Home

Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Clinics in London and Bath

Chinese herbal medicine doubles IUI outcome

Published On: Thursday, November 13, 2014
Category: Female Infertility

Tradional chinese medicine 'make's fertility treatments more effective'

A team lead by Dr Shahar Levi-Ari from Tel Aviv University compared with the success rates of couples using intrauterine insemination (IUI) both with and without chinese herbal and acupuncture therapies.

IUI involves a laboratory procedure to separate fast moving sperm from sluggish sperm.

The fast moving sperm are then placed back in the woman's womb close to the time of ovulation when the egg is realised from the ovary in the middle of the monthly cycle.

The result, which have been published in the journal of Integrative medicine, show a significant increase in fertility when the therapies are administered side-by-side.

When combining IUI with traditional treatments, 65.5 per cent of the test group were able to conceive, compared with 39.4 per cent of the control group, who received herbal or acupuncture therapy.

The Scientists said the method is as 'close to nature' as possible and be used by women employing sperm donors, or after a partner's sperm is centifuged to enhance its mobility in the uterus.

Dr Levi-Ari said he had long been interested in how Chinese herbal and acupuncture therapies could work to boost Western-style fertility treatments, contributing to an increase of conception and take-home baby rates.

In a retrospective study, his team followed the progress of 29 women between the ages of 30 and 45 who were receiving IUI treatment combined with TCM therapy and compared there results to a control group of 94 women aged between 28 and 46 undergoing IUI treatment alone.

In addition to their IUI treatments, the 29 women received a weekly treatment of acupuncture and a regime of chinese medicinals, which consisted of raw or powdered herbs such as Pheonia Albea and Chuanxiong.

All the herbal preparations were approved by the Isreali Health Ministry.

Out of the 29 women in the test group,65.5 conceived 41.1 delivered healthy babies. In the control group only 39.4 percent conceived and 26.9 delivered.

The Scientist noted, The average age of the women in the study group was 39.4 and in the control group was 37.1. Normally the older the mother, the lower the pregnancy and delivery rates,

There are several theories as to why Chinese medicine can be beneifical to fertility rates, including the possibility that herbal remedies and acupuncture can affect the ovulation and menstrual cycle, enhance blood flow to the uterus, enhance endorphin production and induce calm.

Return to the previous page



Dr Jason Unwin (TCM) MSc

Dr Jason Unwin (TCM) MSc

BMedicine (Beijing University of TCM)
BSc (Middlesex University)
MSc (Westminster University)
MBAcC MRCHM

Read More

A collection of patient testimonials


Belgravia London Clinic

Central Bath Clinic

Make an Appointment

By telephone:

Call Jason: 07985 918237

Book appointment online:

Click here to book


Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine Professional Standards Authority BAcC Member British Holistic Medical Association