Whats the worst that could happen after eating a slice of pepperoni pizza?
But for up to a million women in the U.S., enjoying that piece of pizza has painful consequences. They have a chronic bladder condition that causes pelvic pain. Spicy food — as well as citrus, caffeine, tomatoes and alcohol– can cause a flare in their symptoms and intensify the pain. It was thought that the spike in their symptoms was triggered when digesting the foods produced chemicals in the urine that irritated the bladder. However, researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine believe the symptoms — pain and an urgent need to frequently urinate — are actually being provoked by a surprise perpetrator. Applying their recent animal study to humans, the scientists believe the colon, irritated by the spicy food, is to blame. Their idea opens up new treatment possibilities for “painful bladder syndrome,” or interstitial cystitis, a condition that primarily affects women (only 10 percent of sufferers are men.) During a flare up, the pelvic pain is so intense
