Chinese Herbal Medicine Improves Pregnancy Rates
Posted by Admin
A recent study from the Adelaide University, Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine in the Management of Female Infertility: A Systematic Review, found that “Chinese herbal therapy improved pregnancy rates as much as 2-fold in just a 4-month period in comparison with Western Medical fertility drug therapy or IVF.”
The research reviewed 30 earlier studies of over 1800 women with infertility and found that “Chinese Medicine achieved, on average, a 60% pregnancy rate over 4 months compared with 30% achieved with standard western drug treatment, or IVF over 12 months.”
The study also found that the same improvement in pregnancy rates was true when Chinese herbal medicine was used alone or in conjunction with Western drugs or IVF.
Chinese medicine has been treating Gynecology and fertility for thousands of years and has traditionally relied on all modalities of the medicine with an emphasis on acupuncture and herbal medicine.
In the west we are most familiar with acupuncture as a therapy but Chinese medicine encompasses acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage, nutritional therapy and meditation (mind-body) exercises.
Some therapies are emphasized more than others depending on the patient’s presentation and what is going on with them at the time of treatment.
Here at our clinic we like to use herbal medicine as much as possible because it helps regulate the menstrual cycle and the endocrine system in a way that acupuncture alone cannot. Herbs can also help the quality of eggs and benefits the endometrial lining. It is also important in treating women with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), endometriosis, amenorrhea and unexplained infertility.
We use a dispensary here in Edmonton that carries hundreds of herbs in the Chinese Medicine Materia Medica and thus allows us to take an individualized approach to your health.
