Infertility is a common health problem in the United States with approximately 15% of women of childbearing age receiving care for this disorder.  One of the most successful and commonly utilized treatment options is in-vitro fertilization (IVF).  Data collected by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Society for Assisted Reproduction (SART) showed that in the year 2001, over 100,000 IVF treatment cycles were performed through the more than 400 IVF centers in the U.S.  Despite many recent technological advances, pregnancy rates with IVF remain limited with the most recent CDC/SART data reporting that only 27% of treatment cycles result in a live birth.  The impact of these statistics is magnified by the resource intensive nature of IVF  (average cost of treatment is $10,000 per attempt for couples paying out of pocket, though many medical insurance policies provide coverage up to three attempts) and the well-documented negative psychological and emotional issues that accompany treatment.  These factors have combined to driving patients to consider alternative and complementary strategies.

Acupuncture has been utilized in China for centuries to regulate the female reproductive system and has in recent years become a popular option for infertile couples. However, only recently have modern investigational methods been employed to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in treating infertility. Gerhard and Postneek (1992) treated 45 infertile women with luteal insufficiency.  Eleven pregnancies occurred after auricular acupuncture alone compared to 15 pregnancies in a matched control group receiving standard hormone therapy. Chen et al (1997) treated 11 anovulatory patients with electro-acupuncture (EA) and noted that 46% of menstrual cycles that followed were ovulatory.  More recently, Stener-Victorin et al (2000) examined the use of EA for ovulation induction on 24 oligo/amenorrheic women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The percentage of ovulatory cycles in all subjects was shown to improve from 15% to 66% up to three months after treatment. Their result suggested that acupuncture could be considered as an alternative or adjunct to pharmacological ovulation induction in these selected patients with PCOS.

Acupuncture has also been studied in conjunction with IVF treatment. A well-known German study (Paulus et al 2002) randomized 160 IVF patients to either a control group (who received no treatment) or acupuncture therapy that was based on the principles of TCM of relaxing the uterus.  The clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in the acupuncture group (42.5%) than the control group (26.3%).  The University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine and the Maryland Center for Assisted Reproductive Technologies has recently completed a pilot study on the effect of acupuncture on IVF pregnancy. The study utilized 4 acupuncture treatments at the time of pre-ovulation, pre-egg retrieval, pre- and post-embryo transfer. The treatment is designed to complement and maximum the IVF effect. The pilot study has produced a promising result and National Institute of Health recently award a grant to continue the study.  

In addition, protocols have been developed to work with couples undertaking other fertility treatment, such as IUI, or couples prefer natural approach. For more information, please contact Grant Zhang, Ph.D., CMD, L.Ac.