The most common causes of female infertility fall into the category of ovulatory disorders, endometriosis, Fallopian tube blockage, polycystic ovarian syndrome, unexplained infertility, and hyperprolactinemia among others. Infertility occurs because one/more underlying physiological function(s) is/are temporally impaired following the frequency, duration, and intensity of stress exposure, lifestyle or a combination of genetic, epigenetic, nutrition, and environmental risk factors. Understanding the etiology and associated risk factors are essential in the decision-making process of a diagnosis to address the right treatment in order to improve patients’ fertility status. Consequently, integrating research knowledge and advanced technology into treatments is vital for increasing today’s pregnancy rate in fertility centers.
Several clinical studies have already reported that complementary medicine is being used by 5% of women for treating their infertility condition in clinics in Australia, 10% in the UK and 18% in the USA1-4. In the 2002 & 2007 surveys5,6, most American adults sought treatment from herbal therapy (average 18.4%) because of their strong belief that herbal medicine could improve their symptoms. Likewise, herbal therapy (17%)7 should be definitively complemented with ART or combined with conventional medical treatments to improve women fertility rate to achieve a pregnancy.
A first report8 demonstrated the beneficial therapeutic effect of Kangyi Zhongyu decoction combined with GnRH agonist in treating severe endometriosis and increased the pregnancy rate associated with ART. Another report9 revealed laparoscopy surgery with progesterone treatment in combination with Quyu Jiedu formulation, as an effective method for the treatment of endometriosis symptoms, increased serum endometrium antibody, decreased serum cancer antigen 125 levels, and improved pregnancy rate. A Taiwan cohort study10 (n = 8766) employed a common combination of single Chinese herbs (Semen Cuscutae) or mixed formulations (Dang-Gui-Sha-Yao-San) to treat female infertility. The study proposes that Chinese herb products are usually prescribed in combination per prescription to enhance the synergistic effects of phytochemicals, minimize body toxicity via restoring kidney and liver functions or monitor personalized therapy for female infertility. Therefore, the advanced diagnosis equipment with a computerized database is used as assistance by naturopathic doctors to write prescriptions for patients.
In addition, a clinical study has demonstrated the use of traditional Chinese medical herbs with direct effects in the serum estradiol, FSH, cancer antigen 125 and endometrium antibody levels which proved to be stage-effective for treating endometriosis patients11. An increase of interest using herbal medicine in clinical settings shows improved endocrine and fertility outcomes in PCOS12 can further add value to collaborative research.
An insightful report performed meta-analyses of non-randomized controlled trials from three scientific databases by comparing the pregnancy rates achieves with herbal therapy vs. Western medical drug treatment or in vitro fertilization of female infertility. In their systemic review, the average pregnancy rates were about 60% for herbal medicine and 32% for Western drug therapy, suggesting an improvement rate of 2-fold within a four-month period13. A Chinese infertility study indicates an increase of pregnancy rate and a reduction of abortion rate by improving the cervical mucus, endometrial thickness, and morphology on the human chorionic gonadotropin testing day when acupuncture, herbal medicine, and clomiphene were all combined together14.
The company is committed demonstrating the actions of herbal formulations and incorporating it as a complementary treatment for ART procedure to improve today’s pregnancy rate and patients’ care.
- Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2007; 47(2):145-149.
- J Exp Clin Assist Reprod. 2005; 2(1):5.
- Fertil Steril. 2010; 93(7):2169-2174.
- J Altern Complement Med. 2011; 17(8):685-690.
- Altern Ther Health Med. 2005;11(1):42-49.
- Clin Ther. 2011; Nov;33(11):1749-1758.
- Fertil Steril. 2010; May 1; 93(7): 2169–2174.
- Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi 2007; 27(11):980-982.
- Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi 2011; 31(7):892-895.
- Medicine (Baltimore) 2016; 95(11):e3075.
- Int J Clin Exp Med. 2015; 8(8):14085-14089.
- BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014; 14:511.
- Complement Ther Med. 2011;19(6):319-331.
- Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2015; Feb;35(2):114-118.