Chinese Herbal Medicine Is Twice As Effective For Infertility As Conventional Western Drug Therapy

(NaturalNews by: Christina Luisa) In a review published in the December issue of the journalComplementary Therapies in Medicine, women receiving Chinese herbal medicine treatments were twice as likely to get pregnant within a four-month period than those receiving conventional Western medical fertility drug treatment or IVF. The findings also suggested that the quality of the menstrual cycle - a key component in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis -- appears to be crucial to the successful treatment of female infertility. Infertility is generally defined as an inability to conceive after a year or more of regular sexual activity without using birth control.

There is a long recorded history of Chinese herbs being used in the treatment of infertility. In fact, records indicating herbal treatment of infertility and miscarriage date back to 200 A.D., including mention of formulas that are still used for those same purposes today. The first book devoted solely to gynecology and obstetrics, "The Complete Book of Effective Prescriptions for Diseases of Women," was published in 1237 A.D.

Alternative TCM treatments have become increasingly popular in Western countries as more and more couples find out firsthand how effective and safe they are. It is with good reason that more than a quarter of the world's population regularly uses Chinese medicine as part of their health care regimen and that TCM is the only form of classical medicine that is regularly used outside of its country of origin.

Study methodology

The study examined abstracts in English of studies investigating infertility, menstrual health and TCM. Researchers then did meta-analyses of (non)randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or cohort studies and compared clinical pregnancy rates achieved with Chinese herbal medicine versus Western medicine drug treatment (IVF). In addition, they collected common TCM pattern diagnosis in infertility in relation to the quality of the menstrual cycle and associated symptoms. Eight RCTs, 13 cohort studies, three case series and six case studies involving a total of 1851 women with infertility were included in the systematic review.

Results

The results showed a 3.5 greater likelihood of achieving a pregnancy with Chinese herbal medicine therapy over a four-month period compared with Western medicine drug therapy alone. Average pregnancy rates were 60 ± 12.5% (60%) for Chinese herbal medicine compared with 32 ± 10% (32%) using Western medicine drug therapy. Meta-analysis of selected cohort studies showed a mean clinical pregnancy rate of 50 percent using TCM compared with 30 percent for IVF.

Why choose TCM over conventional fertility treatments?

While health is said to be the common goal of both TCM as well as conventional medicine, their ideas on the etiology of disease, disease in itself and the process used to recover and maintain wellness are decidedly different. The Western medicine physician learns that disease should be cured by prescribing medicine or using invasive and often dangerous surgical intervention. The physician trained in TCM, however, focuses on healing the patient not by treating the disease but rather by treating the whole person, taking into account the various combined attributes of an individual that account for that individual's state of health. According to the tenets of TCM, a person is much more than their pathology; treating the pathology may produce desired results, yet, they are usually temporary.

For female infertility, the key therapeutic factors in TCM are focused on re-establishing balance and reducing stress while regulating hormones and menstruation. TCM recognizes that many cases of infertility stem from a problem that may be more functional than structural. In contrast, Western medicine treatment techniques like IVF are not only invasive and expensive but are often stressful for the patients, and stress is not conducive to the achievement of a healthy pregnancy.

Fertility management has been extensively studied and well-developed in Chinese medicine. Doctors in modern China have reported up to a 70% success rate in treating both female and male infertility with herbs, and the results of large scale clinical trials are reported in Chinese medical journals. Hundreds of different herbs are used frequently in the treatment of infertility, often given in complex formulas comprised of multiple ingredients. Herbal medicine is often used in combination with acupuncture, massage, diet and lifestyle modifications for treating fertility. TCM fertility techniques are relatively non-invasive and can often offer a better success rate for significantly less cost.

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How Humble Cup Of Coffee Could Prevent Deadly IVF Side-Effect

Published on Thursday 30 September 2010 on The Scotsman

LIFE-THREATENING complication caused by fertility treatment could be prevented by drinking a cup of coffee, new research suggests.

In vitro fertilisation (IVF), which resulted in the world's first "test tube" baby in 1978, is used by thousands of couples every year to help them have a family.

But one complication of the treatment - ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) - can cause serious problems.

Researchers, however, now believe they have found what causes the syndrome, and solving it could be as simple as drinking a strong cup of coffee.

About 5 to 10 per cent of women undergoing IVF experience OHSS.

Although the majority of cases are mild, with symptoms including abdominal bloating, nausea and weight gain, in its most serious form it can cause blood-clotting disorders, kidney damage and chest pain.

Scientists from Middlesex University and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry analysed fluid around human eggs to see if they could find what was causing OHSS.

Writing in the Metabolism Journal, the researchers found surprisingly high levels of a chemical called adenosine.

They believe OHSS is caused when IVF drug stimulation creates high levels of adenosine, causing the blood vessels to dilate and blood fluid to leak into tissue.

The authors of the study said: "Although adenosine has been detected in follicular fluid before, we were surprised at the extremely high levels detected in this study."

They described the chemical as a "significant contender as the molecular cause of OHSS".

To detect adenosine in blood samples, the scientists used a technique called metabolomics, which involves the study of chemical evidence of cellular processes.

The researchers said a solution could lie in caffeine, which acts as a block to adenosine.

Ray Iles, professor of biomedical science at Middlesex University, said: "It may be that a cup of strong coffee with every IVF cycle could reduce the chances of OHSS.

"Caffeine competes with adenosine for the same receptors, effectively blocking adenosine's action, and it could therefore potentially treat the cause of this condition."

Further research is under way at Barts and the London Centre for Reproductive Medicine with IVF patients who have suffered OHSS to find out if caffeine could help avoid the complication.

Susan Seenan, from Infertility Network Scotland, welcomed the findings of the study.

"OHSS can occur as a result of IVF treatment and although most cases are mild, it can be extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant," she said.

"If further studies confirm the findings that caffeine could help women avoid the risks of OHSS it is potentially good news for patients in Scotland who have no choice but to resort to fertility treatment to help them conceive."

Infertility is estimated to affect one in six or seven UK couples - approximately 3.5 million people - at some point.

www.scotsman.com

Breastfeeding Reduces Breast Cancer Risk For Older Moms

(NaturalNews by: David Guitierrez, staff writer) Women can reduce their risk of breast cancer by breast-feeding, even if they have their first child later in life, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles.

Researchers analyzed data on women who had participated in the Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences (CARE) Study, the results of which were published in 2003. In the current study, researchers looked at the data for women over the age of 54, 995 of whom had breast cancer and 1,498 of whom did not. They compared the women's risk of acquiring breast cancer with their history ofbreastfeeding and their age at first birth.

There are 200,000 new cases of breast cancer in the United States every year, and it is the third most common cause of cancer death in the country. There are two main types of breast tumors: those that contain hormone receptors, and those that do not.

Researchers have previously found that having a first child after the age of 25 increases a woman's chance of acquiring hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Among women who have their first child before the age of 25, those who have many children have an even lower breast cancer risk.

In the current study, researchers found that breastfeeding decreased a woman's risk for both receptor-positive and receptor-negative cancers, regardless of the age at which she had her first child.

"As more women may choose to delay pregnancy until after 25, it is important to note that breastfeeding provides protection against both estrogen and progesterone receptor positive and negative tumors," said Giske Ursin, an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California."

"Breastfeeding may have a protective effect that negates the increased risk of breast cancer associated with late pregnancies," Ursin said.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027746_breastfeeding_mothers.html