12.04.2008 at 00:01
- Category:
Alternative Medicine
Acupuncture“Acupuncture can increase the chances of getting pregnant for women undergoing fertility treatment by 65%,” according to The Guardian’s news pages.
The Times, The Daily Telegraph and BBC News covered the story and quoted Edward Ernst, a professor of complementary medicine, who cautioned that the effect might be due to a placebo effect caused by the women expecting acupuncture to work. He said that the expectation might cause them to relax which would improve pregnancy rates.
The study behind this story is a systematic review which combined the results of “high quality” studies on acupuncture, rates of pregnancy and live birth in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Although the methods used by this study are robust, some possible biases cannot be ruled out. Studies that have negative results are less likely to be published and may therefore not have been included.
When interpreting the 65% increase in pregnancy rates, it should be remembered that the differences in pregnancy rates were quite small. The results actually mean that in order to achieve one additional successful pregnancy, 10 women would need to be treated with acupuncture. The cost associated with lack of effect for the other nine women is something to be considered by individuals and health care providers.
Finally, the study found that the additional benefit of
acupuncture depended on how successful IVF was overall. Where pregnancy rates were high, acupuncture had little benefit.
