Sat, Oct 25, 2008
Mind Your Body, The Straits Times
Thumbs up from UK scientists
A major scientific study has found that women undergoing fertility treatment are far more likely to successfully give birth if they also have acupuncture.
CERTIFIED SINSEHS
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Act was passed on Nov 14, 2000.
The Act requires TCM practitioners who undertake the prescribed practice of TCM to be registered with the TCM Practitioners Board. Besides registering TCM practitioners, the board also accredits TCM schools and courses, and regulates the professional conduct and ethics of registered TCM practitioners.
The registration of TCM practitioners started in 2001 with the registration of acupuncturists. This was followed by the registration of TCM physicians in 2002.
MOH states that those who wish to practise TCM are required to be registered with the TCM Practitioners Board and possess valid practising certificates.
The TCM Practitioners Board website is: www.tcmpb.gov.sg/tcm/
Users can also search for registered TCM practitioners on the website.
British newspaper The Telegraph reported that scientists from the University of Southampton had found that one in three women given acupuncture treatment alongside their in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment conceived successfully.
IVF is the joining of a woman's egg and a man's sperm in a laboratory dish. It is done to help a woman become pregnant.
The success rate among those who did not combine IVF treatment with acupuncture was one in five.
Ms Jin Jin Hua, a senior acupuncturist at Raffles Chinese Medicine, sees about 80 patients a year for fertility-related acupuncture treatments. Depending on the diagnosis, she carries out treatment for either the man or the woman, or both. Aside from acupuncture, she also focuses on patients' diet, lifestyle habits and emotional well-being.
From a TCM perspective, the cause of infertility usually lies in the imbalances in the spleen, liver and kidney, Ms Jin said. This can result in less than ideal conditions for conception.
She said acupuncture might improve a woman's chance of conceiving because it helps her to relax and it regulates the reproductive hormones, increases blood flow to the uterus and thickens the lining of the uterus.
Ms Qiau Tien Ru, senior acupuncturist at the National University Hospital's acupuncture clinic, said acupuncture could also help improve sperm quality.
Dr Christopher Ng, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at GynaeMD Women's and Rejuvenation Clinic at Camden Medical Centre, said he has no objections to couples seeking acupuncture treatments to help their fertility problems because infertility can be extremely stressful.
He said: 'If anything, including alternative medicine, can help a woman to conceive. I think it's all right as long as it does not bring about harmful effects.'
He added that it would be good if studies such as the one carried out by the University of Southampton could be conducted on a local level.
'It would be very helpful to know if acupuncture also significantly helps women who undergo IVF in Singapore or in Asia to successfully give birth,' he said.
