Acupuncture fails to boost IVF success
While some studies have suggested that acupuncture might boost a woman's chances of becoming pregnant through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), new findings question whether there is a true benefit.
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While some studies have suggested that acupuncture might boost a woman's chances of becoming pregnant through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), new findings question whether there is a true benefit.
Acupuncture has been used for more than 2,000 years in Chinese medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. According to traditional medicine, specific acupuncture points on the skin are connected to internal pathways that conduct energy, or qi ("chee"), and stimulating these points with a fine needle promotes the healthy flow of qi. IVF involves fertilising a woman's eggs in a lab dish, then transferring the resulting embryos to her uterus.
Some past studies have found that acupuncture, performed around the time of the embryo transfer, may boost a woman's chances of becoming pregnant. But it was unclear whether that reflected a true effect of acupuncture or some non-specific effect of having an additional therapy.
To study if acupuncture actually benefits IVF, researchers in Chicago randomly assigned 160 women undergoing IVF at their fertility clinic to one of two treatment groups. In one, women received two sessions of true acupuncture, delivered to points that are connected to fertility, according to traditional Chinese medicine; women in the other group received needle stimulation to body sites not used in acupuncture. In both groups, the sessions were performed right before and after the embryo transfer.
It was found that women who received the sham acupuncture had a higher pregnancy rate - though the difference was not significant in statistical terms.
The researchers concluded that there is no difference in the pregnancy rates with or without acupuncture in women undergoing IVF and that acupuncture is safe for women undergoing embro transfer. They suggested that future studies could compare true acupuncture with "placebo" needles that do not penetrate the skin.
Acupuncture has been used for more than 2,000 years in Chinese medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. According to traditional medicine, specific acupuncture points on the skin are connected to internal pathways that conduct energy, or qi ("chee"), and stimulating these points with a fine needle promotes the healthy flow of qi. IVF involves fertilising a woman's eggs in a lab dish, then transferring the resulting embryos to her uterus.
Some past studies have found that acupuncture, performed around the time of the embryo transfer, may boost a woman's chances of becoming pregnant. But it was unclear whether that reflected a true effect of acupuncture or some non-specific effect of having an additional therapy.
To study if acupuncture actually benefits IVF, researchers in Chicago randomly assigned 160 women undergoing IVF at their fertility clinic to one of two treatment groups. In one, women received two sessions of true acupuncture, delivered to points that are connected to fertility, according to traditional Chinese medicine; women in the other group received needle stimulation to body sites not used in acupuncture. In both groups, the sessions were performed right before and after the embryo transfer.
It was found that women who received the sham acupuncture had a higher pregnancy rate - though the difference was not significant in statistical terms.
The researchers concluded that there is no difference in the pregnancy rates with or without acupuncture in women undergoing IVF and that acupuncture is safe for women undergoing embro transfer. They suggested that future studies could compare true acupuncture with "placebo" needles that do not penetrate the skin.
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