Couples Ideal for Acupuncture Fertility Treatment

Those who have structural infertility caused by tubal blockage and those with premature ovarian failure are unlikely to do well with acupuncture alone and may consider using acupuncture only as an adjunct to ART.  Those men with low sperm counts who have a shortage of time (acupuncture and herbs may take three to twelve months, if successful) will also need to consider ART as the primary treatment modality.  Good candidates for acupuncture for infertility include:

• Couples who are having difficulty conceiving but are not ready for ART. Some will conceive using acupuncture and others will move on to ART.
• Women who have done IVF and are taking a break and preparing for another cycle  and are seeking acupuncture to improve their probabilities.
• Women who have done 3 to 5 cycles of IVF without success and women who have been advised not to undergo IVF by their doctor.
• Couples who prefer natural medicine or have concerns about ART and are young enough to undergo the longer preparation period usually required for acupuncture.
• Women going through IVF cycles. By the time you get to retrieval there will be a good chance that your egg, lining and/or sperm quality will be vastly improved thereby improving your chances for a positive outcome.

Remember this: when trying to conceive you need one good egg, one good sperm and a healthy lining. Acupuncture and herbal medicine have been shown through research to positively affect egg, sperm and lining quality.

For more visit  http://www.berkleycenter.com

After treating infertility cases for twenty-one years I've arrived at some conclusions which I'd like to share.

1. A reproductive endocrinologist cannot determine when an embryo is "good".  Embryo grading means nothing unless it's a bad embryo.  Yes, one can visualize a 'bad' embryo, but even with PGD, a 'good' embryo is undeterminable. How many times have you heard about an embryo (blast) which is 'normal' based upon PGD and the cycle fails?  Here's why: embryo grading is only as good as current diagnostic procedures. Perhaps in time, embryo testing will be viable. Yes, PGD can rule out various chromosomal anomalies but that is determining a 'bad' embryo. My point is - if an embryo looks bad, it probably is. If an embryo looks good, it may not be.  This why including acupuncture and herbal -medicine in your reproductive medicine protocol makes sense. Acupuncture and herbal medicine can improve egg quality and embryo quality. There are many studies on the web that are revealing.
2. Endometriosis can still contribute to infertility even after laparoscopy. Why? Because it may not be possible to eradicate all endometriosis due to several reasons.
a. Some endometriotic tissue looks exactly like normal tissue and therefore, the surgeon will not be able to observe this tissue as diseased tissue.
b. Some endometriotic tissue may be on structures which are difficult or dangerous to reach and the surgeon will opt not to try and excise this tissue.
Endometriosis does more than cause tubal pathology; it changes the uterine environment by causing an inflammatory state in the uterus. This is not amenable to facilitating an ongoing implantation. This is why acupuncture and herbal medicine should be included in the reproductive medicine protocol of those trying-to-conceive who have been diagnosed with endometriosis as acupuncture and herbal medicine can reduce inflammation and make the uterus more hospitable to an implanting embryo.
3. PCOS We all think of PCOS as a metabolic-endocrinological disorder whose main deterrent to conception is lack of ovulation. All of this is correct but myopic. Clomid or gonadotropins can cause one to develop mature eggs and other meds are used to actually facilitate ovulation - but that's not enough. Why do many PCOS patients not conceive after several IUI's or even IVF's? Because women with PCOS have excess androgen within the follicular fluid. Androgen is an anti-estrogen and as such causes or can contribute to poor egg quality. This is why PCOS patients have a difficult time conceiving or frequently miscarry. In fact, those with PCOS are twice as likely to miscarry as those in the non-pcos population. Acupuncture and herbal medicine should be included in your reproductive medicine protocol is you have PCOS since we know that these Chinese medicine protocols help clear the ovary and its contents of 'debris' and other pathological substances, i.e. androgen excess.

For more information on how acupuncture and herbal medicine may be of help to you visit our site: http://berkleycenter.com

Treating Infertility with Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine has been used to treat internal disorders including infertility for thousands of years.

               

Practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine rarely use a single herb in treatment. Chinese herbs are formula based; many herbs are mixed together to create the perfect ‘concoction’ specifically designed for the individual patient.

Some formulae contain two herbs and some thirty or more herbs. Each herb has many functions. Each herb has its own flavor, nature, temperature and trophism.  Prescribing the right and the safe herbal medicinals requires training and clinical experience.  Herbal medicine is an extremely complex form of medicine which requires many years of arduous study and clinical experience to master. 

Self medicating with herbal medicine presents a dual dilemma. At best the herbs will be useless, as the key to correct formula prescription is an accurate differential diagnosis which can only be made by a licensed, board certified, experienced practitioner. At the worst case, self prescribing of herbal medicine may prove harmful or fatal.

A good example of this is Ma Huang/Ephedra.  Ma Huang is an herb prescribed on a daily basis by hundreds of TCM practitioners to thousands of patients safely. 

That several people have died as a result of taking Ma Huang has very little to do with the dangerous properties of the herb inasmuch as it has to do with individuals self-medicating.  Aspirin can prove fatal if taken by a hemophiliac.  This is not an indication that Aspirin should be banned or that it is a dangerous drug.   It is totally safe if used appropriately.

Herbal medicine is totally safe if prescribed by a knowledgeable expert. Not only is herbal medicine safe, it is highly effective in treating many pathologies without the concomitant harmful side-effects which often accompany pharmaceutical drugs.   There are greater than one million hospitalizations per year as a result of drug induced side-effects; not so with herbal medicine.

photo via youbeauty.com

Infertility

There are many causes of infertility which include but are not limited to elevated FSH levels, PCOS, endometriosis, luteal phase defect, hyperprolactinemia; pituitary adenoma, blocked tubes, uterine anomalies, sperm anomalies, stress, and, infertility which is diagnosed as idiopathic. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine has, for more than three thousand years, successfully treated infertility; and it still does so today.

Nancy is thirty-nine years old and she wants to compete as an Olympic triathalete; she is five feet in height and weighs three hundred and thirty pounds.  Can she compete?  Let’s see.  She asks her best friend, Alice, for a recommendation for a nutritionist. Alice raves about Teresa J., a fabulous nutritionist who “changed her life”. So Nancy makes an appointment with TJ and has a consultation. Nancy listens attentively to TJ, takes notes and leaves TJ’s office full of enthusiasm, commitment and motivation.

Starting the next day Nancy begins implementing the new dietary regimen which TJ has prescribed.  Next, Nancy joins a local health club, hires a personal trainer and works out three to four days per week.  Finally, Nancy joins a meditation group and meditates daily.

What happened?  In twelve months, Nancy lost one hundred and fifty pounds, put on solid muscle, developed a ‘six-pack’ abdomen and can run twenty-five miles per week. She is in the best condition of her life!  Can she now compete in the Olympics? Well, I’m afraid not. To be an Olympic athlete requires a life-time commitment of training and nutritional guidance.  Nancy has, however, become healthier, stronger and happier than ever before!   What if Nancy wanted to get her reproductive system in Olympic condition? 

The proper life-style counseling which includes nutritional changes and perhaps an exercise routine and acupuncture and herbal medicine can get a women’s reproductive system in the best possible condition that it can be in at the present moment.  Your TCM practitioner should be able not only to treat you with acupuncture and the appropriate herbal formula but should also give you guidance regarding diet, exercise and life-style changes which will positively impact your health.

Many women undergo three to five unsuccessful IVF procedures. Often these procedures are unsuccessful for the same reason that Nancy could not even begin to be athletic – overall poor health and specifically, poor reproductive health. 

Women who are over thirty years old need to get their reproductive system in the best condition possible to achieve pregnancy either naturally or via an A.R.T. procedure.

photo via redbookmag.com

As we grow older our circulation becomes less patent. In addition to the frequent complaint of cold hands and feet, another effect of inhibited blood flow is that the quantity of blood flow to the uterine lining, ovarian tubes and ovaries is less.  Acupuncture and herbal medicine have a stimulatory effect on the blood circulation.  An example of impeded blood circulation is blood clots in the menstruate. Though in and of itself, menstrual clotting may not be an issue, it does indicate a circulatory dysfunction which can be both a manifestation of an illness (circulatory inhibition) and the cause of an illness (blood stagnation [i.e., endometriosis], causing infertility).

Acupuncture and herbal medicine can be an important aspect of one’s healthcare routine, used to assist in achieving the goal of better health in general and better reproductive health in particular.

Under the care of a licensed and board certified acupuncturist/herbalist who is experienced in treating the infertile person there are no negative or dangerous side-effects associated with acupuncture or herbal medicine; there is only upside potential.   Using acupuncture and herbal medicine as part of the regimen to achieve a healthy reproductive system is a fertile idea.

A great embryo - or is it?

There is no way a doctor can determine that an embryo is of good quality with today's diagnostic capabilities. This is why when a doctor says "you have a beautiful embryo and a beautiful lining" these are merely words of encouragement with no substantive clinical value.

The reasoning behind my statement is based on my experience. Thousands of patients have perfect blastocysts transferred and get pregnant and miscarry or don't get pregnant.

Thousands of patients have 5 cell embryos with some percentage of fragmentation manifest and conceive and deilver a healthy child.

Why is this? Probably becuase there are many processes and hormones, chemicals and other biochemical components that need to be in perfect balance before conception will occur.

Most doctors don't want to do embryo transfers on women whose linings are less than 9 mm but there are many documented pregnancies which occur with 5mm linings.

The role of acupuncture and herbal medicine is, essentially, one of balancing, or harmonizing - facilitating a state as close to homeostasis as possible.  This is why when patients include acupuncture and herbal medicine into their IVF embryo transfer protocols success is often found where previous failures were ongoing.

I had a patient today who has had 4 failed IVF cycles. She has been getting acupuncture and I suggested that she take herbs. She informed me that her doctor didn't want her to take herbs; I asked her what her doctor has done for her so far.  She then decided to take herbs.

If IVF were the answer, the success rates would be higher than 25-35%.  If acupuncture and herbal medicine were the answer, there would be no need for IVF. But, when these two modalities are used together, the results are frequently better than that achieved when using one of them alone.

Many doctors don't want their patients to take herbs becasue there hasn't been enough scientific research done on herbal medicine and they don't have proof of it's efficacy.  Do you have proof that God exists? Yet you have faith that he(or she) does. And, interestingly, many doctors and scientists believe in God though there is absolutely no evidence to prove the existance of God. I would say this may represent a double standard in these individuals.

Am I asking too much of my patients to have faith in herbs? After all, there is greater evidence of their efficacy than there is of the existance of God. Herbs have been ingested and have helped heal millions of people for thousands of years. You can see, touch, taste, feel and smell herbs. And you can see their immediate effect. Can you state the same about God?

I think the proof is in the pudding. IVF is only as good as it's positive outcomes and that doesn't mean pregnancies it means take home babies. Until IVF can provide a 100% success rate, patients and doctors alike are foolish to shun herbs.

Want more proof? Just ask any of my success patients about how acupuncture and herbs changed their lives by helping to facilitate an ongoing pregnancy.

I believe in integrative medicine, not egocentric, segrated, fear-based medicine. Isn't interesting how the practice of Western medicine is a microcosm of the world in which we live. Full of in-fighting, and egos, and ignorance?

Chinese medicine is far more inclusive. For example, in China today, most hospitals use both Western and Chinese medicine to treat in-patient and out-patient cases.

In Germany, homeopathy is wide-spread and is used in conjunction with Western traditional medicine. In France, acupuncture has been used for 400 years.

What is wrong with the mind, heart and soul of the American medical instituion?

Did you know that a 10mm lining provides absolutely no assurance of its health nor its ability to recieve and nurture an implanted embryo?  Some 10mm linings are pathologic and some 5mm linings are perfectly physiologic. Did you know that by doing a transvaginal ultra-sound with a color doppler a doctor can determine if there is adequate blood flow to the lining? Did you know that if there is inadequate blood flow to the lining a pregnancy will not occur? Did you know that acupuncture and herbal medicine can greatly increase blood flow to the lining?

I'll leave you with these thoughts for now. Think carefully about what I have written.

Herbs for Fertility

No woman wants to find out that they are going to have problems getting pregnant but every year more and more women find out that this is the case for them. If you are sadly one of those girls you should always remember that there’s hope and because you are having problems doesn’t mean that you can never conceive a kid. There is a lot of female infertility information out there if you just know where to look for it and you may be surprised at what you find out.

There are plenty of ladies who thru using the female infertility information that they find really finish up becoming pregnant later down line. While there are medical treatments available, not many people have any sort of infertility insurance to cover the costs. This implies that a large amount of the money is going to come out of your own pocket which may be anywhere from 5 to 10 thousand greenbacks over the course of a year. For most people, this is a big chunk of money and something that cannot be afforded. If you are one of those people who simply cannot afford the expensive treatments then you could always try your own treatments.

There is a lot of female infertility information out there that shows that you can use some home remedies or herbal mixtures to finally get pregnant. While the medical community hasn’t officially asserted that these work, there are a large amount of folk out there who are converts of it. Start searching the web and you will be surprised at all of the female infertility information that you find. Search blogs and such to see what other ladies in an identical scenario did and how it worked well for them. Something crucial to bear in mind though is that what worked for the girl on the opposite side of the country may not work for you.