Infertility And Traditional Chinese Medicine

How Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs Are Helping Couples Get Pregnant

Nov 1, 2008

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs are helping couples achieve pregnancy, both naturally and with in vitro fertilization, in Western practices.

Infertility is a condition that affected 2.1 million women in 2002 according to the U.S. National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). And today’s couples are seeking out more choices to integrate Western and Eastern medicines for the best outcomes.

In her book Acupuncture and IVF [Blue Poppy Press, 2004 ISBN 1891845241], Dr. Lifang Liang writes “Chinese medicine can help to improve the success rate of IVF,” through an improvement of the functioning of the ovaries, making “better quality eggs” and decreasing the “chances of miscarriage.” Dr Liang also notes in her chapter on Chinese Medical Preparation Before In Vitro Fertilization: Females, that in her clinical experience they estimate “Chinese medicine can help the ovaries at least double the number of follicles as well as significantly enhance the embryo’s quality and quantity.”

Jane Lyttleton’s book Treatment of Infertility with Chinese Medicine [Churchill Livingstone 2004, ISBN 044306640x] notes “the key to the popularity of Chinese medicine is its effectiveness, its ability to restore the normal functioning of the human body”

Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners see infertility very differently from the Western medicine perspective. In Randine Lewis’ book The Infertility Cure [Little, Brown and Company, 2004, ISBN 031615921] she shares a dialogue with one of her patients, “ 'Many hormonal problems occur because of slight imbalances in the endocrine system, altering the way the body produces hormones,” I told her. “Modern Western diagnostic techniques may not detect any abnormality, but even a slight aberration can throw the entire system off so it no longer functions smoothly.' "

Traditional Chinese Medicine Alongside Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART)

A recent review of previous acupuncture studies was published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [2008 Oct 8;(4):DC006920]. This study reviewed randomized controlled trials of acupuncture used with assisted conception. The authors, Cheong YC, Hung Yu Ng E, and Ledger WL, concluded that Acupuncture was most effective when performed the day of embryo transfer (ET).

Traditional Chinese Medicine As a Standalone Treatment for Infertility

A 1997 student by the Institute of Chinese Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel concluded that patients with a low fertility potential due to reduced sperm activity may benefit from acupuncture treatment [Effect of Acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from subfertility related to low sperm quality, Archives of Andrology 1997 Sep-Oct;39(2):155-61].

“Infertility can be physically, emotionally and financially trying for couples,” notes Kate Ruma, a Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist with a private practice in Arlington, Massachusetts. “Acupuncture is a very safe route for couples trying to conceive naturally, it is hormone-free, can be more cost-effective than assisted reproductive therapy (ART) and is a very personalized treatment based on the patient’s constitution.”

Ruma uses a series of testing methods to diagnose and treat with Traditional Chinese Medicine, “a thorough health history is taken and a patient’s tongue and pulse are assessed.” In her Arlington practice, acupuncture and herbal treatments may be used as a standalone treatment for couples trying to conceive or offered alongside assisted reproductive technologies to enhance their effectiveness.