| If you fall
under any of the following you may want to seek
specialized reproductive assistance:
Regular unprotected intercourse with no pregnancy
for a year
Trying to conceive for at least 6 months when
35 years of age or older
Irregular or difficult menstrual cycles
A history of pelvic pain, infections, uterine
fibroids, cysts, endometriosis
Abdominal or reproductive surgery
Two or more miscarriages
Male problems that may alert you to a problem
may include:
Low sperm count, motility, morphology
Prostatitis, urinary infections
Reproductive surgery
Methods of Impregnation:
The following is a list, from preferred to less
preferred, of methods of impregnation:Sexual intercourse
Artificial insemination
Fresh sperm preferred over frozen
Intra Uterine Insemination: If after 6 months
of no results with Artificial Insemination, the
problem may lie with the sperm. Check the possibility
of using fresh sperm: there may be a difference
as great as 40-50%.
For a variety of reasons, predominately social
and environmental, concerns surrounding the difficulty
in conceiving have risen in recent years. Many
women and couples are seeking the assistance of
reproductive endocrinologists. This is encouraged.
Additionally, acupuncture and traditional oriental
herbal medicine have had many years of success
in assisting fertility. Current studies in the
US and Europe are yielding very promising results
(see the article following: "Acupuncture
Has Fertility Boosting Benefits"). There
is also much anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness
of acupuncture and herbal medicine in the enhancement
of fertility.
Regardless of the method of impregnation, or
the imbalance/pathology involved (with the exception
of a complete lack of eggs or tubal blockage due
to large fibroids), acupuncture and oriental herbal
medicine can significantly improve the chances
of conception. Whether in conjunction with Western
medicine or by itself, Traditional Chinese Medicine
can appreciably enhance fertility.
How Can Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal
Medicine Help?
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine incorporate
thousands of years of clinical study, observation,
and treatment of difficult conception. In the
last 30 years with the introduction of Traditional
Chinese Medicine into Europe and North America,
we have seen an exponential increase in interest
and studies pointing to the efficacy of this medicine
in treating a variety of imbalances/illnesses
ranging from depression to chronic and acute pain
to infertility.
In brief, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine
can help improve fertility in a number of ways:
Improve the function of the ovaries to produce
better quality eggs
Regulate the hormones to produce a larger number
of follicles
Increase blood flow to the uterus; increase the
thickness of the uterine lining
Decrease stress
Prevent the uterus from contracting
Strengthen the immune system
Improve the volume, count, motility and morphology
of the semen
Decrease the chance of miscarriage
Acupuncture Has Fertility Boosting Benefits
New York, NY (April 29, 2003)—Physician-scientists
at the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility
(CRMI) at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center
call for a definitive study of acupuncture as
a fertility treatment, citing its numerous, promising
benefits associated with increasing fertility.
An article in a recent issue of Fertility and
Sterility—co-authored by Dr. Zev Rosenwaks,
Dr. Pak H. Chung, and Dr. Raymond Chang of Weill
Cornell—provides a summary of current research
that supports acupuncture's potential benefits
for fertility treatment, including the stimulation
of increased uterine blood flow and fertility
hormones.
"Acupuncture, which is nontoxic and relatively
affordable, holds much promise as a complementary
or alternative fertility treatment," said
Dr. Raymond Chang of New York Weill Cornell Medical
Center.
"Yet, while there are a great number of
biological explanations for acupuncture's benefit
to fertility, as well as significant anecdotal
evidence, there has yet to be a definitive clinical
study," added Dr. Rosenwaks, Director of
CRMI.
"One of the biggest obstacles to any study
of acupuncture is a single standard of care,"
said Dr. Pak H Chung. "Only appropriate training
and certification of acupuncture practitioners
by state agencies can facilitate the integration
of acupuncture into the treatment of female infertility,
and health care in general."
The lead review article reports that acupuncture
treatment has the following potential fertility-boosting
benefits:
Increased blood flow to the uterus and therefore
uterine wall thickness, and important marker for
fertility;
Increased endorphin production, which, in turn,
has been shown to effect the release of a gonadotrophin-releasing
hormone (GnRH), a decapeptide involved in regulating
reproduction;
Lower stress hormones responsible for infertility;
Impact on plasma levels of the fertility hormones:
follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing
hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), and Progesterone
(P);
Normalization of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian
axis, a key process in fertility;
A positive effect for women with polycystic ovarian
syndrome, a hormonal imbalance present in three
percent of adolescents and adults.
Acupuncture is the manipulation of thin metallic
needles inserted into anatomically defined locations
on the body to affect bodily functions. These
so-called acupoints correspond to areas on the
surface of the body that have been shown to have
greater electrical conductance do to the presence
of a higher density of gap junctions along cell
borders. A greater metabolic rate, temperature,
and calcium ion concentration are also observed
at these points."Look for an acupuncturist
with formal training and experience in the treatment
. About Lisa Ma
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