Infertility
Published Research
Influence of Acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproductive therapy.
Fertility & Sterility, Vol.77, No.4, April 2002.
This study found that in a group of 160 women – 80 who were treated with acupuncture before and after the embryo transfer phase of IVF had a 15.8% increase in success rate with implantation of the embryo. This is based on the theory that acupuncture relaxes the Central Nervous System and keeps the uterus from contracting during and after the procedure. This significant effect of acupuncture was re-confirmed in 2006 as Fertility & Sterility published two similar studies that showed a 13% and 18% implantation success rate in the acupuncture groups over the control.
Reduction of blood flow impedance in the uterine arteries of infertility women with electro-acupuncture.
Human Reproduction, Vol.11, No.6, 1996.
This study established that local acupuncture with electro-stimulation could normalize the blood flow to the reproductive organs, particularly useful in older women, ‘poor responders’ and women with thin endometrial lining. Treatments were given twice a week for 4 weeks leading up to an IVF cycle and tests revealed that the uterine artery blood flow increased dramatically within this time and led to a thicker endometrial lining in the women. A similar study showed this treatment increased the number of follicles significantly in women who had been labeled ‘poor responders.’ Acupuncture treatment for infertile women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Dr. Sandra L. Emmons, Dr. Phillip Patton, Medical Acupuncture, A Journal for Physicians by Physicians Spring/Summer 2000 Vol.12,No.3
Poor Prognosis: A Cure?
Fertility & Sterility, Vol. 81, Supplement 3, April 2004.
This study combined the first two protocols mentioned here and administered acupuncture to women who were considered poor prognosis- high FSH, low uterine blood flow, etc. The women who received acupuncture were found to then have pregnancy rates equal to that of the good prognosis patients and then they went on to show that the acupuncture group had a higher live birth rate than the good prognosis patients.
Effect of acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from subfertility related to low sperm quality.
Siterman S, Eltes F, Wolfson V, Zabludovsky N, Vartoov B. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel. Archives of Andrology, 1997 Sep-Oct;39(2):155-61
This study reported that after 5 weeks of treatment twice/week, men with considerable sperm impairment had increased their fertility significantly. Improvements were seen in total functional sperm, percentage of viability, total motile spermatozoa and integrity of the axonema. This study confirms that acupuncture can significantly improve sperm motility.
Quantitative evaluation of spermatozoa ultrastructure after acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility.
Jian Pei, Ph.D., Erwin Strehler, M.D., Ulrich Noss, M.D., Markus Abt, Ph.D., Paola Piomboni, Ph.D., Baccio Baccetti, Ph.D., and Karl Sterzik, M.D. Fertility & Sterility 2005;84:141–7.
This study showed that subfertile men who received acupuncture treatments twice/week for 5 weeks had the following results:
- Median percentage and number of healthy sperm in the total ejaculate increased with significant improvements in acrosome and nuclear position and shapes.
- Progressively motile sperm increased from a mean percentage of 44.5% to 50% due to the improvement of axonemal pattern, axonemal shape and accessory fibers.
The significance of this study is that it demonstrates the effects of acupuncture treatment on sperm by pinpointing the molecular changes that take place. Previous studies by the same group showed that acupuncture improves sperm quality, fertilization rate and pregnancy rate in ART.