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Fertility & Acupuncture
Chinese Medicine Increases the Effectiveness of
Assisted Reproductive Technology
Treating infertility with Chinese medicine has been recorded in ancient
texts going back thousands of years. Western medicine, on the other hand,
has been treating disease for only a couple hundred years and reproductive
medicine is one of our newest sciences. Over the last five years some
conclusions have been made regarding using acupuncture in conjunction
with assisted reproductive technology. These reports come directly out
of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s Fertility & Sterility
Journal:
- TCM improves the fertilization rate in fresh cycles of
IVF/ICSI.
- Implantation and “take-home baby” rates were
significantly higher with electro-acupuncture than without.
| In 2002, the American Society for Reproductive
Medicine reported that in a study of 114 women
who were receiving in-vitro fertilization (IVF),
half were given acupuncture before and after the embryo
transfer while the other half received IVF only. The
outcome was impressive; of the women who received IVF
and acupuncture, 51 percent became pregnant as opposed
to 36 percent of those who received IVF only. In addition,
the miscarriage rate in the acupuncture
group was only 8 percent as opposed to 20 percent in
the control group. |
- The results of this study support the significance of acupuncture
for the outcome of IVF/ICSI.
- Acupuncture on the day of ET significantly improves the
reproductive outcome of IVF/ICSI, compared with no acupuncture.
- Significant increases in pregnancy outcomes
were confirmed by this study and the data uniquely supported
the advantage of acupuncture in patients with normal pelvic
blood flow.
- Acupuncture seems to be a powerful tool to improve pregnancy
rate in assisted reproduction therapy (ART).
- Conception and implantation rates were highest with traditional
needle acupuncture. IVF treatment outcomes did not differ between
patients treated with laser or sham laser acupuncture.
- Our study shows a significantly lower amount of gonadotropins
used when IVF is combined with standard acupuncture. A
70% pregnancy rate was also achieved with standard acupuncture
and IVF, compared to 25%.
- Preliminary data shows a statistically significant improvement
in the biochemical pregnancy rate with acupuncture treatment. Additionally,
acupuncture was associated with a strong trend towards higher
clinical pregnancy rates and take home baby rates.
Herbal
Therapies 'Can Help Boost Fertility' Experts Cite Benefits of
Alternative Treatments
Alternative therapies such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine
can be crucial tools for childless couples, according to fertility
experts who gathered last night for an event to mark the 30th anniversary
of IVF.
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Your path to radiant health...
from motherhood to menopause.
Lorraine Harris's Asheville acupuncture clinic is conveniently
located in South Asheville. Ms. Harris is a licensed acupuncturist
and Chinese herbalist and Nationally Board Certified Practitioner of
Chinese Medicine. She is the only fertility specialist in Western North Carolina
(WNC) offering The Fertile Soul Method™ and Mei Zen™ facial
rejuvenation program.
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