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IC and Pneumonia: Are the 2 linked???
A friend emailed this to me (Dede I think it was you!) I thought it was interesting as I know my nephew walked around with pneumonia and didn't even know it...Perhps this was the case for some of us. Maybe for some of us, this is where our IC began. Personally I think mine is could be bacterially realted but for the msot part I think mine is nerve damage related.
But I encourage anyone to read this. It really was worth it!
y. [img]smile.gif[/img]
[quote]By Colette Bouchez
HealthScoutNews Reporter
FRIDAY, June 1 (HealthScoutNews) -- New
evidence has linked a specific type of pneumonia
with a baffling form of urinary inflammation that
affects only women.
In a small but significant study, doctors at
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine found a
peculiarly high incidence of the microorganism
Chlamydia pneumoniae in the urine and
bladders of women who suffer from a chronic,
extremely painful urinary tract condition called
interstitial cystitis (IC). Doctors don't know either
the cause of the disease or its cure.
"We are trying hard not to take enormous leaps of
faiths here and just look at the information that we
have, but that information does suggest a
correlation between C. pneumoniae infection and
interstitial cystitis," says study author Dr. Jenny J.
Franke, an assistant professor of urologic surgery
at Vanderbilt.
Despite the research, however, other medical
professionals don't think the link exists.
"It would be nice if that's what it is, and then we
could get somewhere. But I have a feeling it's not
going to be repeated," says Dr. Suzanne ****, a
urologist and IC specialist at New York
Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
IC is a condition marked by urinary frequency,
urgency and, most prominently, inflammation that
causes extreme pain every time the bladder fills.
The premise for the study came about when
research at numerous medical centers -- including
not only Vanderbilt, but also Johns Hopkins and
the Mayo Clinic -- began noting that C.
pneumoniae was being diagnosed in patients
who had other unexplainable inflammatory
conditions, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid
arthritis and even coronary artery disease.
"We began to suspect that it might be behind the
inflammation seen in IC, as well," says Franke.
A newly discovered organism that was isolated in
1988, C. pneumoniae is a cousin to the sexually
transmitted bug that results in the infection
chlamydia. But unlike the sexually transmitted form,
which resides primarily in the genital tract, C.
pneumoniae is usually present only in the lungs.
An infection begins the same way as other forms of
pneumonia -- by breathing in the germs that linger
in the air after someone infected with the disease
coughs.
But how does it get from the lungs to the bladder?
"Our hypothesis is that it enters the lung, causing
an inflammatory response there first," says Franke.
From there it invades certain immune cells, where
it lies dormant until those cells are called upon to
fight inflammation elsewhere in the body. When
those cells rush to the site of an inflammation, they
carry along the C. pneumoniae organism. If the
area of inflammation happens to be in or near the
bladder, researchers believe C. pneumoniae
organisms can once again be activated, causing
the syndrome known as IC.
"The [immune] cells can rush to the pelvis after a
simple urinary tract infection or even after a
hysterectomy -- the infection is essentially
transported to whatever area the white blood cells
are called to," says Franke. Often, IC appears to
develop after some trauma to the urogenital
system, like an infection or surgery.
Completing the circle, say researchers, is a genetic
susceptibility or congenital weakness in the
bladder that allows the C. pneumoniae to take
hold and, eventually, cause IC.
The research involved only 23 women: 17 had
been diagnosed with IC, six had no urinary tract
problems. Testing for C. pneumoniae, doctors
found more than 80 percent of the patients with IC
were positive, compared to only one woman in the
control group.
Taking the study one step further, the women
underwent bladder biopsies to check for the
organism in tissue cells. The result: the numbers
were virtually identical.
"We now need to look further into the possibility
that this organism either causes IC or is very
intimately involved in the patho-physiology of the
disease. And we need to see if symptoms improve
after appropriate therapy, and if the organisms are
eradicated," says Franke.
That therapy, she adds, is likely to include
long-term use of antibiotics -- a regimen that many
doctors now believe is what is needed to fully
eradicate C. pneumoniae in the lungs.
****, however, is doubtful this approach will help
women with IC.
"There have been other studies with IC patients on
long-term antibiotic treatments, and it hasn't
worked. I remain hopeful, but very, very skeptical,"
she says.
What To Do
Although doctors are encouraged by the findings,
no one is prepared to advocate long-term antibiotic
therapy for IC patients just yet. However, if you
have been diagnosed with IC and can recall
having had a pneumonia-type illness months -- or
even years -- before developing your urinary
symptoms, you might want to talk to your doctor
about urine testing for the C. pneumoniae
organism.
<hr></blockquote>
But I encourage anyone to read this. It really was worth it!
y. [img]smile.gif[/img]
[quote]By Colette Bouchez
HealthScoutNews Reporter
FRIDAY, June 1 (HealthScoutNews) -- New
evidence has linked a specific type of pneumonia
with a baffling form of urinary inflammation that
affects only women.
In a small but significant study, doctors at
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine found a
peculiarly high incidence of the microorganism
Chlamydia pneumoniae in the urine and
bladders of women who suffer from a chronic,
extremely painful urinary tract condition called
interstitial cystitis (IC). Doctors don't know either
the cause of the disease or its cure.
"We are trying hard not to take enormous leaps of
faiths here and just look at the information that we
have, but that information does suggest a
correlation between C. pneumoniae infection and
interstitial cystitis," says study author Dr. Jenny J.
Franke, an assistant professor of urologic surgery
at Vanderbilt.
Despite the research, however, other medical
professionals don't think the link exists.
"It would be nice if that's what it is, and then we
could get somewhere. But I have a feeling it's not
going to be repeated," says Dr. Suzanne ****, a
urologist and IC specialist at New York
Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
IC is a condition marked by urinary frequency,
urgency and, most prominently, inflammation that
causes extreme pain every time the bladder fills.
The premise for the study came about when
research at numerous medical centers -- including
not only Vanderbilt, but also Johns Hopkins and
the Mayo Clinic -- began noting that C.
pneumoniae was being diagnosed in patients
who had other unexplainable inflammatory
conditions, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid
arthritis and even coronary artery disease.
"We began to suspect that it might be behind the
inflammation seen in IC, as well," says Franke.
A newly discovered organism that was isolated in
1988, C. pneumoniae is a cousin to the sexually
transmitted bug that results in the infection
chlamydia. But unlike the sexually transmitted form,
which resides primarily in the genital tract, C.
pneumoniae is usually present only in the lungs.
An infection begins the same way as other forms of
pneumonia -- by breathing in the germs that linger
in the air after someone infected with the disease
coughs.
But how does it get from the lungs to the bladder?
"Our hypothesis is that it enters the lung, causing
an inflammatory response there first," says Franke.
From there it invades certain immune cells, where
it lies dormant until those cells are called upon to
fight inflammation elsewhere in the body. When
those cells rush to the site of an inflammation, they
carry along the C. pneumoniae organism. If the
area of inflammation happens to be in or near the
bladder, researchers believe C. pneumoniae
organisms can once again be activated, causing
the syndrome known as IC.
"The [immune] cells can rush to the pelvis after a
simple urinary tract infection or even after a
hysterectomy -- the infection is essentially
transported to whatever area the white blood cells
are called to," says Franke. Often, IC appears to
develop after some trauma to the urogenital
system, like an infection or surgery.
Completing the circle, say researchers, is a genetic
susceptibility or congenital weakness in the
bladder that allows the C. pneumoniae to take
hold and, eventually, cause IC.
The research involved only 23 women: 17 had
been diagnosed with IC, six had no urinary tract
problems. Testing for C. pneumoniae, doctors
found more than 80 percent of the patients with IC
were positive, compared to only one woman in the
control group.
Taking the study one step further, the women
underwent bladder biopsies to check for the
organism in tissue cells. The result: the numbers
were virtually identical.
"We now need to look further into the possibility
that this organism either causes IC or is very
intimately involved in the patho-physiology of the
disease. And we need to see if symptoms improve
after appropriate therapy, and if the organisms are
eradicated," says Franke.
That therapy, she adds, is likely to include
long-term use of antibiotics -- a regimen that many
doctors now believe is what is needed to fully
eradicate C. pneumoniae in the lungs.
****, however, is doubtful this approach will help
women with IC.
"There have been other studies with IC patients on
long-term antibiotic treatments, and it hasn't
worked. I remain hopeful, but very, very skeptical,"
she says.
What To Do
Although doctors are encouraged by the findings,
no one is prepared to advocate long-term antibiotic
therapy for IC patients just yet. However, if you
have been diagnosed with IC and can recall
having had a pneumonia-type illness months -- or
even years -- before developing your urinary
symptoms, you might want to talk to your doctor
about urine testing for the C. pneumoniae
organism.
<hr></blockquote>
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