A recent study has found Whole-Systems Acupuncture to improve outcomes for Frozen Embryo Transfer and fresh cycles of IVF or ICSI.
Whole-Systems Acupuncture or Whole-Systems Traditional Chinese Medicine simply means that the acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal medicine provided is tailored to each individual woman, with bespoke lifestyle advice given to enhance treatment and care.
Researchers in a large teaching hospital went back through patient records for nearly 3,000 women over the previous 3-years, comparing those who had Whole-Systems Acupuncture alongside their fertility treatment and those who had IVF and ICSI or Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) alone.
They discovered that those who had Whole-Systems Acupuncture alongside FET (361 versus 1,324 women who had FET alone) were more likely to achieve a successful pregnancy and birth (43% versus 35%).
Surprisingly, they found a smaller difference between those who had Whole-Systems Acupuncture (285 women) alongside fresh IVF or ICSI cycles compared to those who didn’t (786 women), with 40% versus 38% achieving a successful pregnancy and birth, which is perhaps less than we’d predict based on other research in this area. However, the researchers argue that this smaller difference between groups would quickly grow over time to support using Whole-Systems Acupuncture alongside fresh IVF and ICSI cycles, part of the problem being not having enough women in the study to show a more significant difference.
These findings are exciting, first because it is the first study of fertility treatment to look at the impact of Whole-Systems Acupuncture, rather than the over-simplified, one-size-fits-all acupuncture protocols in most clinical trials. And second, because this makes it far more helpful to women thinking about whether or not to have acupuncture alongside fertility treatment, because Whole-Systems Acupuncture is the sort of individualised acupuncture treatment and care women typically receive in normal practice.
I also think it notable that this study has been conducted now, at a moment in time when there is a real shift towards personalised, nuanced medicine. I very much hope to soon see clinical trials that add to our understanding of the ways in which we can use Whole-Systems Acupuncture to support fertility.
If you’d like to know more about Fertility Acupuncture, please do get in touch.
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