Fertility Success, Happy Thanksgiving!

Mark Schwartz Posted in Fertility，
23 November 2011
1

Atlanta-Acupuncture.net « Acupuncture Atlanta Georgia Atlanta-Acupuncture.net

It has been an exciting 2 weeks at Buckhead Acupuncture.

3 pregnancies and one childbirth. These families really have something to be thankful for this holiday season. I am so excited for them all.

One of my patients is pregnant after her first IUI. Quite often IUI’s are not successful, and clinically I rarely see success on the first try!

Another patient today sent me a text today telling me that after her IVF she is pregnant… after speaking on the phone she mentioned  how great she had done during her cycle and really felt the acupuncture had worked to help her fall pregnant but also to mitigate any side effects from the fertility drugs that are used.

After overcoming many obstacles in her fertility for nearly a year, working together with myself and a local reproductive endocrinologist another patient is pregnant with Acupuncture, herbs and the old-fashioned natural home method! It was quite funny we both think that she scared her body straight… threatening herself to do her first IUI if she did not get pregnant by January… wow well whatever it takes!

This Monday after 2 years and a long struggle with a very late miscarriage and a challenging shaped uterus…another IVF + acupuncture / herbal success… a patient delivered their first little girl….

For more information about how Chinese medicine and Acupuncture may be able to  help your fertility, please visit http://atlanta-acupuncture.net/fert.html        

Call us today for a free 15 minute consultation. 678-549-7848

We will take time to collect some background  history and make time to answer any questions you may have.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!!

Mark

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Buckhead Acupuncture and Herbal Center Welcomes
Randine Lewis to Atlanta!

Schwartz Posted in Fertility，
10 November 2010
2

Randine Lewis is holding a two day seminar in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend. Author of the books The Infertility Cure and The Way of the Fertile Sou, Randine will be offering her unique blend of Chinese Medicine and mind-body medicine to inspire hope for couples struggling with infertility.

info@thefertilesoul.com

1.866.4MYFERTILITY, (713) 869-8842

http://www.thefertilesoul.com/

Fertile Soul

Save 20% off Tuition using CODE:

SCHWARTZ20

The Fertile Soul uses traditional Chinese medicine and natural therapies to treat infertility and support natural or assisted conception and pregnancy with a holistic program. Dr. Randine Lewis, author of The Infertility Cure, and the growing network of more than 40 affiliated Fertile Soul practitioners in four countries have had uncommon success helping thousands of couples; many have conceived and delivered healthy babies after being told that they likely never would.

Our patients reclaim their fertility by healing body, mind and spirit with a revolutionary therapeutic program of Chinese medicine that utilizes education, diet, nutritional supplementation, acupuncture, herbs, exercises to improve the reproductive response, yoga, qi gong, meditation, self-inquiry and cognitive restructuring to bring limiting lifestyle practices and beliefs to awareness and release them. Dr. Lewis will provide you the tools to diagnose your particular pattern of imbalance, create an eating plan and nutritional supplement regimen according to your condition.

The Fertile Soul Workshop will teach you how to maximize and improve your fertility, if you desire to conceive naturally or with assisted reproductive help. Our trained staff is here to offer support throughout your journey – wherever it may take you.

Randine

Retreats are led by Dr. Randine Lewis, L.Ac., MSOM, Ph.D., author of The Infertility Cure and The Way of The Fertile Soul, with special appearances and contributions from members of The Fertile Soul’s Clinical Excellence in Fertility Program and other local area practitioners. The work of Dr. Lewis and The Fertile Soul has been featured on the NBC Today Show, CBS’s “The Early Show” and in The Washington Post, and covered in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal Europe, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Therapies, Pregnancy Magazine and other publications.

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Acupressure to reduce labor pain

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Fertility，Tags: , , , , , , , ,
17 September 2010
0

A very recent study in Sweden has shown some results for acupressure used to reduce labor pains. Here is the abstract from the study:

“Abstract Objective. To evaluate the effect of acupressure administered during the active phase of labor on nulliparous women’s ratings of labor pain. Design. Randomized controlled trial. Setting. Public hospital in India. Sample. Seventy-one women randomized to receive acupressure at acupuncture point spleen 6 (SP6) on both legs during contractions over a 30-minute period (acupressure group), 71 women to receive light touch at SP6 on both legs during the same period of time (touch group) and 70 women to receive standard care (standard care group). Methods. Experience of in-labor pain was assessed by visual analog scale at baseline before treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 30, 60 and 120 minutes after treatment. Main outcome measure. Labor pain intensity at different time intervals after treatment compared with before treatment. Results. A reduction of in-labor pain was found in the acupressure group and was most noticeable immediately after treatment (acupressure group vs. standard care group p < 0.001; acupressure group vs. touch group p < 0.001). Conclusion. Acupressure seems to reduce pain during the active phase of labor in nulliparous women giving birth in a context in which social support and epidural analgesia are not available. However, the treatment effect is small which suggests that acupressure may be most effective during the initial phase of labor.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20822474

The take home point from this study is that acupressure at acupuncture point spleen 6 (SP6) had an immediate effect on labor pain. For more information on acupressure and labor, please review our PDF document located here:

Acupressure for Labor Induction and Child Birth

If you’d like to schedule a personal consultation, please contact us today!

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Acupuncture Normalizes Dysfunction of HPOA

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Fertility，Tags: , , , , , , ,
08 September 2010
0

Below is the abstract from a study conducted in 1997 by Dr. Bo-Ying Chen.

“This article summarizes the studies of the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in the regulation of the
abnormal function of hypothalamic pituitary-ovarian axis (HPOA) in our laboratory. Clinical observation
showed that EA with the effective acupoints could cure some anovulatory patients in a highly effective rate
and the experimental results suggested that EA might regulate the dysfunction of HPOA in several ways,
which rneans EA could influence some gene expression of brain, thereby, normalizing secretion of some
hormones, such as GnRH, LH and E2. The effects of EA might possess a relative specificity on acupoints. “

The study looks at ways in which acupuncture can cure anovulatory patients and several mechanisms are looked at. The take-home point is that acupuncture did help patients suffering from anovulation.

Acupuncture is an effective way to deal with infertility in both men and women. Please contact us to schedule a personal consultation regarding infertility.

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Reduction of blood flow impedance in the uterine arteries of infertile women with acupuncture

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Fertility，Tags: , , , , , , ,
04 September 2010
0

Many scientific studies have been conducted over the past two decades that have shown a strong correlation between acupuncture and its influence on the many variable that contribute to infertility. Below is the summary of a study done during the mid-nineties that shows a reduction of blood flow impedance.

“In order to assess whether electro-acupuncture (EA) can reduce a high uterine artery blood flow impedance, 10 infertile but otherwise healthy women with a pulsatility index (PI) ?3.0 in the uterine arteries were treated with EA in a prospective, non-randomized study. Before inclusion in the study and throughout the entire study period, the women were down-regulated with a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa) in order to exclude any fluctuating endogenous hormone effects on the PI. The baseline PI was measured when the serum oestradiol was ?0.1 nmol/l, and thereafter the women were given EA eight times, twice a week for 4 weeks. The PI was measured again closely after the eighth EA treatment, and once more 10-14 days after the EA period. Skin temperature on the forehead (STFH) and in the lumbosacral area (STLS) was measured during the first, fifth and eighth EA treatments. Compared to the mean baseline PI, the mean PI was significantly reduced both shortly after the eighth EA treatment (P < 0.0001) and 10-14 days after the EA period (P < 0.0001). STFH increased significantly during the EA treatments. It is suggested that both of these effects are due to a central inhibition of the sympathetic activity.”

Source: European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology

Please contact us to schedule a personal consultation. We specialize in treating female infertility with acupuncture and herbs.

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Substitution of Acupuncture for HCG in Ovulation Induction

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Fertility，Tags: , , , , , , ,
31 August 2010
0

“By using human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), fairly good
clinical therapeutic efficacy has been obtained in the treatment of infertility. However, difficulties are brought
about due to the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) easily induced by these two drugs. Therefore,
we attempted to use acupuncture instead of HCG in the induction of ovulation from 1989 to 1992, and
satisfactory therapeutic effect was achieved as reported in the following.

General Data

Ten patients were hospitalized with confirmed diagnosis of infertility and totally observed for 11 menstrual
cycles (one patient had recurrence of OHSS for 2 times). Their ages ranged from 27 to 30 years with an
average of 29 years. After treatment by HMG, all patients manifested OHSS in varying degrees. In
accordance with the criteria for grading of OHSS issued by WHO, among these 11 menstrual cycles 4 cycles
were mild (ovarian slight enlargement less than 5 cm with symptoms of slight malaise of lower abdomen); 7
were moderate (marked enlargement of ovary with nausea, vomiting and abdominal distension); no severe
case occurred (extreme enlargement of ovary with hydrothorax, ascites, pycnemia and electrolyte
disturbance). In order to prevent the exacerbation of OHSS caused by combined use of HMG and HCG,
acupuncture was used after HMG treatment to replace HCG for the ovulation induction in 11 menstrual
cycles of these patients.

…

Results of Treatment

Of the 11 menstrual cycles, marked effect was shown in 5 cycles, effective in 5 cycles and failed in 1 cycle.
Among the 10 markedly effective and effective cycles, ovulation was induced in 2 cases after needling and
diagnosed pregnancy by blood HCG assay and ultrasonography. In 9 of the 10 cycles treated with
acupuncture for ovulation induction without using HCG and other drugs, the symptoms of OHSS were
significantly remitted or even disappeared. Only in one cycle, HCG (with dosage less than for ovulation) was used after needling to maintain the function of corpus luteum and resulted in exacerbation of OHSS and
finally remitted by drug treatment. ”

Source: ABORM.org

Acupuncture remains a safe and effective treatment for ovulation induction. Please contact us if you’d like to schedule a personal consultation.

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Acupuncture and Infertility: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Schwartz Posted in Fertility，Tags: , , , , , , ,
16 July 2010
0
Acupuncture needle.
Image via Wikipedia

One of the health conditions that can cause infertility in women is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Women with this condition can have a difficult time conceiving. Acupuncture has been shown to be effective at treating PID. A study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility showed remarkable results.

“Research has demonstrated [acupuncture] to be effective at treating pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), an infection of the pelvic organs that can cause infertility. In severe cases, PID requires a hysterectomy to resolve the problem.

A 1989 study of PID patients looked at who had failed to respond to previous courses of antibiotics for the disease and later had acupuncture and Chinese herbs and compared them with patients currently taking antibiotics.

They found that the group who had acupuncture and Chinese herbs showed improvements in 88.4% of cases and of those, 46% got complete relief from all their symptoms.

The antibiotic group had a 52% improvement rate with only 16% attaining complete relief from all their symptoms.

If you are suffering from PID or are otherwise unable to conceive, please consider acupuncture for your infertility problems. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if you would like to schedule an appointment for a personal consultation.
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Why the Move Towards Infertility Specialization?

Mark Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Fertility，Tags: , , , , , , ,
21 May 2010
1

As early as my student clinic days at the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin, I decided that I wanted to specialize in the treatment of gynecological disease. I was passionate about my interest in Chinese medicinal herbs and had an opportunity to work at our school’s herbal pharmacy for 2.5 years while a student. In China, Chinese Medical Gynecology is almost exclusively herbal based. I prescribed raw herbal formulas to most of my patients and asked friends who worked in the student clinic to send me patients who were interested in taking raw herbs. This request brought me many female patients who were trying to conceive, overcome painful periods or PMS, and deal with perimenopause. I was very impressed with how effective Chinese herbs and Acupuncture were to treat these conditions.

Lotus flower at West Lake, Hangzhou

Image by Pedronet via Flickr

After Graduation, I decided I did not fully have the all tools necessary to help my GYN patients, so my family and I decided to move to China where I continued my studies by following senior Chinese medical doctors in the hospital in Hangzhou. About 80% of that first year was spent in the gynecology department, and the remaining time in Internal Medicine. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to study with Doctors Fu Ping, Wang  Mingde, He Jialing, and Wu Boping.  During my 2 years I continued to study Chineseand improve my ability to read medical Chinese.

There is a growing trend among acupuncturists to specialize, just as our western medical colleagues do. In Chinese medical hospitals in China, everyone specializes in one department:

Gynecology
Dermatology
Oncology
Auto-immune disease
Gastro-intestinal
Pediatrics
Acupuncture
Etc……

We are all very very good at treating pain, and with my experience treating patients at the Anxiety & Stress Management Institute I am excellent at treating various psychological conditions. However, as time goes on, I am accepting very few new patients who are not looking to work on infertility. I am extremely grateful to my current and previous patients as well as local physicians who continue to support my move towards specialization by referring patients to me

Mark Schwartz, FABORM, L.Ac.

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Mark Schwartz:
Fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine!

Mark Schwartz Posted in Fertility，Tags: , , , , , ,
18 May 2010
1
Guanyin and child, similar to a Madonna and Ch...

Image via Wikipedia

I am very pleased to announce becoming a Fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (FABORM).

The ABORM has been formed by leading professionals in Oriental
Reproductive Medicine who have come together voluntarily with a resolve
to meet the patient and physician demand for a demonstration of
knowledge of care in this field. We have recognized the need for a
certification to maintain that practitioners who are treating patients
with Oriental Medicine in the field of Reproductive Health are doing so
with an advanced knowledge and experience, and to allow practitioners to
demonstrate their knowledge through the process of voluntary examination.

The ABORM is a non-profit 501(C)6 corporation devoted to
teaching, research, and the practice of Oriental Medicine as it relates
to the treatment of reproductive disorders. The ABORM respects the
training and lineage of all practitioners who work with reproductive
disorders. Our medicine is holistic in nature, and that holism must be
retained as we choose to gain advanced knowledge in the treatment of
fertility with Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. In the interest of the
health of all our patients, and the advancement of the AOM profession,
ABORM asserts the right of any practitioner to gain advanced knowledge
in any area he or she chooses to study.

For me this accomplishment conveys to local OB-GYN‘s, Reproductive Endocrinologists from Atlanta‘s four infertility centers, and my patients that infertility is truly my specialty and not just something I occasionally treat. Every acupuncturist can treat pain, but not all can help you realize your dreams of becoming a parent. If you are having trouble conceiving, you will not go to a neurologist/orthopaedist, rather you will seek out a specialist who treats infertility. Likewise when you are seeking an acupuncturist you should select one who is a specialist.
I welcome  your comments and questions here on our new blog about how we can help  you conceive naturally or in conjunction with your physician and maintain a healthy pregnancy.

Best Wishes,

Mark Schwartz, FABORM, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.

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