Relationship Between Acupuncture and Fertility

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For those couples having trouble becoming pregnancy, a unique idea of helping them conceive involves sticking needles into the woman's body. Many people think that acupuncture can help them to improve the odds of them getting pregnant. And it seems as though some researchers have begun to agree with this idea.

These days infertility is a problem affecting almost 15% of all women trying to get pregnant are involved in some type of fertility treatment. Ever since the Chinese started using acupuncture centuries ago in order to regulate the female reproductive system, it was inevitable that at some point acupuncture would become one of the possible solutions that researchers looked at in the U.S.

Acupuncture has been practiced for centuries in countries such as China as well as other Eastern countries. In fact, it is one of the oldest alternative healing disciplines in the world. Even though its primary accent is on preventing diseases from occurring, in many cases it is used to effect cures also. The process begins with the acupuncture expert inserting fine needles at specific pressure points throughout the body in an effort to balance and restore the body's life force or energy - also known as Chi.

There have been hundreds of clinical research studies focused on acupuncture in the U.S. These studies have proven capable of reducing certain types of pain as well as treating an assortment of chronic medical problems. In this country, acupuncture is rarely used as the main form of treatment. Instead, it is sometimes relegated as a complementary treatment.

Fertility clinical trials in the United States have primarily focused on the use of acupuncture with in vitro fertilization or IVF. This process involves removing a woman's egg from her uterus and fertilizing it in the laboratory. The egg is then placed back into the womb. The procedure is very expensive and success is not guaranteed. To improve the odds, researchers have studied and experimented with a number of different and outside the mainstream complementary techniques. Acupuncture is one such technique that has shown promise.

So far, in over seven clinical trials involving over 1300 women, acupuncture when used in conjunction with In vitro fertilization has increased pregnancy rates. The why is not precisely known but the theory is that it somehow affects ovulation and fertility through the elevation of beta-endorphin release which helps to improve the release of estrogen and progesterone levels from the ovary. Thus far, the studies show that the odds of a woman conceiving increase approximately 10% if she uses acupuncture as part of the IVF process.

It should be noted, however, that a more recent study led by fertility expert Dr. LaTash Craig at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, has cast a bit of doubt on previous studies. Her study consisted of 46 women and concluded that acupuncture does not increase the odds of conception and in fact may decrease them.

The discrepancies and contradictions in these studies may very well lie in exactly at what point in the IVF process the acupuncture was administered, the skill of the acupuncturist, or some as yet unknown factor. Needless to say, however, this only increases the uncertainty and anxiety of the woman with fertility problems trying to get pregnant.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Please visit our website for more fertility articles on subjects such as acupuncture and male infertility and acupuncture and fertility.

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