attilio
07.09.2007, 09:24 AM
Hi all,
http://keyetv.com/local/local_story_248185706.html
An increasing number of western studies say acupuncture for fertility has validity.
But how well does it really work?
Lying on this acupuncture table, 8-months pregnant, is the happy ending for 36-year-old Christy Martin.
But it was two and a half years of trying before she came to this point. First there were three rounds of hormone shots.
“You have so much hope that this is the month. Then it doesn’t happen. And that's a big let down,” Martin said.
But the biggest let down came next.
“They told me to go and see a fertility specialist who told me that the only way I could have a child was to do a donor egg because my ovaries were done,” Martin said.
Martin turned to Chinese medicine. She had acupuncture treatments two times a week for five months and took herbs daily.
And then to her disbelief, a positive result on a home pregnancy test.
“I had to go look at the test the second time because I couldn’t believe that other line was finally there,” Martin said.
“The goal is to try to improve blood flow to the uterus and improve blood flow to the ovaries,” said acupuncturist Kirsten Karchmer, with the Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture.
Needles are placed in specific points to treat blood flow, stress, induce ovulation, or improve egg quality.
The treatment is increasingly gaining acceptance by mainstream doctors.
“I think, for select populations of patients, this may be terrific and may be a great adjunct,” said Dr. Kaylen Silverberg, medical director of the Texas Fertility Center. “But to look at it as the panacea, I think, would be a big mistake.”
But Karchmer says most of her patients under 43-years-old, including Martin, become pregnant.
http://keyetv.com/local/local_story_248185706.html
An increasing number of western studies say acupuncture for fertility has validity.
But how well does it really work?
Lying on this acupuncture table, 8-months pregnant, is the happy ending for 36-year-old Christy Martin.
But it was two and a half years of trying before she came to this point. First there were three rounds of hormone shots.
“You have so much hope that this is the month. Then it doesn’t happen. And that's a big let down,” Martin said.
But the biggest let down came next.
“They told me to go and see a fertility specialist who told me that the only way I could have a child was to do a donor egg because my ovaries were done,” Martin said.
Martin turned to Chinese medicine. She had acupuncture treatments two times a week for five months and took herbs daily.
And then to her disbelief, a positive result on a home pregnancy test.
“I had to go look at the test the second time because I couldn’t believe that other line was finally there,” Martin said.
“The goal is to try to improve blood flow to the uterus and improve blood flow to the ovaries,” said acupuncturist Kirsten Karchmer, with the Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture.
Needles are placed in specific points to treat blood flow, stress, induce ovulation, or improve egg quality.
The treatment is increasingly gaining acceptance by mainstream doctors.
“I think, for select populations of patients, this may be terrific and may be a great adjunct,” said Dr. Kaylen Silverberg, medical director of the Texas Fertility Center. “But to look at it as the panacea, I think, would be a big mistake.”
But Karchmer says most of her patients under 43-years-old, including Martin, become pregnant.