Fertility Support In East London
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With over 30 years of research and treatment, you can rely on Prof. Dr. Tianjun Wang.
Several Accreditations
Member of the British Acupuncture Council, Anxiety UK Approved Therapist and more.
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We are covered by AXA, WPA, National Friendly, Simply Health, PHSA, and Aviva Healthcare.
Specialities
Depression relief, brain healthcare, pain management, fertility support and women’s health.
What is Infertility?
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Infertility is the inability of a couple to get pregnant despite having regular unprotected sex. A couple is regarded as infertile if, after regular sexual intercourse, they have not conceived in two years. It is estimated that one in seven UK couples have difficulty conceiving (HFEA, 2006).
Identifiable causes of infertility include: ovulatory disorders in 27% of couples; tubal damage in 14% of couples; low sperm count or low sperm quality in 19% of couples. In 30% of couples the cause of infertility remains unexplained (NCCWCH, 2004).
Female fertility declines with age, but the effect of age on male fertility is less clear (NICE, 2004). The difficulties couples encounter when facing fertility problems can lead to stress, which may further decrease chances of conception (Eugster & Vingerhoets, 1999). Acupuncture is a popular treatment choice for infertility (Smith 2010).
Evidence Based Acupuncture For Infertility
In 2002, a team of German researchers discovered that acupuncture significantly increased the odds of pregnancy among a group of 160 women who were undergoing IVF treatment. Forty-two percent of the women who received acupuncture got pregnant, compared to 26 percent of those who didn't receive the treatment. The researchers speculated that acupuncture helped increase blood flow to the uterus and relax the muscle tissue, giving the embryos a better chance of implanting. Other research does suggest that acupuncture is effective in reducing stress. Since stress has been shown to interfere with getting pregnant, it makes sense that reducing your stress through acupuncture could theoretically improve your odds of conceiving. Some women find acupuncture helpful to cope with the stress they feel about trying to conceive. Acupuncture may also help male infertility. A few studies have shown that regular treatments significantly improve sperm counts and motility (the strength with which the sperm swim).
TJ Acupuncture Clinic with Prof. Dr. Tian-Jun Wang provide comprehensive treatment, acupuncture and herbal medicine, to support infertility, including IVF support, PCOS, and other infertility problems.
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How Acupuncture Can Help Infertility
Random trials in China have demonstrated significantly better pregnancy rates for acupuncture than medication (Yang 2005, Chen 2007, Song 2008), but these studies may not be of a high quality. In the West, clinical trials on acupuncture for natural fertility (i.e. not as an adjunct to assisted conception) are almost non-existent, though there is a small amount of positive evidence (Gerhard 1992, Stener-Victorin 2000, 2008, 2010). Research has established plausible mechanisms to explain how acupuncture may benefit fertility. These include regulating fertility hormones (stress and other factors can disrupt the function of the hypothalamic pituitary-ovarian axis (HPOA), causing hormonal imbalances that can negatively impact fertility). Acupuncture has been shown to affect hormone levels.
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Further details of these processes are emerging, for example mRNA expression of hormones, growth factors and other neuropeptides (He 2009) Increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs can enhance the environment in which ovarian follicles develop. It also increases blood flow to the uterus (Stener-Victorin 1996, Huang 2008), improving the thickness of the endometrial lining and increasing the chances of embryo implantation. It can also help to counteract the effects of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) - PCOS is one of the most common causes of female infertility.
By reducing sympathetic nerve activity and balancing hormone levels, acupuncture has been shown to reduce the number of ovarian cysts, stimulate ovulation, enhance blastocyst implantation and regulate the menstrual cycle in women with PCOS (Stener-Victorin 2000, 2008, 2009, Zhang 2009). It may also help to control secondary effects such as obesity and anorexia (Lim 2010). https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/a-to-z-of-conditions/a-to-z-of-conditions/female-fertility.html