Acupuncture May Increase Likelihood of Conception
February 14, 2008 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
New research indicates that acupuncture performed immediately before or after embryo implantation may improve a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant. More than 1,300 women enrolled in seven studies in four countries and three continents were analyzed. They were undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF), and were assigned to receive either IVF alone, IVF with real acupuncture, or IVF with fake acupuncture.
Individually, only three of the studies found acupuncture beneficial, three found a trend toward benefit and one found no benefit. When results of these smaller studies were pooled, researchers found that the odds of conceiving went up about 65% for women given acupuncture.
Experts warn against focusing on that number, because this type of analysis with pooled results is not proof that acupuncture helps at all, let alone by how much. IVF results in pregnancy about 35% of the time. Adding acupuncture might boost that to around 45%, the researchers said. (source)
Would you try acupuncture to increase your chances of conception? Why or why not? Leave a comment.
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Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King
Tags: womens health, woman, health, pregnancy, conception, fertility, in vitro fertilization, IVF, acupuncture, alternative medicine
