Mel C talks Five-Element acupuncture at Kite Clinic

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is a ground-breaking treatment that assists nature in bringing together the egg and the sperm to facilitate conception and pregnancy. Five-Element Acupuncture is a system of medicine that also works with nature. This style of acupuncture does not treat symptoms directly and there are no formulas or set protocols we use when you are going through IVF, instead each treatment is focussed on helping you be as well as possible in the widest sense. By facilitating balance and harmony in you, your body has a much better chance to find its own natural balance so that the internal environment is optimum to create new life. By combining our treatment with IVF, our patients, and some medical consultants, have reported that success rates seem to improve, and not only in creating the most ideal conditions for conception, but also giving the highest possible chance of a problem-free pregnancy. Our goal is always to help people conceive without IVF but where it is necessary the marriage of these two systems appear to have a very positive outcome. We recommend you start having acupuncture treatments around 3 months prior to starting IVF, but where this is not possible treatment can still have a significant effect at any time. The benefits of acupuncture in the preparation for implantation with IVF are, that firstly, acupuncture can help relive the side effects of drugs used in IVF. Through finding the balance with acupuncture that we have previously talked about... the knock on effect of this can help activate the brain to release hormones that will stimulate the ovaries, adrenal glands and other organs that are involved in reproduction. Which is beneficial prior to the collection of eggs for IVF. It will improve blood flow to the uterus. This improved blood flow can help thicken the lining of the uterus, to prepare it for implantation. Thus improving the chances of a full term pregnancy. The Research Recently, (2013) the NHS reported on their knowledge service website, a study of a systematic review. The study was looking at acupuncture treatment alongside IVF. The study was carried out by the University Washington and the University of Amsterdam and was published in the British Medical Journal. A systematic review is the strongest research method because it reduces the possibility that the effects are due to bias or chance.This systematic review of randomized controlled trials, that compared studies of acupuncture given within one day of women receiving IVF compared to no treatment at all. The authors report a 91%success rate The NHS ‘knowledge service’ conclude… ‘results suggest acupuncture with embryo transfer, improves rates of pregnancy and live birth.’ A 2004 study conducted by thein Colorado found that 51% of women who underwent both IVF and acupuncture treatment at the same time became pregnant, while only 36% of those who only underwent IVF did! The latter group also had higher rates of miscarriage and stillbirth compared to those women who had received acupuncture. This landmark study, 'Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy (2002)' was published in a prestigious reproductive medicine journal. The study found that women receiving acupuncture treatment in conjunction with ART had an increase in ongoing pregnancy rates of over 60% compared to control subjects.

Kite Clinic Audut The following statistics were calculated using data from an audit between March 2008 and June 2010. Some of the patients included in the statistics combined acupuncture treatment with IVF, other medical procedures and/or other alternative treatments. The average age of patients included in the audit was 36. 71% of patients that received 11 treatments over a ten month period fell pregnant and of these pregnancies, 78% went on to have a baby. Male Fertility A 2005 study conducted by Shanghai University in China analysed the use of acupuncture to treat male infertility. 40 men with idiopathic sperm were selected, in the sense that the cause of their infertility remains unknown by western medicine: 28 of these had acupuncture twice a week for 5 weeks. While the other 12, the control group had no treatment. The men who had acupuncture, had improved sperm production, motility, structure and development. Women's Health Acupuncture and Infertility Treatment: Is There More to the Outcome for Women than Pregnancy? The qualitative information presented in this review suggests that women find the use of acupuncture empowering, whether or not pregnancy is acheived. This indicates that acupuncture can play an important role in strategies for enhancing women's health.