food . They should also adjust their mood by “ seeing more beautiful and harmonious things ” and listening to light and relaxing music .
Eating lots of small portions of food a day , instead of large meals , while also snacking on red dates , lily , lotus seeds , lotus fruit powder , sesame , peanuts , and other raw materials is also recommended , as are wolfberry and goji berry teas which benefit the liver and kidneys .
In the second trimester , after the early symptoms of pregnancy have disappeared , pregnant women are more prone to have “ heaty ” symptoms , such as constipation , for which they should drink warm honey lemon water .
“ Besides having a high protein and high-vitamin diet , it ’ s also recommended that they take regular walks , receive sunshine , and keep a happy mood , which is beneficial to the mother and the healthy development of the foetus ,” said Soo , adding that there should be more of the same in the third trimester , with the greatest focus being on maintaining a good diet .
Fertility patients usually visit their TCM physicians weekly . Since Chinese medicine tends to treat the underlying symptoms of a condition , an initial consultation will involve a pulse reading and an assessment of the patient ’ s tongue .
“ The tongue channels the meridians , so we see whether it ’ s linking all the acu-points together and connecting the organs with the external skin ,” said 1TCM ’ s Ting .
External organs such as the skin , eyes , nose or tongue correspond to meridians that link all the acupoints together and connect the internal and external organs . Observing the external organs gives us a lot of information about what is beneath .”
According to TCM , if the tongue is light coloured , the patient is believed to have a deficiency with their qi or in their blood . If it tends to be red , it means the patient is “ heaty ”, and if the tongue is purplish , there might be some obstruction or blockage in the body .
The most important thing to look at when treating infertility in women is the menstrual cycle , whether it ’ s regular or irregular and if they experience symptoms such as pain or tenderness of the breast , a heavy menstrual flow , or clotting .
“ We also look at their normal day life , whether they often have indigestion , bloating , constipation , whether their motions are smooth , what their sleeping conditions are like . All these we have to take into consideration . Only then will we do the fertility diagnosis .
“ Our physicians also know how to read Western medical reports , especially from a fertility specialist . We tell them to bring in their transcripts because knowing what the doctor has found will help us out in the diagnosis ,” Ting explained .
“ This East-meets-West collaborative approach of IVF and TCM greatly benefits patients and helps overcome the shortcomings of each side ’ s medicine .” n
CASE STUDY
1TCM often uses acupuncture to help patients improve sperm quality and count in infertile men and increase the blood flow in the uterus and lining of the endometrium in women , while also regulating gonadotropin-releasing hormone levels , which in turn may improve ovulation rates . Acupuncture can also help women with polycystic ovary syndrome , a common condition affecting hormone levels , and skipped periods to increase the number of follicles produced during IVF treatment .
A patient visited the clinic after two unsuccessful cycles of IVF that had not produced any viable embryos for transplant . She was treated using acupuncture and Chinese medicine while she was not taking hormones . Her third cycle resulted in more eggs than in previous ones and at least two grade-A embryos , but genetic screening showed these to have an abnormal number of chromosomes ( aneuploid ), meaning they were not viable .
Moving on to her fourth cycle , her physician suggested looking more closely at her husband ’ s condition at the same time and getting him into peak shape with TCM .
After he received acupuncture and Chinese treatments , the couple produced three grade-A embryos , with genetic screening showing two embryos with the normal number of chromosomes ( euploid ) that were ready for transplant . She ’ s now in the process of regulating her body in preparation for a smooth embryo transplant .
“ We were really excited to hear her good news , as we had been really anxious to find out how we could help avoid genetic problems in the embryo ,” said Jenny Ting Fei Jian of 1TCM .
“ Cases like this give us a ray of hope and indicate that maybe we should focus more on both male and female physiology when couples are undergoing IVF .”
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com APRIL 2021
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