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

New Research – IVF Fertility Success with Electro-Acupuncture

(September 28, 2011)

A randomized placebo-controlled study of 309 women concludes that electro-acupuncture “significantly improved the clinical outcome of ET (embryo transfer).”¹ IVF (in vitro fertilization) live birth rates jumped from 21.2 percent for women who did not use acupuncture to a 42 percent success rate for women who received acupuncture twice. The women received acupuncture 24 hours before the IVF procedure and 30 minutes after IVF. In another control group, women who only received acupuncture once, 30 minutes after IVF, had an increased success rate of 37.3 percent.

IVF is a treatment for infertility. This involves controlling a woman’s ovulatory process with medications, removing the ova (eggs) from the body, fertilizing the ova with sperm outside of the human body and then implanting the fertilized ova (zygote) into the uterus. Acupuncture for the treatment of infertility has received a great deal of press because singers Mariah Carey and Celine Dion used acupuncture with success. Mariah Carey used acupuncture to balance her body after a miscarriage in 2008. Carey said she did not use IVF but used acupuncture for stress relief and hormone therapy to boost her fertility. Celine Dion used acupuncture to achieve success with her 6th attempt at IVF. Both singers gave birth to healthy twins.

References:
Fertility and Sterility. Volume 96, Issue 4, October 2011, Pages 912-916. Increase of success rate for women undergoing embryo transfer by transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study. Rong Zhang Ph.D., Xiao-Jun Feng B.S., Qun Guan B.S., Wei Cui M.S., Ying Zheng M.S., Wei Sun B.S., Ji-Sheng Han M.D.
Research Centers:
Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Health, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Reproductive medical center, The second hospital affiliated to Shandong University of traditional Chinese medicine, Jinan, People's Republic of China.

www.healthcmi.com/index.php/acupuncturist-news-online

In IVF Treatment, Mind/Body Program Increases Pregnancy Rates

There is no doubt that undergoing infertility treatment is stressful, with high rates of anxiety and depression reported by many patients. Mind/body therapies designed to help women reduce stress earlier in the treatment process result in higher pregnancy rates, but little is known specifically about the impact of these therapies on women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

A new study published June 1 in Fertility and Sterility, a publication of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, shows that women who participate in a mind/body program for stress reduction while undergoing IVF treatment have a significantly higher pregnancy rate than those who do not (52% versus 20%).

"The intersection of stress and fertility is a controversial one, but we do know that stress can reduce the probability of conception," said principal investigator Alice Domar, Ph.D, OB/GYN, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Executive Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health at Boston IVF.

In 1987, Domar introduced the Mind/Body Program for Infertility at the BIDMC main campus in Boston, later moving it to Boston IVF in Waltham in 2002. The goal of the program is to help couples learn effective relaxation and stress management strategies while attempting to conceive. The ten week stress management program focuses on "cognitive behavior therapy, relaxation training, negative health behavior modification and social support components."

To study the effects of the Mind/Body Program on IVF pregnancy outcomes, Domar's team approached women who were about to begin treatment at Boston IVF and who met the study criteria: 40 years or under with normal hormonal levels. None of the participants had previously participated in a mind/body group.

Participants were randomized into a study group that entered the Mind/Body Program for Infertility or a control group who received no mind/body intervention. All patients underwent IVF treatment. Domar tracked the groups through two IVF cycles.

In the first cycle, there was no difference in conception rates between the study group and the control group. "We noticed that only half of the study group had begun the Mind/Body Program and those who had started the program were only a couple of sessions in," said Domar. "This seemed to rule out the possibility of a placebo affect. The mere suggestion of help with stress, it seems, does not increase the pregnancy rate."

In the second cycle, the majority of the patients in the study group had at least five sessions under their belts. "By that point, they had acquired some real life skills to deal with their stress," said Domar. "And that's when we saw the significant increase in pregnancy rates."

Domar found that 52 percent of the women participating in the Mind/Body Program for Infertility became pregnant compared with 20 percent of the control group participants, a statistically significant difference.

"The study supports the theory that psychological distress may be an important detriment to IVF outcome," the authors write.

"We worked with a small group, about a 100 women total, so we'll need to continue with a larger group of patients to see if the results bear out," said Domar. "But there is a strong indication that stress levels and IVF outcomes are linked and that intervening with mind/body therapies can help."

The study was funded through a grant by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.

Source:
Kelly Lawman
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/224787.php

Telemedicine Fertility Monitor As Successful As IVF

By Ben Rooney

Getty Images

Close monitoring of core temperature can be more successful than IVF

Shamus Husheer’s opening line as a speaker is guaranteed to get him a laugh: “My name is Shamus Husheer and my job is to get the women of Britain pregnant.”

Behind the laughs, though, Mr. Husheer has developed a technology that is helping thousands of women get pregnant without recourse to drugs or invasive techniques for a fraction of the cost of IVF. In the U.K. a cycle of IVF costs on average some £4,500 ($7,200).

New Zealand born Mr. Husheer, who started his company, Cambridge Temperature Concepts, straight after being awarded a PhD from the chemistry department at Cambridge University says the fertility monitor, called DuoFertility, is as effective as conventional IVF.

“We published a peer-reviewed paper that showed that six months use of the monitor has the same success rate as a round of IVF. ”

They are confident that unpublished research which uses additional data will show that a year of use is better than IVF.

So confident is Mr. Husheer, that the company offers a money-back guarantee. If a woman is not pregnant after 12 month’s use, and has complied with the instructions, then the company will refund the £495.

The medicine underpinning the technology was established in the 1930s and relies on differences in a woman’s body basal temperature (BBT)* at the time of ovulation.

“This change in temperature is only about 0.3ºC measured over the whole month,” said Mr. Husheer. “But a woman’s temperature can change by as much as 2.5ºC a day.” The technology to do that, which is patented, came directly from Mr. Husheer’s PhD in instrumentation, finding signals hidden among very noisy data.

Solving patient compliance

DuoFertility comprises a small sensor, slightly larger in diameter than a €1 coin, which a woman wears under her arm, affixed with medical tape. The sensor, which can take up to 20,000 readings a day, has to be worn all night and preferably during the day as well. It is designed to fit into the natural pocket under the arm.

The monitor has to be synched with the base station which is connected to a PC. The data is then relayed back. From the information it can identify the day of ovulation and suggest the three day fertilization window.

The woman can use the base station to report other things with the temperature data, such as the first day of her menstrual cycle, or report back when intercourse has taken place. It can also be used to report events such as interrupted sleep, which will affect the readings, or if the woman is ill.

“Patient compliance, in other words patients following the courses prescribed for them, is a real issue in healthcare. Because this is a telemedicine device, we can see if the woman has complied.”

The device has been licensed by the British NHS and is undergoing approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The NHS is looking at using the system for the 4,000 patients a year who have unexplained infertility. Since the system is as least as effective as IVF, it means fewer patients need go down the medical route. “From a woman’s perspective, IVF is pretty awful. With us, all they have to do is wear a patch.”

Data capture is transforming business

And in a great example of how data capture is transforming businesses, the monitoring data has proved to be a valued resource for sleep researchers. The monitor contains a three-axis accelerometer which it uses to determine when the woman is asleep which is when the BBT can be established.

“For the first time, we have extensive data on what normal sleep looks like,” said Mr. Husheer. Sleep monitoring is usually done in expensive sleep monitoring stations and typically only for people with sleep problems. His company is working with the NHS to use the monitor in other sleep trials.

Telemedicine has long been hailed as one of the great advances that technology will bring, but has often failed to live up to its promise. Part of the problem, says Mr. Husheer is that the wrong sort of monitoring is attempted. “Typically it has been attempted for cardiac cases, which requires constant 24×7 monitoring. Even now the technology isn’t really up to it.”

Having established the efficacy of their product to detect very small temperature changes, Mr. Husheer says that the medical community is looking closely at using similar technology for post-operative care. “In the U.K. alone there are some nine million operations a year, compared with 35,000 couples looking for fertility treatment.”

Other uses include monitoring infants for sudden infant death syndrome and patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes.

*Body basal temperature

A woman’s BBT patterns consist of two phases during the menstrual cycle, her BBT is lower before ovulation than after. The small increase in BBT, of the order of 0.3ºC occurs within 48 hours of ovulation and will remain elevated until her next period.

However recording BBT has historically been difficult. Traditional methods involve taking an oral, rectal or vaginal measurement at the same time each morning which must be taken on waking. However, even the act of waking or getting out of bed will increase her temperature, leading to inaccuracies in the measurement.

The Wall Street Journal, Tech Europe

What does it mean to be ABORM certified?

A new chapter has opened for me in that I have now become board certified by the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (ABORM). This is a specialty board that qualifies practitioners of Chinese medicine for treating reproductive issues. They are devoted to teaching, research and the practice of Oriental Medicine as it relates to the treatment of reproductive disorders. I devoted a few hours a day for months in advance in preparation for the annual 6 hour exam. This certification has broadened my knowledge of treatments further providing solutions for reproductive challenges. This certification requires me to take continuing education classes in reproductive medicine every year to remain current with the board. This requirement ensures that the Fellows will always be abreast of new Oriental and Western treatments of reproductive disorders.

For more information on the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine visit them at www.aborm.org.