Australian researchers at Adelaide University have created hope for women suffering from infertility as a recent study sheds new light on effectively treating women with infertility issues with Traditional Chinese Medicine. The research, titled “Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine in the management of female infertility: A systematic review” concluded that using TCM methods improved pregnancy rates as much as 2-fold in just a 4-month period in comparison with Western Medical fertility enhancement drug therapies.
The research, funded by the Australian government, involved reviewing 30 previously conducted studies that included more than 1,800 women with fertility challenges. The likelihood of achieving pregnancy with Chinese herbal medicine was double according to the study authors, “Our meta-analyses suggest Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine to be more effective in the treatment of female infertility achieving on average a 60% pregnancy rate over 4 months compared with 30% achieved with standard western drug treatment, or IVF over 12 months.”
In addition, the Australian study also concluded that the use of specific herbal treatments tailored to treat the individual’s reproductive systems and particular fertility challenges played a crucial role in the success of the treatment. Unlike Western fertility treatments such as IVF (in vitro fertilization), which attempt to increase the chance of pregnancy through implantation, herbal treatments and TCM methods such as acupuncture, aim to balance and heal the body so that it may conceive naturally, without the use of costly and aggressive drugs or implantation.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, every year in the U.S. some 6 million women experience issues with infertility and 2 million couples face fertility challenges.
Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger