Influence of Acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy: Paulus, et.al. Fertility and Sterility Vol: 77, No. 4, APRIL 2002

In this study acupuncture was only given just before and after embryo transfer. The group that got the acupuncture achieved 60 % more pregnancies than did the control group that did not get the acupuncture.

Effect of acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from subfertility related to low sperm quality: Siterman et.al. Arch Androl, 39(2):155-61 1997 Sep-Oct

In this study both sperm quality and quantity were increased by acupuncture.

Effects of acupuncture and moxa treatment in patients with semen abnormalities. Gurfinkel et.al. Asian J Androl. 2003 Dec;5(4):345-8

In this study men receiving acupuncture had significant increases in the percentage of normal-form sperm compared to the control group that did not receive acupuncture.

A Randomized Study Evaluating Acupuncture as an Adjunct to IVF

Rodolfo Quintero, M.D., Wendy Yu, L.Ac., Brandon Horn, L.Ac., J.D., Daoshing Ni, D.O.M., Barry Schifrin, MD., Brian Acacio, M.D.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Glendale Adventist Medical Center (GAMC) and the Eastern Center for Complementary Medicine, Glendale, CA

Conclusions: Our study shows a significantly lower amount of gonadotropins used when IVF is combined with standard acupuncture. A 70% pregnancy rate was also achieved with standard acupuncture and IVF, compared to 25%. Larger prospective trials are necessary.

Acupuncture & IVF Poor Responders: A Cure? P.C. Magarelli,
D.K. Cridennda. Reproductive Medicine & Fertility Center, Colorado Springs, CO

Conclusions: Significant increases in pregnancy outcomes were con-
firmed by this study and the data uniquely supported the advantage of
acupuncture in patients with normal PI. Finally, this study
is the first to demonstrate that the use of acupuncture in patients with poor prognoses (elevated Peak FSH, longer history of infertility, poor sperm morphology) can achieve similar pregnancy rates to normal prognosis patient.

Worrying Doesn’t Help Matters:  Women Who Are Very Concerned About Medical Or Professional Implications Of Their IVF Cases Are Less Likely To Get Pregnant

(Klonoff-Cohen and Natarajan, The Concerns During Assisted Reproductive Technologies (CART) scale and pregnancy outcomes, Fertility and Sterility, Vol.81, No.4, April 2004.)

Researchers at the University of California San Diego found that patients who worry about certain aspects of their assisted reproductive technology cases are likely to produce fewer eggs and have a lesser chance of becoming pregnant than others who are more unconcerned.

In this prospective study, 151 women completed questionnaires at their initial clinic visit and at the time of their IVF or GIFT procedure. The questionnaires, developed from a survey of the scientific literature on stress and IVF, focused on concerns specific to IVF and GIFT- side effects, surgery, anesthesia, pain recovery, finances, missing work, and having a baby.

Women who were concerned about the medical aspects of the procedure had 20% fewer eggs retrieved and 19% fewer eggs fertilized than women who were less inclined to worry about it.  Women who were very concerned about missing work had 30% fewer eggs fertilized.  Those who were very concerned about finances associated with the procedure had a very high risk of not delivering a live infant.  Results were adjusted for different variables that could also play a part in predicting ART success: age, race, smoking, and type of infertility, number of previous attempts to become pregnant, and number of children already born. 

Marian Damewood, MD, President of ASRM, commented,  “While no one has elucidated the physiological relationship between women’s concerns and the outcomes of their ART cases, we know that stress has a number of negative systemic effects.  Worry about missing work and fears surrounding ART medical procedures are definitely stress-inducers.  By the time patients arrive at ART, they’ve been through months or years of diagnosis, treatment and the emotional pain of infertility.  We need to do what we can to alleviate patients’ concerns and make the ART experience easier - giving them more information and creating more scheduling flexibility is a good place to start.” 

Acupuncture and fertility

If you are struggling to conceive naturally, acupuncture can be of great benefit.  Failure to conceive, even after months or years of trying, does not automatically mean complete infertility.  If, and when, a woman conceives depends on a range of factors, both physical and psychological. A woman can experience irregular cycles, pre-menstrual pain, amenorrhea, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Premature Ovarian Failure (POF), endometriosis, fibroids, or hormonal irregularities. These conditions can impede your ability to conceive. Chinese Medicine and acupuncture can restore balance to the system. 

Acupuncture and In Vitro Fertilization

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 9 million American women are currently using Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) services to help them cope with fertility issues. Of available ART services, one of the most widely used is In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF. This consists of harvesting a woman’s eggs and fertilizing them outside her body. The embryo that results from this fertilization is introduced into the woman’s uterus to develop as a normal pregnancy.

In vitro fertilization is used in cases of fallopian tube blockage, low sperm count, abnormal cervical factors, immunologic factors affecting either partner, infertility after tubal surgery, infertility after treatment for endometriosis, and for unexplained infertility. This procedure was first successfully used in the United States in 1981. A widely published recent German study found that using acupuncture with IVF achieved a 42% clinical pregnancy rate compared to only 26% in the control group not receiving acupuncture. When acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are used in conjunction with IVF, clinical experience suggests the pregnancy rate can be raised. To view the study, please visit:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11937123&dopt=Citation


How does Chinese medicine help improve IVF success rates?

- Improves the function of the ovaries to produce better quality eggs.
- Regulates the hormones to produce a larger number of follicles.
- Increases the blood flow to the uterus and increases the thickness of the uterine lining.
- Relaxes the patient and decreases stress.
- Helps prevent uterine contractions.
- Lessens the side effects of the Western drugs used in IVF.
- Strengthens and regulates the patient’s immune system.
- Improves male semen to create better quality and quantity of embryos.
- Decreases the chance of miscarriage.

For best results, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and Chinese dietary and lifestyle therapy, should be used before, during, and after IVF. Chinese medicine can help prepare both partners before IVF to strengthen the function of the ovaries, regulate the immune system, reduce stress, and improve the quantity and quality of sperm and the quality of the seminal fluid. This is accomplished in the female partner by treating any menstrual irregularities, such as amenorrhea, PMS, endometriosis, uterine myomas (a.k.a. fibroids), or heavy bleeding due to lack of ovulation. Such preparatory treatment usually lasts 3-6 months. After successful implantation of the embryo has taken place, Chinese medicine can also be used to help prevent miscarriage.


Acupuncture During Pregnancy

Once a woman has conceived, acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be further used to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Acupuncture can help reduce the symptoms of morning sickness, high blood pressure, fatigue, constipation, pre-eclampsia, stress, anxiety and insomnia. In later stages of pregnancy, acupuncture can turn a breech baby to a normal position, and can be used to induce labor when a woman is past her due date.

• Using a deep pan to boil 8-12 eggs + 3 cups water with high heat for 5-min;
• When the water is bubbling, turn off the heat, then take the eggs out from the water;
• Crack the eggs shell on a hard counter top, leave the shell on the eggs;
• Bring the eggs back into water;
• Add 3 TBSP of soy source + 1 tea bags to the water;
• Boil the eggs with low heat for another 10-min;
• Turn off the heat;
• Pour the eggs and solution in a big container (jar), leave it in the refrigerator;
• 48 hours later, the tea eggs are ready.

Notes: tea egg has aroma of tea and soy sauce, it is a good protein snack on the go.

From Yahoo!HEALTH

Wouldn’t you just love it if your body decided to burn fat and calories on its own?

It can:

1. Exercise in short, intense bursts (interval training) for effective fat burning after exercise.

2. Increase the amount of resistance/strength/weight training you do, to build more lean muscle. Muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving.

And of course, for best results:

3. Chill on the amount of food you are eating.

Technically:

1. Our bodies are built to survive, so when you exercise for long periods of time (often and consistently) your body thinks it needs to hold on to fat for energy. Doing short (12-15 minute), intense exercise sessions builds strength and burns calories, but not fat, so it “feels safe” using fat stores for energy after exercise.

2. Resistance training (using extra weight) helps build lean muscle mass (and strong bones), and muscle burns more calories than fat.

3. If you are obsessing over things like fat grams and not eating a nutritious diet, your body will reserve energy (store fat) to survive.

Realistically:

1. Varying your exercise is the most effective and efficient way to stay lean and healthy. You must do some longer exercise to build cardiovascular endurance, burn lots of calories, and yes, even burn fat during exercise - your body will not click in to “save” mode unless you exercise for long periods of time, regularly and often.

2. You must do resistance training in order to build muscle and strong bones.

3. Nobody wants to exercise more - and we don’t want to train our bodies to need more exercise to stay fit. So exercise efficiently – two short, very intense (relative to your level of fitness) training sessions weekly, like a 15-minute fast run/walk or fast cycling sprint intervals, and two moderately long, moderately intense sessions (30-45 minutes) of strong walking, cycling, or yoga, with one long day (60-90 minutes) of a moderately paced walk/hike. That’s a great five-day/week training schedule.

4. Instead of adding more days to your workout schedule, add a weighted vest to your training. For more information, go to http://www.walkvest.com/.

5. Eat moderately - stop counting fat grams and calories and look at how much food is on your plate! And eat more nutritiously by eating foods that are natural and unprocessed.