often misdiagnosed. Frequently, IC symptoms are mistaken for other better-known urinary or gynecologic conditions. As a result, women can wait up to four years or more to have IC accurately diagnosed.
The face of IC is often hidden because there s little education about IC and its symptoms are commonly associated with more familiar conditions, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), overactive bladder (OAB), and endometriosis, says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., clinical professor or obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine. Clearly, there are women cycling through various diagnoses and treatments, suffering from recurring symptoms for years without relief and finding it very difficult to function well at work or at home.
Research indicates that the number of people who have IC may actually be higher than the current estimate of two million Americans since many people are not appropriately diagnosed and continue to face the daily frustrations associated with IC. IC is a chronic condition where the bladder lining becomes irritated and inflamed causing symptoms such as pain in the pelvis, bladder, back or thighs an increased need to urinate frequently or urgently and/or pain during/after sexual intercourse.
According to an International Communications Research survey of 520 women*, women s knowledge about bladder health is inconsistent and many do not recognize that repeated occurrence of otherwise normal symptoms may indicate an underlying bladder condition. Most women say they are familiar with UTIs and OAB, two conditions whose symptoms – pain, urgency and frequency – overlap with IC. However, almost 80 percent are not at all familiar with IC.
Although respondents claim overall familiarity with UTIs (93 percent), the majority of women (60 percent) do not know that recurrent and unresolved UTIs (more than two in one year) could be a sign of IC.
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article 'New Survey Sheds Light on Mistaken Identities of Interstitial Cystitis' source is Johnson & Johnson, visit source site:
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