Traditional medicine scorned by experts

Couples who turn to acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to boost their chances of having a baby are wasting their time, say experts.

New guidelines from the British Fertility Society (BFS), which represents fertility clinics, said there was "currently no evidence" that the complementary treatments could improve the success of assisted conception.

They also found nothing to support the use of Chinese herbal remedies to help women get pregnant.

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Leeds fertility specialist Professor Adam Balen, who chairs the BFS Policy and Practice Committee, said: "Following a thorough analysis of the evidence, the British Fertility Society concludes that there is currently no evidence that acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine, when used in conjunction with assisted fertility treatment, have any beneficial effect on live birth rate, pregnancy rate or miscarriage rate.

"Patients should be made aware of this fact before commencing treatment."

The advice followed a systematic review of all reliable published trials looking at acupuncture administered at the same time as fertility treatment.

Information was gathered from studies involving 2,670 patients.

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Acupuncture is an ancient form of Chinese medicine in which fine needles are inserted into the skin and are claimed alter energy flows in the body.

The authors of the study could find no published randomised controlled trials on the effectiveness of using Chinese herbal medicines in conjunction with IVF treatment and concluded there was no evidence to support their use.

The review, led by Ying Cheong from Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, is published today in the BFS journal Human Fertility.

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