ACRM

Part 2 - Acupuncture and Infertility

Part 2 of 2 on Acupuncture and how it  can help in infertility treatment - To read Part 1, click on the archived link to the right of this page.

 

What can I expect from Acupuncture treatment?

Most people report a feeling of relaxation and well-being during and after the treatment.  Studies have shown that conception rates can be improved with the use of acupuncture.  As in any form of healing, a patient's attitude, diet, and lifestyle will affect the outcome of a course of treatment.  The number of treatments you will need will depend on your overall health, your body's response to acupuncture and /or Western reproductive treatments, and the nature and duration of your condition.

Is Acupuncture painful?

Acupuncture needles are very thin and flexible, much smaller thant those used for traditional injections given by your doctor.  In most cases, insertion by a skilled acupuncturist is performed with minimal discomfort.

During acupuncture treatment, patients may feel a sensation called "'arrival of Qi" (deqi).  Patients describe this sensation as a dull ache, distention, pressure, tingling, or warmth.  Acupuncture is a relaxing experience and should any needle cause discomfort, it will be adjusted or removed.

Is Acupuncture safe?

Yes.  When performed by a qualified Licensed Acupuncturist, acupuncture and related techniques have proven to be extremely safe.  Only single-use, sterile, disposable needles are used.  Complications due to acupuncture are very rare; serious side-effects are less than one per 10,000 treatments.

For more about acupuncture and infertility, visit www.acrm.com. 

How does Acupuncture assist with Infertility Treatment?

Part 1 of 2 in a short series on Acupuncture and Infertility....

What is Acupuncture?

Oriental Medicine is the oldest literate medicine in the world, with over 2,500 years of recorded clinical writings.  Acupuncture is an essential part of traditional Chinese medicine.  It is performed by inserting fine, sterile needles at specific points on the body known to treat particular diseases.  Acupuncture subtlety balances the flow of energy in the body, promoting the body's own natural healing power and maintaining or re-establishing physical and emotional health.  The National Institute of Health has found acupuncture to be helpful treating pain and stress-related illnesses, as well as digestive disease, neurological symptoms, endocrine system disorders , menopause symptoms and menstrual problems. 

How may Acupuncture help enhance fertility?

• Increase rates of pregnancy and live births
• Regulate menstrual cycles
• Regulate hormones to help produce a larger number of follicles during IVF stimulation
• Increase blood flow to the reproductive organs and increase the thickness of the uterine lining
• Improve sperm quality and quantity
• Help to relieve the side effects of drugs commonly used during IUI and IVF treatment
• Reduce stress, anxiety and depression, and promote deep relaxation
• Strengthen the immune system
• Reduce risk of early miscarriage
• Help to prevent uterine contractions after embryo transfer

How does Acupuncture work?

The ancient Chinese recognized a vital energy that existed in all life forms and processes.  In Chinese this energy is called "Qi".  In developing an understanding of the prevention and cure of disease, these healing practitioners discovered that this energy flows along specific pathways called channels and collateral (jingluo). Each pathway is associated with a particular physiological system and internal organ.  Disease is believed to arise when an imbalance either deficiency or excess) manifests in the channels and collaterals and/or their related organ systems.

Modern research shows that acupuncture leads to the release of various neurotransmitters and hormones that affect most of the body's systems (central nervous system, digestion, respiratory and cardiovascular systems, etc).  The exact mechanism for this is not yet known, however, we can see the effects:  changes in blood flow, blood pressure, body temperature, inflammation, pain, digestion, reproductive function, and more.  Research has suggested that acupuncture can help to regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, the processing center for the menstrual cycle and ovulation.

Tomorrow...Part 2 of 2 on Acupuncture and Infertility.

 

Free Event: Infertility & Your Options: Tuesday, July 13

Reminder of ACRM's free seminar on Tuesday, July 13 at The Palisades Building, 5909 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd, Suite 720. "Infertility and Your Options" will be presented by Dr. Jim Toner. To learn more and reserve your seat(s), go to www.acrm.com .

Dr. Lisa Hasty recognized by Atlanta Magazine as Top Doc 2010

Please join ACRM in congratulating Dr. Lisa Hasty on her recent recognition in

Atlanta Magazine as one of Atlanta's 2010 Top Doctors. 

 

 

 

In Atlanta Magazine's annual Top Doc issue, Lisa Hasty, MD, has been recognized by hundreds of her esteemed colleagues and peers in the metro area as one of the most respected doctors in Reproductive Endocrinology. 

Dr. Lisa A. Hasty is a founding partner of ACRM and is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.  She received her undergraduate degree in Pre-Med from Davidson College and earned her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine.  In 1985, Dr. Hasty accepted a  residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.  Following her residency in 1989, Dr. Hasty remained with the University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Hasty is an elected Fellow of the America College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and an active member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the Atlanta OB/GYN Society, and the Atlanta Women's Medical Alliance of which she is an appointed member of the advisory board.  Her particular areas of interest include in vitro fertilization, treating uterine myomas and third party reproduction.

 

Atlanta Magazine partnered with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., a healthcare research firm based in New York, to complete this year's survey.  This unbias third party asked a randomly selected sample of board-certified physicians and key medical leaders to identify exceptional Atlantan doctors in their respective specialties.  As a result of the hundreds of medical professionals surveyed, Atlanta's Top Doc's are named.  To learn more about Castle Connolly's methodology, or to purchase a digital version of the June Atlanta Magazine, visit http://www.atlantamagazine.com.

Please join ACRM in congratulating Dr. Hasty and the other esteemed physicians that have been recognized in Atlanta Magazine's 2010 Top Doc issue.

Resolve's Family Building Conference to feature ACRM's Dr. Jim Toner and Dr. Sue Ellen Carpenter

Resolve, The National Infertility Association, will be holding a Family Building Conference in Atlanta, GA on May 1, 2010. 

Themed "The Path to Parenthood", the first annual Atlanta Family Building Conference will feature Dawn Davenport, Host of Creating a Family and Author of The Complete Book of International Adoption. 

ACRM's own Dr. Jim Toner and Dr. Sue Ellen Carpenter will be speaking about improving the chances of success during IVF and third party reproduction. 

Location:  Cobb Galleria Center, Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339

Time:  8:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $40 before April 15, $50 at the door (price includes cost of breakfast and lunch)

To register:  http://www.resolve.org/atlconference 

For more information, please click on the link below:

Download Resolve conference0001

ACRM recruiting Egg Donor's in Atlanta, GA

The gift you make through EGG DONATION is priceless...and your time is worth $6000.

Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine is looking for special women to donate their eggs to help other women become pregnant.

Candidates must be:

• Healthy Women
• Between the ages of 21 and 32
• Non-Smokers
• Within 20 pounds of your ideal body weight

For more information please contact us at 770-928.2276 or visit our website at www.acrm.com to learn more about the donation process.

ACRM's Jim Toner, M.D., PhD - "Who needs Donor Egg?" when ttc during infertility treatment

An article published in Science in 1986 looked at percent of married couples delivering a child.1  They combined data from 10 population studies, spanning 1600- 1930. For women who married between ages 30-34, 85% went on to have a child.  Between 35-39 years of age, 70% eventually had a child.  But for those who married at age 40 or older, only 36% went on the have a child.  This was of course, before modern fertility interventions.  When you consider these as infertility rates, it looks like this:

AGE Percent infertile

30-34 15%

35-39 30%

40-44 64%

Through modern fertility treatments such as ovulation induction medication, intrauterine insemination, and in vitro fertilization, we may be able to help two thirds of those less than 35, half of those 35-39, and 20% of those 40 and over.  That leaves the following women as potential candidates for donor egg:

   AGE Candidates for donor egg

   30-34   5%

   35-39  15%

   40-44  50%

When we look at the 154 completed cycles from ACRM's donor egg program in 2006 and 2007, we see an age distribution skewed toward the older age range, but 44% of our recipients are under 40.  The median age for a donor egg recipient is 41 years old.

Most people can imagine that the 45 year old who just got married last year will need donor egg (even if she has celebrity status).  The harder thing to imagine is the 32 year old who comes off the pill only to discover that her post -pill amenorrhea is really premature ovarian failure.  Or the 38 year old who marries at 35, enjoys a year of marital bliss, and then starts trying to conceive at age 36.  After six months without contraception, "not really trying," then starts trying to conceive at age 36.  After six months of trying without contraception and then a year of dedicated effort (using temperature charting), she spends four months working with her gynecologist.  After nothing turns up on the tests, she tries clomiphene for 3 months, then is referred by her provider to a fertility specialist.  After completing some additional testing, she adds intrauterine insemination.  Within 6 months, she takes the big step, moving on to IVF, only to discover that her embryo quality is poor.  She might try a second cycle with her own eggs, but then failing a second time, she too is referred on to donor egg.

One of the most difficult cases is the woman who waits too long to come in.  She knows age is a factor, but she holds out.  She starts trying to conceive in her mid-30s, but waits seven years before getting up the courage to ask for a referral.  By the time she comes to us at age 42, her day 3 FSH or estradiol level is elevated, or her antral follicle count is less than 5.  Her chance of success using her own eggs with IVF is now certainly less than 10%.  She too, is referred to the donor egg program after her first visit.

So who needs Donor Egg therapy?  More women than you might think:  certainly anyone past age 42 years, and some younger women too.

1Menken, Trussell, and Larsen.  Science:233:1389-1394, 1986

 

ACRM - Free Seminar "Infertility & Your Options" Tuesday, March 9th

Attend our Complementary Seminar

"Infertility and Your Options"

Led by Robin H. Fogle, MD

Dr. Fogle joined ACRM in the fall of 2007.  She is board certified in OB/GYN and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.  Dr. Fogle earned her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering summa cum laude from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA.  She then received her medical degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where she received a citation as a top academic achiever.  Dr. Fogle completed her residency at Emory University School of Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Atlanta, GA, and served as chief resident from 2003-2004.  She then completed her fellowship and training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.  Dr. Fogle is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society.  She has published in numerous respected journals on reproductive topics including polycycstic ovarian syndrome, menopause, and uterine receptivity.  Dr. Fogle's clinical interests also include, in vitro fertilization, premature ovarian failure, embryo implantation and reproductive surgery.

Tuesday March 9th at 7pm

5909 Peachtree Dunwoody Road
Suite 720
Atlanta, GA 30328

Topics to be covered:

• General Infertility
• Male Factor Infertility
• In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
• Special Concerns of Older Women
• Donor Egg & Gestational Carrier
• Fertility Preservation - Egg Freezing
• Question & Answer session to follow
  

Call 770.928.2276 ext 163 to register

or email: seminar@acrm.com

For more information

visit our website at www.acrm.com

Dr. Jim Toner of ACRM on WSB-TV discussing Egg Freezing

See Dr. Jim Toner of the Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine talking with Shayr Guthrie of WSB-TV as they discuss Egg Freezing for fertility preservation.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?edit=1#p/u/4/qNQL8UfD0PU