Acupuncture and Alternative Therapies

Modern medicine is incredibly powerful and effective, but for a number of reasons is often not enough. Couples may wish to avoid IVF for ethical, religious or financial reasons, and optimise their fertility in other ways.

Some have extremely frustrating experiences of multiple miscarriages or repeated IVF failure. Some find the IVF process itself too impersonal.

A recent study in Dr Sacks’ clinic showed that 60% of women were using alternative therapies such as acupuncture and herbs and other supplements. It should be pointed out that, with the exception of acupuncture, there is little scientific evidence of benefit from these interventions in terms of success rates. But clearly there are anecdotal successes, and there are certainly situations in which conventional therapy does not appear to work.

Dr Sacks works with alternative therapists, from the perspective that it is better for us to be open and aware of all treatments, and ultimately that we can only learn from each other by engaging with each other.

Many therapists focus on the immune system and clotting system, which are also Dr Sacks’ primary medical research areas. Some research has already been done investigating potential mechanisms of acupuncture (using the immune test for NK cells), and this will lead to better and more individualised holistic fertility care.