Terry Oldham has been my friend since she first came up to me at conclusion of my presentation at Hoosiers for Health, a conference sponsored by an Indianapolis health food store.
Terry's story is an important one for many reasons, including:
- It shows that IC, like many other health problems that trouble are interrelated and as Indianapolis urologist Phillip Mosbaugh, M.D., and others have pointed out - it's not just a disorder of the bladder.
- It shows that with courage, persistence, prayer, faith and a variety of therapeutic measures, people with IC and other often devastating illnesses can regain their health and their lives.
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| What Can Yeast Infections Lead To |
A CLINICAL STUDY
Possible Yeast Influences in Interstitial Cystitis: A Study by Phillip G. Mosbaugh, M.D.
During the past decade, Dr. Mosbaugh has treated more than 500 IC patients in his urology practice in Indianapolis and served as medical adviser for the Indiana Chapter of the Interstitial Cystitis Associalate followed the treatment of Terry Oldham. He said:
People with interstitial cystitis have multiple symptoms with multiple causes, and multiple therapies are necessary. Also, everybody is different. This makes it difficult to do a single study. A lot of research is going on today, and a number of medical researchers and clinicians are beginning to look at IC as a total body problem and not just one affecting the bladder.
Dr. Mosbaugh's clinical study of IC patients in 1997 and 1998 began with the premise:
The purpose of this study is to explore possible yeast influences affecting the patient's immune system and subsequently resulting in a variety of symptoms, including those leading to the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis. From patient surveys, it is apparent that up to 35% to 40% of IC patients may suffer not only the typical bladder symptoms but also from other problems, including irritable bowel disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, headaches, vulvodynia, muscle and joint pain, irritability and allergic states ...
Each of the 15 IC patients selected for the study gave a history of prolonged antibiotic use, an elevated score on the Yeast Questionnaire (greater than 250 total points), failed conventional IC therapy and prior diagnosis based on standard criteria.
Upon initiation of the study, the patients followed a rigid antifungal diet for six weeks. They also took Omega-3 fatty adds (one tablespoon of flaxseed oil daily), as well as vitamin/mineral complex supplements each day during the duration of the study. After four weeks on the rigid antifungal diet, the antifungal medication, Diflucan, was administered in an initial dose of 400 mgs., followed by 200 mgs., daily for four months. One week after starting Diflucan, a probiotic was begun as a nutritional supplement.
In a February 1998 report on his study, Dr. Mosbaugh said:
There are five patients in this study who have clearly improved, and a sixth patient who was improving and became pregnant. She also had improved. I talked to her a couple of times, and she attributed her improvement to the antifungal medication and diet. These patients felt better, lost weight, vaginal discharge and fibromyalgia symptoms improved, vaginal itching got better.
Another patient with fibromyalgia, irritable bowel and headaches, also got better. These five women all felt there was a definite impact from the treatment program.
You have to realize these people had a lot of things on their plate - bowel problems, joint aches and pains, fatigue, headache and other symptoms. It was a tough group of patients. If we do the study again, maybe we'll look at some of the patients who weren't the worst ones ...
I spoke with Dr. Mosbaugh in March 2002, and he had some more thoughts on the problems of patients with IC that seems to be yeast-connected:
These patients have weakened immune systems - they've gone to the bank one too many times - and they can just never catch up. But the patients who really stick with the comprehensive program can be helped. I've seen several dramatic turnarounds - not just with their bladder symptoms but everything.
Dr. Mosbaugh also provided some hope that there are changing attitudes in the medical establishment, or at least some parts of it:
At some of our national meetings, the leaders in IC are now making comments that some of these patients have a total body problem. Although this may sound like a small statement, I really feel like it's progress, because not too many years ago they were looking at these patient's bladders and not looking at the whole patient.
MY COMMENTS
In my opinion, interstitial cystitis develops from many different causes, just as do many and most of the health problems that I've discussed in this blog. Here are a few of them: endometriosis, vulvodynia, chronic fatigue, PMS, depression and sexual dysfunction.
As pointed out by Dr. Mosbaugh, women with IC, almost without exception, are troubled by symptoms in many other parts of the body. The bottom line: IC is more than a disease of the urinary bladder.
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| What Can Yeast Infections Lead To |
Dr. Mosbaugh's study, along with reports I received from women with interstitial cystitis, shows clearly that:
- In many women, IC is yeast-connected and long-term antifungal therapy may help.
- An appropriate diet is essential.
- Nutritional supplements are important if the person is to obtain optimal results.
- Determination and persistence by both physician and patient are necessary if the treatment program is to succeed.