The Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Treatment of Female Infertility
Feng J, Wang J, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Jia L, Zhang D, Zhang J, Han Y, Luo S · JAMA Oncology · 2021 April 23
DOI https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6634309
Objective
To clarify CAM effectiveness, safety, and mechanism, this paper systematically reviewed the literature about its treatment of female infertility collected from PubMed and CNKI databases and mainly introduced acupuncture, moxibustion, and oral Chinese herbal medicine. In addition, we also briefly summarized psychological intervention, biosimilar electrical stimulation, homeopathy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, etc.
Conclusions
Many patients and doctors are not satisfied with the efficacy of the conventional treatment. CAM, widely accepted as adjuvant therapy for infertility in many Western countries, has met a medical need in the infertile population. However, its effectiveness and safety are still controversial.
Critical Appraisal
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Related insights
- Traditional Chinese medicinal practices like acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbal remedies show therapeutic effects on infertility caused by endometrial factors.
- Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) shows promise as a more effective acupuncture type for improving pregnancy outcomes in patients with poor ovarian response.
- Acupuncture as a supplementary treatment during embryo transfer appears to enhance pregnancy outcomes, endometrial receptivity, and psychological well-being for patients struggling with recurrent implantation failure.
- Acupuncture increases the high-quality embryo rate, live birth rate, and clinical pregnancy rate while reducing the duration and dose of gonadotropin in PCOS patients undergoing in-vitro fertilisation.
- Acupuncture appears to improve clinical outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing fertility treatments, such as in-vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
- Acupuncture is found to considerably improve reproductive outcomes in women with diminished ovarian reserve undergoing fertility treatments.
- Acupuncture has shown to be an effective complementary therapy in improving embryo quality during in vitro fertilization, especially when used in personalized treatment regimens.
- Acupuncture, when used alongside assisted reproductive technology, may enhance clinical pregnancy and implantation rates.
