VP Foundation Facts

The VP Foundation was incorporated in the United States (North Carolina) as a nonprofit organization in October 1992. It was started to end the isolation of women suffering from vulvar pain and related disorders, and to help them get out of pain safely through current scientific research.

In early 1993, the Foundation instituted a membership program for women, their families, friends, and interested health care professionals. Subsequently, family members, medical doctors, nurses, physical therapists, nutritionists, and other health care professionals joined the VPF, along with thousands of women. In recent years, men experiencing parallel symptoms have also joined the VPF.

The VPF’s immediate purposes in 1993 were to reach large numbers of women suffering with vulvar pain, and to create public awareness of intractable genital pain as much more than a “yeast infection.” During the next sixteen years, over 100,000 people contacted the VPF as a result of publications in Ladies’ Home Journal, New York Times,Women’s Health Digest, The Scientist; broadcasts of the Bertice Berry Show, NBC News; the internet, and more.

From 1992 to 2004, the VPF sponsored 31 Research Seminars throughout the United States, and one in Canada. Nationally recognized researchers, clinicians, and therapists met with 1,787 women, men, spouses, partners, and health care professionals, resulting in recovery for the majority of sufferers.

Since 1993 the Foundation has published 33 issues of The VP Foundation Newsletter. This publication features successful treatments reported by large numbers of people who have recovered. The most successful treatments are a low oxalate diet, calcium citrate, Ox-Absorb, NAG (N-Acetyl-Glucosamine), and HTO (hexadecyl tetradecenoyl octodecanoate), which stabilize connective tissue. They were developed through a major research study sponsored by the VPF.

Physical therapy, especially pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation, topical estrogen, guaifenesin; natural therapies such as emu oil and acupuncture; and stress reduction (yoga, prayer, vacations) have also been helpful.

Based on treatment responses reported by thousands of people, clearly genital (vulvar) pain is associated with a major syndrome that also include muscle (fibromyalgia), urological (interstitial cystitis), and intestinal (irritable bowel) discomfort. All the symptoms respond well to connective tissue stabilization.

For fourteen years the Foundation worked with a renowned biomedical research scientist, Clive C. Solomons, Ph.D., director of Scientific Connections laboratory in Colorado. While conducting a large research study known as The Pain Project, he discovered the connection between periodic hyperoxaluria, connective tissue instability, and pain.

By working closely with over 3,000 study participants for twenty years, Dr. Solomons developed an effective, reliable treatment protocol based on a low oxalate diet (see previous page). He retired in 2006. The VPF continues to build on the knowledge and experience gleaned from his research to guide people to recovery.

The Foundation published the first edition of a milestone resource, The Low Oxalate Cookbook, in 1997. It collected all the information extant on the oxalate content of foods and beverages, primarily from (dated) scientific literature. Nearly 5,000 copies were sold, including over 200 donated to libraries.

In 2002, the Foundation began collaborating with Michael Liebman, Ph.D., Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Wyoming, to assess the oxalate content of over 500 additional foods, beverages, and natural supplements. The resulting data has been reported continuously in The VP Foundation Newsletter and The Low Oxalate Cookbook – Book Two.

Tax deductible donations may be made to The VP Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, for (a) General Support, (b) The Oxalate Testing Fund for Foods, Beverages & Natural Supplements, and (c) General Research Support. For more information, contact the Foundation at Post Office Drawer 177, Graham, North Carolina 27253, USA.