TCM to Treat Infertility

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) suggests that there are three main causes of infertility: deficiency syndrome, stagnancy syndrome and heat syndrome.

According to Dr. Subhuti Dharmananda from the Institute for Traditional Medicine, the deficiency syndrome prevents the hormonal system from properly influencing the sexual and reproductive functions.

The stagnancy syndrome prevents the sexual and reproductive organs from functioning despite normal hormone levels and a normal ability to respond to hormones. This has the impact of restricting circulation to tissues.

The heat syndrome may be associated with an infection or inflammatory process. It can produce abnormal semen quality leading to male infertility, while gynecologic infections can maintain female infertility by blocking the passages, altering the mucous membrane conditions or influencing the local temperature.

All three syndromes can be treated with Chinese herbs, acupuncture or a combination of both. These traditional Chinese approaches can also, and are often, combined with Western medicine in treating infertility.

Evidence of using herbs to treat infertility dates back to around 2,000 years ago. With the cultural importance of family, it is no wonder that TCM has been used to treat infertility for thousands of years.

TCM practitioners treat infertility by getting to the deeper, underlying root of the problem, instead of treating the most apparent problem. Like and architect, TCM practitioners believe that the foundation is most important in a “home” or body. Therefore, they strive to balance the “foundation” of the body. Once the foundation of the body is healthy and qi (life energy) flows freely throughout the body, the body should be able to correct the problem of infertility on its own.

In China, the use of herbs have generally taken three to six months to restore fertility, according to Chinese clinical studies. Japan’s treatment times tend to be longer on average, six to 15 months, due to doctors giving lower dosages of herbs and because they are restricted to using a smaller variety of herbs. The U.S. is generally in between at about six to 12 months; it has nearly the full range of Chinese materials, but it generally gives smaller doses.

Acupuncture is another effective way of restoring fertility. It can be used as a complementary treatment with Chinese herbs, Western medicine or both.

Acupuncture helps qi flow through the body along pathways, also known as meridians. It aims to balance this flow by stimulating points along the meridians with thin needles. Acupuncture aids in blood flow to the reproductive organs and stabilizes hormone levels. This will increase ovarian function in women and sperm production in men.

A German study published in 2002 showed that acupuncture may be helpful to couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Of 80 women in the study who underwent IVF and received acupuncture, 34 women got pregnant. Of another 80 women who only received IVF without acupuncture treatment, only 21 women became pregnant. A later American study revealed similar results, showing that 51 percent of the women who had both acupuncture and IVF treatments became pregnant, while only 36 percent of the women who only received IVF treatment without acupuncture became pregnant.

Acupuncture also helps with men’s sperm count and sperm quality. In a study published in Fertility and Sterility in 2005, men who received acupuncture had fewer structural defects in sperm and an increase in the number of normal sperm than men who received no acupuncture.

If the herbal and acupuncture treatments succeed, not only will there be restored fertility in the patient, but he or she should feel better as a whole, because the TCM practitioner would have created balance throughout the entire body.

From www.pacificcollege.edu

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Increasing numbers of research studies in medical journals are demonstrating that impressive results are achieved when acupuncture is combined with Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). A landmark study published in the Fertility and Sterility journal (April 2002) caught the attention of many reproductive specialists. It showed that women undergoing embryo transfer (performed with in-vitro fertilization) who received acupuncture had a 42.5% success rate, compared with the 26.3% success rate of those who did not get acupuncture.

Another study involving 225 IVF/ISCI patients found that real acupuncture (performed according to the principles of Oriental medicine) during the luteal-phase of the cycle (the 12 to 14 days following ovulation) more than doubled both the clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates, as compared to placebo acupuncture: 33.6% vs. 15.6% in clinical pregnancy rates, and 28.4% vs. 13.8% in ongoing pregnancy rates. The researchers concluded that real acupuncture during the luteal-phase has a positive effect on the outcome of IVF/ICSI.

A third study involving acupuncture with 273 IVF patients discovered that acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer (with treatment performed both before and after the transfer) increased the clinical pregnancy rates from 26% to 39%, and the ongoing pregnancy rates from 22% to 36%. The researchers’ conclusion was that “acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer significantly improves the reproduction outcome of IVF, compared with no acupuncture.”

Acupuncture has been treating infertility without ART therapies for over 3000 years. Consider that throughout history in Chinese culture the inability to have a child, especially a son, was considered the worst kind of tragedy. When infertility afflicted a couple, there was a lot of motivation for Chinese physicians to develop effective treatments.
Only recently has Western science begun to conduct studies on acupuncture for infertility:

One study compared women with endocrine dysfunctional infertility: one group was put on the drug clomiphene (Clomid) and the other was treated with acupuncture. The result was 45% pregnancy rate in the Clomid group, and 65% in the acupuncture group, concluding that “acupuncture can cure endocrine dysfunctional infertility.”

Other studies show that acupuncture has been found to stimulate ovulation, reduce the impedance of blood flow to the uterus, normalize dysfunction of the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis, and treat endocrine dysfunctional infertility.

And, last, but not least, there are numerous studies citing the benefits of acupuncture for male factor infertility. Acupuncture increases the number and ratio of normal-form sperm; significantly decreases the number of anti-sperm antibodies (AsAb) in male immune infertility, and increases the quick sperm motility.

Why does acupuncture and Oriental Medicine work for infertility? From a Western medicine point of view, physician-scientists at Cornell Medical Center report that acupuncture increases the blood flow to the uterus; it increases endorphin levels, which in turn effects the release of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone involved in regulating reproduction; it lowers the stress hormones that can be responsible for infertility; it impacts the plasma levels of the fertility hormones; it normalizes the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, which is essential for proper hormonal balance; and it positively effects women with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

From an Oriental Medicine viewpoint, acupuncture is effective for infertility because it helps to relieve stress, correct imbalances and ensure proper communication in the body. It increases the circulation of energy and blood to the necessary organs and glands, so that they are stronger, work better, and communicate with each other more completely.

Recommended Acupuncture Treatment Protocol:
In general, I recommend acupuncture treatments weekly for 4-6 weeks followed by twice monthly, combined with Chinese herbs, until pregnancy. For those patients whose MD’s have requested that they not take herbs during their ART, I recommend once or twice weekly acupuncture treatments. These protocols are the same for both men and women.

For best chances of success with ART, acupuncture treatment should begin 3 months prior to any major procedure. If this schedule is not possible for you, aim to get treatments for as many weeks as possible before the procedure begins.

What to expect from Acupuncture for Infertility:
In my clinic, I have found that acupuncture can:
1. Regulate menstrual cycles: Often infertility is associated with irregular menstrual cycles or endometriosis. With acupuncture and herbs I have seen women without regular periods start cycling regularly again, women with heavy bleeding normalize, and partial and complete recoveries from endometriosis.

2. Increase ovulation rates: Related to irregular menstruation, some infertility patients simply are not ovulating regularly. With only acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, one specific patient has been ovulating consistently for 7 months, after more than 12 years of negative ovulation readings!

3. Increase the number and quality of eggs that are ovulated: After 2 months of acupuncture, one IVF patient produced 15 healthy eggs that were extracted; that is nearly double her first IVF cycle, without acupuncture, when she produced 8 healthy eggs.

Another patient, with a history of repeated miscarriages, was told by her infertility specialist that she could never use her own eggs to have a baby. It was his professional opinion that her eggs were too poor quality for her to get pregnant naturally and keep the child; she would have to do IVF with donor eggs. After 3 months of acupuncture and herbal medicine, she became pregnant naturally, and, at the time of this writing, is due to give birth in 2 weeks.

4. Increase the chances of implantation: Acupuncture helps to relax the uterus, so that implantation is more likely. Often, in IVF, the embryo transfer process stimulates uterine contractions, which can make implantation difficult. This is why studies find that acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer increases success rates significantly.

5. Increase the chances of a healthy, full-term pregnancy: Continued acupuncture treatment for at least the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is highly recommended to decrease chances of miscarriage (Berkley). It’s also useful for morning sickness, fatigue and mood swings.

for the complete article and references go to [url]http://www.acupuncturebydawn.com/files/Acupuncture_for_Infertility.pdf[/url]
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Dawn Balusik, AP, DOM, LMT
www.AcupunctureByDawn.com