Q: Do complementary therapies hamper IVF?

A: A recent study carried out by Cardiff University has found that women who combine complementary therapy with IVF treatment are 30% less likely to fall pregnant than those who undergo IVF alone.

While this headline-making statement implies that complementary therapy somehow interferes with the IVF process, this does not mean couples should not seek help from complementary therapies during fertility treatments. Apart from the fact that numerous studies indicate potential benefits there could also be alternate explanations for these findings.

Of the 818 Danish women who took part in the Cardiff study almost 1/3 undertook some form of complementary therapy along with their IVF treatment; with reflexology and nutritional supplements being the most popular. It was found that these women had more fertility treatment and a lower rate of pregnancy than those who used no form of complementary medicine at all. However, the research also found that those who complemented IVF with alternative therapies had experienced more medical fertility intervention prior to the start of the study and were also significantly more stressed about the IVF process and its possible outcomes.

It is indeed possible that the findings of the study simply show that the women who were having more trouble conceiving prior to the cycles of IVF started to become more stressed about their fertility and looked to complementary therapies as traditional methods alone did not seem to be working.

It is also possible that the elevated levels of stress reported by those who chose to use a form of complementary medicine were responsible for their inability to conceive successfully and as a consequence drove them to use alternative treatments in an attempt to relax and facilitate the process.

While it is unlikely that physical therapies such as reflexology interfere with IVF, previous research has found that some herbal supplements such as St john’s wort, Echinacea and ginkgo biloba may have an adverse effect on fertility so this could all help to explain the findings.

Finally, the Cardiff University research is preliminary and there are plans to monitor the women over a 5 year period. Until we know more, complementary therapies during fertility treatment should not be abandoned – there is too much evidence of their beneficial efforts.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Alternative therapies, Ask Marilyn, Fertility. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.