I recently returned from a conference in Canada on Infertility and Chinese Medicine. The latest research presented there was nothing short of amazing in the area of male infertility. There were three studies in particular that caused me to rethink the impact of acupuncture and herbs on male factor infertility.
The first was a study on infertile men who had antisperm antibodies (ASAB) present using herbal therapy alone. 50 men were treated with the herbal formula Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and 50 men were treated with oral prednisone. After a course of treatment both groups were evaluated and 90% of the herbal group had a statistically significant reduction in ASAB while only 64% of the prednisone group had a slight reduction in ASAB. Fu B et al J Trad.Chin Med 2005: 25(3); 186-9
Another study was on male factor infertility and acupuncture. All patients had one previous failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) using intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The course of treatment was twice weekly acupuncture for five weeks. At the end of the five week study sperm motility was increased from 11% to 18% and morphology increased from 16% to 21%. And the most significant increase was the increase in fertility rates from 40% to 66%. A 26% increase in fertility rates is quite remarkable with just 5 weeks of treatment. Zhang, M. et al J Huazhong Univ Sci Tech Med Sch 2002:22(3);228-30.
The last study, while not specifically designed to measure the benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is one that suggest astonishing benefits of this medicine and warrants further research. A group of Chinese geneticist were studying disome, the presence of two copies of chromosomes, in a group of men rendering them infertile. Over a period of about 6 months six of the men saw a correction and had chromosomal values equal to a normal fertile male. In looking into what had caused these changes, the researches found the only commonality was that all six men were seeing a Traditional Chinese doctor and taking herbal prescriptions, with each prescription containing 10-20 herbs at 5-10 grams per herb for about 6 months .J TempestAsia Journal Andrology 2005: Vol 17, P 419. While this study was not designed to measure the effect of Chinese medicinals on the DNA damage of the participants it does suggest further research. Any possibility of treatment for the many disease's associated with DNA damage almost demands investigation. This is a most exciting avenue of inquiry for the field of Chinese Medicine.
