Acupuncture and Fertility: What You Should Know

By Colette Bouchez

If headlines are any indication of what's hot and what's not, it's easy to believe that infertility treatment is strictly a modern day science, made possible solely through the courtesy of high-tech medicine.

But as good as modern science is, many couples trying to get pregnant find themselves turning to an age-old treatment for help -- one so steeped in tradition it's about as far from life in the 21st century as one can get.

That treatment is acupuncture, and today, even high-tech reproductive specialists are looking to the somewhat mysterious world of Chinese medicine to help those fertility patients for whom western science alone is not quite enough.

"Most of our patients are referred to us by reproductive medicine specialists -- they are usually women who have failed one or usually more than one attempt at IVF (in vitro fertilization), and their doctor is looking for something to help implement the success of their treatment, over and above what the protocols alone can accomplish," says Raymond Chang, MD, the medical director of Meridian Medical and a classically trained acupuncturist as well as western-trained medical doctor.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medicine treatment that relies on the painless but strategic placement of tiny needles into a "grid-like" pattern that spans the body, from head to toe. The needles are used to stimulate certain key "energy points" believed to regulate spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical balance. And, for many women, it's often just what the doctor ordered.

"For many women acupuncture will help enhance fertility treatments by helping the body to function more efficiently - it can also work to restore health to many systems in the body with sub-clinical imbalances - meaning, the problem may not necessarily show up on a test, but still it exists and may be interfering with fertility," says Dr. Niels Lauersen, author of The New Fertility Diet Guide: Delicious Food Secrets To Help You Get Pregnant Faster."

Lauersen says it can also be a help to women undergoing IVF treatments. " There is some research to show that it can improve IVF outcomes in some women."

Indeed that is exactly what a group of German researchers found in a study of 160 women, published April 2002 in the reproductive journal Fertility and Sterility. In their research, adding acupuncture to the traditional IVF treatment protocols substantially increased pregnancy success.

In this study one group of 80 patients received two, 25-minute acupuncture treatments -- one prior to having fertilized embryos transferred into their uterus, and one directly afterwards. The second group of 80, who also underwent embryo transfer, received no acupuncture treatments.

The result: While women in both groups got pregnant, the rate was significantly higher in the acupuncture group -- 34 pregnancies, compared with 21 in the women who received IVF alone.

But increasing the odds of IVF is not the only way acupuncture can help. Chang says it can also work to stimulate egg production in women who can't -- or don't want to -- use fertility medications to help them get pregnant.

"When you compare the pregnancy rates for an egg producing drug such as Clomid to acupuncture alone, the rates are equal -- a 50% chance of pregnancy in three months for general patients -- to those not undergoing IVF," says Chang.

Unfortunately, however, Chang says that because acupuncture generally stimulates the growth and release of just one egg, it can't be substituted for fertility drugs used in IVF, since they work to produce the multiple eggs necessary to achieve success with this treatment.

To read more about how acupuncture works to restore fertility click here.

For more helpful tips on how to encourage fertility naturally – and discover delicious foods that can help regulate hormones and help get your ovulation back on track, FertilityDietGuide.com.

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
In addition to US Copyright, the text of this FERTILITY BLOG is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All Formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

When Exercise Can Harm Fertility

By GettingPregnantNow.org

Are you trying to get pregnant? If so, you may want to cut down the amount of time you spend at the gym . That’s the conclusion of a new Norwegian study which found that women who workout too hard or too long may be putting a crimp in their fertility – and making it harder to get pregnant.

The research, conducted on some 3,000 women by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), found that the exercise-fertility link existed even in otherwise healthy women.

The women most likely to be affected: “ Those who trained almost every day. And there were those who trained until they were completely exhausted. Those who did both had the highest risk of infertility,” says researcher Sigridur Lara Gundmundsdottir.

The big surprise: The age of the women affected! Uncharacteristically, it was younger women - those under 30 - that seemed to experience the most exercise-related fertility problems, with risks as high as 3.5 times that of women who did not work out.

Moreover, the links persisted even after contributing factors were considered – including body mass index, smoking, marital status or previous pregnancies.

"When we compared those who trained to exhaustion to those who trained more moderately, we found that the first group had a three-fold greater risk of impaired fertility," says Gudmundsdottir.

Why Exericise Harmed Their Fertility

Although doctors aren’t certain exactly why working out too hard and long impacts fertility, many believe it all has to do with energy. Simply put, when the body is over-taxed , your brain switches to a kind of “energy preserving” mode, selectively shutting down whatever activities are perceived as “immediately unnecessary.”

For women, this can include the hormone functions that orchestrate fertility.

And, in fact, this is exactly what we see often see in female athletes and even dancers, many of whom stop menstruating during periods of hard and long training. When menstruation stops, it’s a signal that ovulation is not occurring – which means that the brain chemistry necessary for reproduction has slowed down or even stopped completely.

Restoring Your Fertility – And Getting Pregnant Fast!

While it’s clear that working out too hard can rob your fertility, the good news is that cutting back can restore it!

"The vast majority of the women in the study had children in the end,” says Gudmundsdottir. And often, all it took was working out a little less! .

Now if you’re thinking that the best way to insure your fertility is to drop that gym membership altogether, well not so fast. Indeed, other studies have shown that getting no exercise at all can be as bad for fertility as exercising too much. Gudmundsdottir also believes moderation is the key.

'We believe it is likely that physical activity at a very high or very low level has a negative effect on fertility, while moderate activity is beneficial," she says.

Getting Pregnant: Every Woman Is Different

While it’s clear that working out to the point of exhaustion is one way to know you have really over done it, in reality, what is considered “too much “ exercise for one woman, can be just an “average amount” for others. So, how do you know what’s too much for you?

Studies show that for most women working out 30 minutes a day, 3 to 5 days a week is a healthy parameter , both for your overall health and your fertility.

That said, if you find that your menstrual cycles are becoming irregular, that ovulation seems to have gone off course, and particularly if your period has stopped completely, then it’s possible you may still be working too hard, for you. If so, cut back and do less at each session – and stop activity before – not after – you feel that sense of “exhaustion”.

If after cutting back for 6 weeks your fertility symptoms persist, talk to your doctor about other possible causes.

For more helpful tips on how to encourage fertility naturally – and discover delicious foods that can help regulate hormones and help get your ovulation back on track, FertilityDietGuide.com.

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
In addition to US Copyright, the text of this FERTILITY BLOG is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All Formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.