Warning over complementary therapy for infertility
Wednesday, 04 Jul 2007 12:00
Women are turning to complementary techniques in their pursuit of fertility treatment
Science In Focus
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Women undergoing fertility treatment have been warned that using complementary therapies may hamper their chance of conceiving.
Speaking at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Lyon, France, today, a British-based scientist told colleagues that her research had cast doubt on the effectiveness of alternative therapies.
Dr Jacky Boivin, from the school of psychology at Cardiff University, said that those who used complementary methods were affected by stress to a greater degree than women who did not.
She added that it is not clear whether the many women who use alternative therapies do so in order to reduce stress or to boost their chances of conceiving.
In order to explore this further, Dr Boivin and Dr Lone Schmidt of the University of Copenhagen conducted a year-long study of 818 Danish women at the start of their fertility treatment and asked them for the feelings on complementary medicine.
"We found that women who went on to use complementary therapies (CATs) – for example reflexology and nutritional supplements – during their treatments were more distressed and emotionally affected by their fertility problems than non-users," Dr Boivin said.
"This difference in stress may mean that women used CATs for stress reduction, and if this were the case it would be important for future research to establish whether CATs achieve this goal more effectively than conventional psychological therapies."
According to the study's findings, women who used CATs had a 20 per cent lower pregnancy success rate over a 12-month fertility treatment period than those who used traditional medical methods.
"Our findings do not allow us to make a direct causal link between CAT use and pregnancy rate," Dr Boivin added.
"It may be that complementary therapies diminish the effectiveness of medical interventions, as has been shown in previous research. Or it may simply be that persistent treatment failure encourages women to seek out CATs because they are more willing to try anything to get pregnant."
The researchers are now planning to extend their research to study the women over five years in order to get a clearer picture.