Akupunktur

Acupuncture in the treatment of childlessness

For some years, Danish and foreign hospitals and private fertility clinics have recommended acupuncture in connection with the treatment of childlessness. Several studies and investigations have shown the positive effect of acupuncture treatments, at the least in connection with IVF treatment, and a large Danish investigation is currently under way aimed at shedding more light on the effect of this form of treatment.
A large Danish investigation showed an increased chance of pregnancy and birth in patients who had received acupuncture treatment at approximately the time of ovulation compared with those who did not receive this treatment.

In recent years, several international studies have pointed in the same direction, and the results of a META analysis were published in 2008 consisting of various sub-studies that concluded that the present scientific investigations indicate that acupuncture before and after egg transfer increases the chance of pregnancy and birth in women who are receiving IVF treatment.

The background for this positive effect is believed to be blood circulation, which acupuncture is thought to improve.

Acupuncturists with experience in the area, supported by e.g. a German study, claim that the acupuncture should take place before and immediately after the egg transfer at the fertility clinic. It is also seen as important that an attempt is made to tailor the treatment programme to the individual patient’s situation based on the theory that individually planned treatment improves the effect of the treatment. However, from a scientific point of view, more research of the same kind is needed before it would be possible to definitively establish whether acupuncture given at the time of egg transfer actually increases the chance of pregnancy and birth.

Some studies suggest the effect is greatest in women < 38 but no final scientific evidence is currently available to support this theory, as no scientific research has been carried out concerning the extent to which acupuncture has an effect on insemination treatment or other forms of treatment for childlessness.

Here at the clinic, we recommend that patients receive acupuncture in connection with egg transfer – treatment that is carried out in cooperation with an external nurse, Vibeke Bergfors, a very experienced acupuncture therapist. Vibeke Bergfors can be contacted on tel. +45 44 98 99 22.

vibeke@akupunkturklinikken-bagsvaerd.dk

www.akupunkturklinikken-bagsvaerd.dk