What are some risk factors for IC?
There are no specific behaviors or exposures (such as smoking) known to increase a person’s risk for getting IC. Symptoms may be triggered by a a bladder infection, and often symptoms can persist even after the infection is treated. The tendency to get IC may be influenced by a person’s genes, and so having a blood relative with IC may increase the risk of getting IC yourself. About 90 percent of people diagnosed with IC are women,which suggests that being female may increase the risk of getting IC. However, the difference in rates of IC for men vs. women may not really be as high as we think, because some men diagnosed with “prostatitis” or similar conditions with different labels may really have IC.
