Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment for Female infertility: A critical Review

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INTRODUCTION1

Problem Statement1

Background of the Study2

Purpose, Aims and objectives4

Question of the Research4

Reason for choice of the topic5

Organization of the study5

LITERATURE REVIEW7

METHOD OF RESEARCH9

Research Design and Critical Literature Review9

Search Strategy9

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria10

Assessment of Quality & Data Abstraction11

Data Analysis11

Limitations12

Timescales12

RESULT AND DISCUSSION14

CONCLUSION14

References15

INTRODUCTION

Problem Statement

The female infertility is an emerging issue worldwide because of choice to have child later in life and the impact of lifestyle and environmental aspects on both the males and female systems of reproduction. According to Kumar et al, (2007) condition of infertility is defined as a malfunction for achieving pregnancy during one year of unprotected and frequent intercourse. The infertility issues affect about 10 -20 percent of couples who tries to sustain pregnancies in numerous industrialized areas (Juul, Karmaus, Olsen, 1999, pp. 1250) and huge numbers of couples seeks medical treatments (Olsen, Kuppers-Chinnow, Spinelli, 1996, pp. 95). Rutstein & Shah (2004) estimated that in developing countries, on an approximate, 186 M (million) married women of reproductive age were infertile.

Recently, the acupuncture has been booming globally. According to Thomas, Nicholl, Coleman, (2001), there are 7% of the adult populations who visited the practitioners of acupuncture within their lifetime. Burke, Upchurch, Dye , Chyu , (2006) conducted an interview-survey indicating that 4.1% of the participants using acupuncture for their life time however, 1.1 % reported acupuncture being used currently. The causes of infertility include grief and emotional distress for the couples affected (Imeson, McMurray, 1996; Redshaw, Hockley, Davidson, 2007, pp. 295). On the other hand, there exist a dearth of recognition by the community and organizations for individuals suffering from recurrent miscarriages or infertility however, the services of support are lesser for individuals offered visible pregnancy loss such as stillbirth (McCarthy, 2008; Malik, Coulson, 2008, pp. 105).

Background of the Study

Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is a sophisticated philosophy in medicine being practiced currently in China for about more than 5000 years as well as long before the Western Medicine evolution began. This is continuously being developed and is or was guided by the clinical oriental experience. In numerous Asian countries, the traditional Chinese medicines are a primary therapy whereas; the Western medicine is practiced in parallel. The theory of Yin-Yang offers a rationale for practice. Two of the complementary and opposite types of homeostatic energy are considered to be present in the universe as well as within the body of human namely, Yin and Yang. For the Western readers, such terms are well known and these are principles on which they rest however, the language used in theory of Traditional Chinese medicine and symptomatology is not that recognizable.

The axis of Yin-Yang is a balance between catabolic and anabolic processes and the metabolism and healthy physiology usually depends upon the Qi, or vital energy that flows all the way through the body. Such energy helps in warming an individual's body and protects it from external pathogens that assist in distributing and generating the fluids in the blood and body ...