Effects of acupuncture in women undergoing IVF

31. January 2012
|In Blog
|By Gülden Halis

Effects of acupuncture in women undergoing IVF

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Acupuncture may help some women conceive through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a new analysis of past research concludes. But the true benefit in the real world, if any, remains unclear.

Ten years ago, a study in Germany was the first clinical trial to report that acupuncture seemed to improve pregnancy rates in women undergoing IVF. But since then research has turned up mixed results.

Clinical trials on the issue so far have been small, and often of questionable quality.

So for the new study, reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility, Chinese researchers conducted what’s called a meta-analysis — where researchers combine the results of past studies to try to get an idea of the overall picture.

Dr. Cui Hong Zheng and colleagues at Tongji Medical College pooled the results of 24 small clinical trials testing the effects of acupuncture in women undergoing IVF.

The trials varied widely: Many tested needle acupuncture, some electro-acupuncture and some included laser acupuncture in the mix.

In many trials, IVF patients either received acupuncture or nothing. In others, researchers used a form of “placebo” acupuncture such as applying blunt needles to the skin surface. Some researchers used real needles, but stimulated points not related to fertility, according to traditional medicine.

Zheng’s team found that overall, women who had acupuncture had a slightly higher pregnancy rate than women who did not have the therapy — but no higher birth rate.

Three of those trials also looked at birth rates. Of women who received acupuncture, 35 percent had a baby, compared with 25 percent of women in the control groups.

There’s some evidence that needle stimulation may improve blood flow to the uterus. And researchers are looking at whether acupuncture might make the uterine wall more receptive to the embryo.

SOURCE: Amy Norton, New York from Fertility and Sterility, online January 12, 2012.

 

Dr. Peet, Januar 2012