Infertility
Infertility is defined as the inability of a couple to achieve pregnancy after 1 year of regular, adequate and unprotected sexual intercourse.
In respect to the female partner, infertility can be primary (the female has never achieved pregnancy) or secondary (she has been pregnant before). Both male and female factors can be responsible for inability to conceive. In fact, male and female factors are responsible for 30% of cases each while both partners are responsible for another 30% and in about 10% of cases no cause is found.
Numerous conditions can make a female infertile. These include: blockage of the tubes, lack of development of eggs in the ovary or release of the egg from the ovary into the tubes, hormonal imbalance, etc.
Acupuncture and Fertility
The role of acupuncture in the management of women with infertility has been studied by many researchers.
Electroacupuncture improves ovarian blood flow. A study administered electroacupuncture to infertile women for 4 weeks (2 treatments/week). Blood flow within the uterine arteries (artery to the womb) improved with the effect lasting for up to 14 days after the last treatment.1
Acupuncture increases ovulation frequency, regulates the period and reduces the level of androgens and anti-Mullerian hormone. In a study conducted by Johansson et al., electroacupuncture was found to increase ovulation frequency. Also after 13 weeks of treatment, the level of male sex hormone significantly reduced.2 Similar findings were recorded by Jedel et al., where 84 women with PCOS were either treated with 16 weeks of electroacupuncture, physical exercise or no treatment. The level of male sex hormone significantly reduced in the acupuncture group and menstruation also become more regular.3 Sixteen weeks of electroacupuncture treatment also reduce the level of anti-Mullerian hormone in infertile women.4This hormone is high in women with PCOS and the higher it is, the lower the response of eggs to hormones that allow them to develop
Acupuncture improves IVF success rates. For women going through in vitro fertilization (IVF), the addition whole-systems traditional Chinese medicine (WS-TCM) which includes acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, dietary, lifestyle recommendations to their IVF cycles was associated with significantly more pregnancies and live births.
Sunrise Neuro-Acupuncture Integrative Clinic is an acupuncture and Chinese medicine clinic in Westboro, Ottawa. We provide care for infertility. If you would like to receive more information about this treatment, you can call us at: 613-853-9099
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Reference List
- Stener-Victorin E, Waldenstrom U, Andersson S, Wikland M. Reduction of blood flow impedance in the uterine arteries of infertile women with electro-acupuncture. Human Reproduction. 1996;11(6):1314-1317. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.humrep.a019378.
- Johansson J, Redman L, Veldhuis P et al. Acupuncture for ovulation induction in polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2013;304(9):E934-E943. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00039.2013.
- Jedel E, Labrie F, Oden A et al. Impact of electro-acupuncture and physical exercise on hyperandrogenism and oligo/amenorrhea in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2010;300(1):E37-E45. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00495.2010.
- Leonhardt H, Hellström M, Gull B et al. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone and ovarian morphology assessed by magnetic resonance imaging in response to acupuncture and exercise in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 2015;94(3):279-287. doi:10.1111/aogs.12571.
- Hullender Rubin L, Opsahl M, Wiemer K, Mist S, Caughey A. Impact of whole systems traditional Chinese medicine on in-vitro fertilization outcomes. Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 2015;30(6):602-612. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.02.005.