Research

Acupuncture + Fertility and Pregnancy

FERTILITY

1.IVF + ACUPUNCTURE

  • Manheimer E et al. (2008) Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilization: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. [LINK]

    • A large systematic review of past studies found that acupuncture + IVF increased the odds of clinical pregnancy by 65% compared with just IVF alone.

  • Paulus W et al, (2002). Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy, Fertil Steril Vol 77 721-724 [LINK]

    • 160 patients with good-quality embryos underwent IVF. They were divided into the following two groups through random selection: 1) embryo transfer with acupuncture, and 2)embryo transfer without acupuncture. Acupuncture was performed for 25 minutes before and after embryo transfer. In the control group, embryos were transferred without any supportive therapy. Clinical pregnancies were documented in 42.5% in the acupuncture group, whereas the pregnancy rate was only 26.3% in the control group.

  • Hullender Rubin Lee, et al. (2015) Impact of whole systems traditional Chinese medicine on in vitro fertilization outcomes. Reproductive Biomedicine Online ;pii:S1 472-6483(15)00092. [LINK]

    • In this study, 1231 IVF patient records were assessed and outcomes were compared. They compared IVF with no treatment, IVF with just acupuncture, and IVF with Whole Systems Traditional Chinese Medicine (WS-TCM). (WS-TCM is what is practiced at Blue Ova, and is an intervention of 12 acupuncture sessions before IVF, herbal medicine, diet, and lifestyle recommendations). The primary outcome was live birth. WS-TCM was associated with greater odds of live birth at 61%, compared with IVF alone (48%), or embryo transfer with acupuncture only (51%). WS-TCM was associated with increased live births compared with all groups, in donor and non-donor cycles.

  • Balk J et al, (2010) The relationship between perceived stress, acupuncture, and pregnancy rates among IVF patients: A pilot study, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice; 16,154–157 [LINK]

    • These researchers at a university IVF clinic in Pittsburgh were interested to investigate the relationship between acupuncture, stress, and pregnancy rates. The patients who received acupuncture on the day of the embryo of transfer had a pregnancy rate of 55.6% compared with the control group pregnancy rate of 35.5%

  • Dalton-Brewer N et al (2010). Uses of Acupuncture Before and After Embryo Transfer, Human Fertility, Vol 12 No 4 212 – 255 [LINK]

    • This report describes outcomes for all patients who attended the London Bridge Fertility, Gynecology and Genetics Centre in London over a 2-year period and who had acupuncture. In the acupuncture group, positive pregnancy rates/ET were 44.6% comparing favorably with the non-acupuncture historic control group. When they analyzed outcomes in different age groups they discovered that acupuncture intervention was particularly effective in women in the 35 - 39 and the over 40 group.

  • Sela K. et al. (2011) Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Treatment for Women Undergoing Intrauterine Insemination, European Journal of Integrative Medicine 3(2) pages e77-e81 [LINK]

    • A total of 29 women aged 30–45 years were enrolled in the study. The enrolled women underwent weekly TCM (acupuncture + herbs) in parallel with medical therapy. The historical control group included 94 women aged 28–46 years. Women who combined TCM with the procedures for undergoing IUI had significantly higher pregnancy (65.5%) and birth rates than the control group (39.4%).

2. Natural Conception + ACUPUNCTURE

  • Cochrane, S et al, (2016). Prior to Conception: The Role of an Acupuncture Protocol in Improving Women’s Reproductive Functioning Assessed by a Pilot Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 1-11 doi:10.1155/2016/3587569 [LINK]

    • In this study researchers aimed to explore acupuncture as an opportunity to promote natural fertility by undergoing a course of both acupuncture and lifestyle modifications, when compared to an active control group that underwent lifestyle modification alone. Those receiving the acupuncture conceived within an average of 5.5 weeks compared to 10.67 weeks for the lifestyle-only group. The women who received the acupuncture protocol experienced an increase in their fertility awareness, wellbeing, improved menstrual cycles, and conceived in half the time.

  • Ried K. (2015) Chinese herbal medicine for female infertility: an updated meta-analysis. Complement Therapy Medicine, 23(1):116-28. [LINK]

    • This meta-analysis suggests Chinese herbal medicine improves pregnancy rates two-fold compared to Western medical drug therapy in the treatment of female infertility, boosting pregnancy rates from 30% to 60% over 3—6 months. Diagnosis and treatment of underlying TCM patterns when experiencing infertility may reduce the time and emotional and potential financial burden of those experiencing infertility.

3. Male FERTILITY + Acupuncture

Recent studies have shown that acupuncture can effectively increase sperm production, improve sperm movement (motility, increase the percentage of healthy sperm, improve the levels of hormones responsible for fertility and increase the rate of pregnancy when used in conjunction with ART studies.

  • Pei J et al. (2005) Quantitative evaluation of spermatozoa ultrastructure after acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility. Fertility and Sterility; Jul;84(1):141-7 [LINK]

    • Forty men with at least one of three problems with their sperm were treated with acupuncture twice a week for 5 weeks. A statistically significant increase after acupuncture in the percentage and number of sperm with no structural defects was demonstrated compared to the control group of patients who received no treatment. They concluded that male infertility patients could benefit from having acupuncture.

  • Dieterle et al. (2009) A prospective randomized placebo-controlled study of the effect of acupuncture in infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia.Fertility and Sterility. [LINK]

    • 28 infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia (high percentage of poorly swimming sperm ie poor mobility) received acupuncture according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and 29 infertile patients received placebo acupuncture. The men in the study who received acupuncture had significant improvements in the percentage of sufficiently motile sperm.

  • Gurfinkel E et al. (2003) Effects of acupuncture and moxa treatment in patients with semen abnormalities. Asian J Androl. Dec;5(4):345-8. [LINK]

    • A prospective, controlled and blind study put two randomized groups of infertile men into an acupuncture group and a control group. After 10 treatments, the patients in the acupuncture group demonstrated a significant increase in the percentage of normal forms compared to the control group.

  • Siterman S, Eltes F, Wolfson V, Zabludovsky N, Bartoov B. (1997) Effect of acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from subfertility related to low sperm quality. Arch Androl.;39(2):155-61.[LINK]

    • This study focused specifically on the effectiveness of acupuncture to improve sperm quality in subfertile males. The study concluded that acupuncture may help men diagnosed with infertility due to reduced sperm activity.

PREGNANCY

1.Pre-birth treatments + ACUPUNCTURE

  • Betts D Lenox S (2006). Acupuncture For Prebirth Treatment: An Observational Study of its use in Midwifery practice. Medical Acupuncture. Vo 17 No 3 [LINK]

  • Betts, D (2004). The use of acupuncture as a routine pre-birth treatment, Journal of Chinese Medicine, No.76, [LINK}

2. BreEch Presentation + ACUPUNCTURE AND MOXA

  • Cardini F, Weixin H. (1998). Moxibustion for correction of breech presentation. Journal American Medical Association. 280:1580-1584 [LINK]

  • A 1998 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association gave 130 women moxa-therapy, and the other 130 no treatment. After two weeks of moxa-therapy, 98 children (74.8%) had turned to the right position compared to 62 children (47.7%) in the group without moxa-therapy.

  • A 2003 study published in Fetal Diagnosis & Therapy, treated women during and after the 34th week of pregnancy. 76% of the women treated with moxa found that their babies corrected their positions before delivery. Only 45% of women who were not treated spontaneously corrected.

  • A 2001 study published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine found that starting treatment earlier gave a higher rate of success. 92.5% of the babies turned to the correct position after they were treated with moxa-therapy.

3. Labor + ACUPUNCTURE

  • Gaudernack L, Forbord S, Hole E. (2007). Acupuncture administered after spontaneous rupture of membranes at term significantly reduces the length of birthand use of oxytocin . A randomised controlled trial. Midirs Midwifery Digest. Vol 17,No 2. [LINK]

  • Hantoushzadeh S. Alhusseini N. Lebaschi A. (2007). The effects of Acupuncture during Labour on Nulliparous Women: A Randomised Controlled trial. Australianand New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 47:26-30 [LINK]

  • Lee H, Ernst E. (2004). Acupuncture for Labour Pain Management:A Systematic Review. American Journal of Gynaecology & Obstetrics. 191,1573-9 [LINK]

  • Lim CE, et al. (2009) Effect of acupuncture on induction of labor. J Altern Complement Medicine [LINK]

  • Rabl M, Ahner R, Bitschnau M, Zeisler H, Husslein P. (2001). Acupuncture for cervical ripening and induction of labour at term - a randomised controlled trail. Wien Klin Wochenschr; 113 (23-24): 942-6. [LINK]

4.Nausea & Vomiting + ACUPUNCTURE

  • Habek D, Barbir A Habek J et al (2004). Success of Acupuncture and Acupressure of the Pc 6 Acupoint in the Treatment of Hyperemesis Gravidarum Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Natureheilkd; 11:20-23 [LINK]

  • Smith C, Crowther C, Beilby J. (2002). Acupuncture to treat nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy: a randomized trial. Birth. 29(1):1-9. [LINK]

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