Tuesday 20 November 2012

Acupuncture benefits IVF


Many women turn to acupuncture when trying to conceive and will often use acupuncture as a means to enhance fertility. The research below suggests that acupuncture when used alongside IVF may be beneficial

Results from a meta-analysis by Chinese authors indicate that acupuncture, especially around the time of controlled ovarian hyper stimulation, can improve pregnancy outcomes in women undergoing IVF. The paper also suggests that more positive IVF outcomes can be expected if treatment is individualised to each patient. Twenty-three trials (a total of 5598 participants) were included in the analysis, including nine studies that had not been included in previous systematic reviews of acupuncture for IVF. The pooled clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) from all acupuncture groups was found to be significantly higher than that from all control groups, whereas the live birth rate (LBR) was not significantly different between the two groups. However, the results were quite distinct when the effect of the type of control procedure used and/or the timing of acupuncture treatment were examined in a sensitivity analysis. (The role of acupuncture in assisted reproductive technology. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:543924. Epub 2012 Jul 2).




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