From: ((Steven B. Harris))
Subject: Re: Interstitial Cystitis
Date: 18 Apr 1995
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative

In <3muo3k$9lu@dawn.mmm.com> us273532@dawn.mmm.com (ELISA COLLINS)
writes:

>Dr. E. Palermo (drpalerm@hookup.net) wrote:
>> The best natural treatment is to identify foods which are most
>> irritating and avoid them.  The most common offenders are red wine,
>> liquours, chocolates, watermelon, spices .....the list is actually
>> very long.
>
>Diet matters for some IC patients and not for others.  Among the people
>for whom diet matters, there is very wide variation as to which foods
>irritate which people.  The ICA (phone # in US = (212) 979-6057 has a
>pamphlet on diet which has a long list of foods which may be irritating.
>However, you may find that nothing on the list bothers you, or that some
>things not on the list bother you.
>
>Elisa Collins
>ejcollins@mmm.com
>Not speaking for 3M.


Comment: Ms. Collins says quite rightly that not everybody seems to be
diet sensitive, and when they are the foods differ.  However, an
important subset of IC people are apparently being irritated by oxalate
crystals in foods, and should try a low oxalate diet (low leafy
vegetables, low berries, and a long list of other things) as a first
measure.  It also helps to alkalize the urine (I swear this sounds
granola, but does make biochemical sense) by taking calcium citrate
pills with every meal.  These are available over the counter from the
pharmacist.  Your doc may also be able to give you some urine pH testing
strips, and you can keep the urine pH > 7 for a while and see what
happens.

   Also, as somebody mentioned, the "standard" treatment for IC is now
what used to be the "alternative treatment", ie, a 50% DMSO bladder
wash.  Don't let anyone tell you that doctors never adopt non-patentable
or alternative remedies.  We'll use anything that is shown to work.

                                   Steve Harris, M.D.

P.S. Before somebody points out that citric acid is an acid: yes, but
it's metabolised to bicarbonate before excretion.  It does raise the pH
of urine.