In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an option for couples unable to have a child in the conventional fashion, but that doesn’t mean IVF is always successful. While IVF can lead to a pregnancy, it is estimated that success rates are well below 50% globally. There are also risks associated with the procedure, including miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, among others. Thus, rates of fertilization and rates of live births may differ.
New research suggests acupuncture can help women undergoing IVF become pregnant and deliver a child – at higher rates than women not receiving acupuncture. In the review study, published in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, researchers analyzed 25 trials involving 4,757 total patients. Pregnancy outcomes evaluated in the studies were clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate.
Findings from the analysis showed that the pooled clinical pregnancy rate of all acupuncture groups was significantly higher than control groups (43.6% vs. 33.2%), while the pooled live birth rate was likewise significantly higher in acupuncture vs. control groups (38.0% vs. 28.7%).
According to the review authors, “Different acupuncture methods (manual acupuncture, electrical acupuncture and transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation), acupuncture time (before or during the time of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and around the time of embryo transfer), and acupuncture courses (at least 4 sessions and less than 4 sessions) have respectively positive effects on IVF outcomes.”
Source: Xu M, Zhu M, Zheng C. Effects of acupuncture on pregnancy outcomes in women undergoing in vitro fertilization: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet, 2023 July 12 (online ahead of print).
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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