Women's Health

Acupuncture for Stress Reduction

The use of acupuncture for reducing anxiety and stress possibly through its sympathoinhibitory property and impact on ß-endorphin levels has been reviewed (67, 68), and the efficacy of acupuncture in depression has also been studied (69). Because the pharmacological side effects of anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs on infertility treatment outcome are largely unknown, acupuncture may provide an excellent alternative for stress reduction in women undergoing infertility treatment.

Acupuncture can help Poor Responders

Factors that demonstrated significance were: Length of time infertile, Peak FSH, PI for total group without MRW; PI for MRW groups reversed this (Table 2) and finally average: Sperm Morphology, Peak E2, Peak P4 prior to HcG: and endometrial thickness. PR before Wilcox ranking were the same: 40% v 38%. MRW analysis revealed FSH, Length of time trying to get pregnant, Sperm Morphology and E2 levels as significant: 6.5, 4.1, 4.0 and 1.6 respectively. When the Ac group was modified (15 Ac patient dropped), PI was elevated from 1.76 to 1.94 resulting in a significant elevation compared to the Non-Ac group, p < 0.01. Also PR changed from 40% before to 53% after and this value was significantly greater than the Non-Ac group (38%), p < 0.01. Conclusions: Significant increases in pregnancy outcomes were con- firmed by this study and the data uniquely supported the advantage of acupuncture in patients with normal PI (prior studies were done on patient with PI > 3). We also demonstrated that both acupuncture treatment protocols could be used together with a synergistic effect. Finally, this study is the first to demonstrate that the use of acupuncture in patients with poor prognoses (elevated Peak FSH, longer history of infertility, poor sperm morphology) can achieve similar pregnancy rates to normal prognosis patients.

Reduction of blood flow impedance in the uterine arteries of infertile women with electro-acupuncture

Elisabet Stener-Victorin[1.4], Urban Waldenström[2], Sven A. Andersson[3] and Matts Wikland[2] [1]Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology [2]Fertility Centre Scandinavia. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and [3]Department of Physiology University of Gothenburg. S-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden [4]To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Kvinnokliniken Sahlgrensh sjukhuset, S- 413 45 Golhenburg, Sweden Source: European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology

Successful in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer demand optimal endometrial receptivity at the time of implantation.

These findings suggest that a series of EA( electro –acupuncture) treatments increases the uterine artery blood flow. Another effect observed in this study was the signifieantly inereased STFH(skin temperature forehead) during the EA treatments.

Acupuncture Treatment For Infertile Women Undergoing Intracytoplasmic Sperm injection Sandra L. Emmons, MD Phillip Patton, MD Source: Medical Acupuncture, A Journal For Physicians By Physicians Spring / Summer 2000- Volume 12 / Number 2 “Aurum Nostrum Non Est Aurum Vulg

The use of acupuncture to stimulate follicle development in women undergoing in vitro fertilization.

RESULTS  None of the women achieved pregnancy during the non-acupuncture cycles. Three of the women (patients 1-3) clearly recruited more follicles with acupuncture than prior to acupuncture. For the 3 who responded, the mean number of follicles with acupuncture was 11.3 vs 3.9 prior to acupuncture (P=.005). All 3 achieved chemical pregnancy, but only 1 continued the pregnancy past the 1st trimester.

On average, significantly more follicles were recruited with acupuncture than without