Research shows that IC bladders are affected by menstrual cycle
Story originally posted on December 31, 2005
Researchers at the University of Birmingham (Alabama) recently carried out a psychophysical study between Interstitial Cystitis patients and non-IC volunteers which researched the affects that a woman's menstrual cycle has on her IC. As I IC patients ourselves we have long since know that our monthly ebb and flow of hormones and internal biological processes have played a very real, very direct link on our IC. Yet this is an area that has only just barely begun to be explored in terms of scientific and medical research.
In this small study 15 women (8 “healthy” and 7 IC volunteers) kept track of their daily health as it related to any bladder pain and other body pain, as well as their voiding frequency. Further information was gained through testing (including Cystometrograms) of both thermal and ischemic pain at two stages in the women's monthly cycles.
Results showed (what may appear obvious to those of us live with IC every day) that those with IC reported higher pain scores and had greater levels of frequency through out all stages of their menstrual cycles than those women who did not have IC. Both pain and frequency were reported to be at their highest during the perimenstrual period of the IC patient's cycles.
In conclusion the researchers stated that, “These findings are consistent with clinical lore that suggests a perimenstrual flare in pain in subjects with IC. To our knowledge it also demonstrates for the first time a menstrual cycle effect on bladder sensory function in subjects with IC. This suggests a potential role of gonadal hormones on bladder sensory processing and, therefore, a potential role for hormonal modulation as a therapeutic modality in this patient population.”
Many of us may feel our eyes widen at the use of the word “lore” but try to look beyond that, at the greater good that could come from studies such as this one. The idea of gonadal hormones (hormones including both steroid and peptide which are produced by the brain) playing a role in IC is one that clearly needs to be further investigated. It is no more or less plausible an idea as the possibility of other possible endocrine factors laying at the root of IC. Especially when you pause to consider that the ovaries - which create two key human steroids (progesterone and estradiol) - are an such a main part of the reason that women (and not men) have a menstrual cycle in the first place. One has to wonder as all at the proximity between the bladder itself and the two ovaries. Could that fact alone somehow be a contributing component when it comes to unraveling the reasons behind why our periods tend to make our IC symptoms worse each month.
Information resources:
Menstrual cycle affects bladder pain sensation in subjects with interstitial cystitis: J Urol. 2005 Nov;174(5):1832-6.