Here is some uplifting news for those on their IVF journeys. It looks like there is still hope after all.
The US and Dutch study, published at BMJ online, looked at the effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation.
Jennie Longbottom, one of a small number of physiotherapists who uses acupuncture to treat women’s fertility problems, welcomed the ‘positive’ findings. She told Frontline: ‘We know that acupuncture has a profound effect.’
Under IVF, a woman’s egg is removed, fertilised in a laboratory and then transferred back into the woman’s womb.
Researchers from the universities of Maryland and Amsterdam studied what happened when acupuncture was given with the embryo transfer.
They reviewed the results from seven clinical trials, involving 1,366 women undergoing IVF.
The trials compared acupuncture, administered within one day of the embryo transfer procedure, with ’sham’ acupuncture or no additional treatment. Acupuncture increased the odds of achieving pregnancy by 65 per cent.
In absolute terms, this meant there would be one extra pregnancy if 10 women undergoing IVF received acupuncture, the study found. However, the researchers said the findings should be regarded as preliminary.
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Thank you for sharing this post. Also, I think most people do not realize that acupuncture can be used as a first approach for infertility. I want to share this because it can be a more cost effective way of initially approaching the frustrations of not being able to conceive.
If a couple is having difficulty conceiving, acupuncture for both the man and woman can help to get each individual’s systems back into balance - this is especially important for regulating a woman’s cycle. It has been witnessed that acupuncture alone can strengthen the body from within so that a woman’s body is more prepared to conceive. Of course, this is why acupuncture works well with IVF, too.
As an acupuncturist, it is amazing to constantly see how acupuncture & Chinese herbal therapy can change lives and this is just another area where Chinese medicine is highly effective - both in naturally aiding conception to occur, as well as to promote a healthy pregnancy. I hope that people begin to realize the strengths of acupuncture and herbs in providing natural therapies for so many different things.
Thanks!
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Posted 18 Jun 2008 at 1:12 pm ¶Post a Comment