Dysfunctional Epithelium
This is an emerging area of research that ties chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain syndrome to interstitial cystitis.
Most patients with interstitial cystitis have urinary epithelial dysfunction, as indicated by a positive intravesical potassium sensitivity test. In a 2002 study Dr Lowell Parsons of UCSD administered the potassium sensitivity test to men with CPPS and found that 84% had positive reactions, a rate almost identical to that reported in patients with interstitial cystitis, suggesting that prostatitis and interstitial cystitis may be a continuum of lower urinary epithelial dysfunction. Dr Parsons suggests reclassifying the prostatitis-interstitial cystitis disease process as lower urinary dysfunctional epithelium.
Dr Parsons maintains that if caught early, good control of symptoms can be achieved with heparinoid therapy (eg. Elmiron). However, Elmiron was found to be no better than placebo in a major study.
