Auricular Acupressure Reduces Anxiety Levels and Improves Outcomes of in Vitro Fertilization: A Prospective, Randomized and Controlled Study

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

The study was to explore whether auricular acupressure (AA) can relieve anxiety during the period from trans-vaginal oocyte retrieval to the embryo transfer in IVF treatment and whether AA can improve the outcomes of IVF. 305 infertile patients with tubal blockage who were referred for IVF were included. The women were randomized into a control group with 102 cases, a Sham-AA group with 102 cases and an AA group with 101 cases. The anxiety levels were rated with Spielberger's State Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale. Data of clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), implantation rate (IR) and live birth rate (LBR) were obtained. The levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) in the follicular fluids were detected with ELISA. After treatment, in AA group, the levels of state anxiety, preoperative anxiety and need-for-information were significantly lower, whereas CPR, IR, LBR and NPY levels in the follicular fluids were markedly higher than Sham-AA group and control group. We concluded that AA could help to reduce anxiety levels associated with IVF and improves the outcomes of IVF partly through increasing the levels of NPY in the follicular fluids.

Related collections

Most cited references 55

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Women's emotional adjustment to IVF: a systematic review of 25 years of research.

C M Verhaak, J M J Smeenk, A Evers … (2015)

This review provides an overview of how women adjust emotionally to the various phases of IVF treatment in terms of anxiety, depression or general distress before, during and after different treatment cycles. A systematic scrutiny of the literature yielded 706 articles that paid attention to emotional aspects of IVF treatment of which 27 investigated the women's emotional adjustment with standardized measures in relation to norm or control groups. Most studies involved concurrent comparisons between women in different treatment phases and different types of control groups. The findings indicated that women starting IVF were only slightly different emotionally from the norm groups. Unsuccessful treatment raised the women's levels of negative emotions, which continued after consecutive unsuccessful cycles. In general, most women proved to adjust well to unsuccessful IVF, although a considerable group showed subclinical emotional problems. When IVF resulted in pregnancy, the negative emotions disappeared, indicating that treatment-induced stress is considerably related to threats of failure. The concurrent research reviewed, should now be underpinned by longitudinal studies to provide more information about women's long-term emotional adjustment to unsuccessful IVF and about indicators of risk factors for problematic emotional adjustment after unsuccessful treatment, to foster focused psychological support for women at risk.

0 comments Cited 145 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Acupuncture modulates the limbic system and subcortical gray structures of the human brain: evidence from fMRI studies in normal subjects.

Kathleen K.S. Hui, Jing Liu, Nikos Makris … (2000)

Acupuncture, an ancient therapeutic technique, is emerging as an important modality of complementary medicine in the United States. The use and efficacy of acupuncture treatment are not yet widely accepted in Western scientific and medical communities. Demonstration of regionally specific, quantifiable acupuncture effects on relevant structures of the human brain would facilitate acceptance and integration of this therapeutic modality into the practice of modern medicine. Research with animal models of acupuncture indicates that many of the beneficial effects may be mediated at the subcortical level in the brain. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the effects of acupuncture in normal subjects and to provide a foundation for future studies on mechanisms of acupuncture action in therapeutic interventions. Acupuncture needle manipulation was performed at Large Intestine 4 (LI 4, Hegu) on the hand in 13 subjects [Stux, 1997]. Needle manipulation on either hand produced prominent decreases of fMRI signals in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus, hypothalamus, ventral tegmental area, anterior cingulate gyrus (BA 24), caudate, putamen, temporal pole, and insula in all 11 subjects who experienced acupuncture sensation. In marked contrast, signal increases were observed primarily in the somatosensory cortex. The two subjects who experienced pain instead of acupuncture sensation exhibited signal increases instead of decreases in the anterior cingulate gyrus (BA 24), caudate, putamen, anterior thalamus, and posterior insula. Superficial tactile stimulation to the same area elicited signal increases in the somatosensory cortex as expected, but no signal decreases in the deep structures. These preliminary results suggest that acupuncture needle manipulation modulates the activity of the limbic system and subcortical structures. We hypothesize that modulation of subcortical structures may be an important mechanism by which acupuncture exerts its complex multisystem effects.

0 comments Cited 124 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The economic impact of assisted reproductive technology: a review of selected developed countries.

Georgina Chambers, Elizabeth Sullivan, Osamu Ishihara … (2009)

To compare regulatory and economic aspects of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in developed countries. Comparative policy and economic analysis. Couples undergoing ART treatment in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Japan, and Australia. Description of regulatory and financing arrangements, cycle costs, cost-effectiveness ratios, total expenditure, utilization, and price elasticity. Regulation and financing of ART share few general characteristics in developed countries. The cost of treatment reflects the costliness of the underlying healthcare system rather than the regulatory or funding environment. The cost (in 2006 United States dollars) of a standard IVF cycle ranged from $12,513 in the United States to $3,956 in Japan. The cost per live birth was highest in the United States and United Kingdom ($41,132 and $40,364, respectively) and lowest in Scandinavia and Japan ($24,485 and $24,329, respectively). The cost of an IVF cycle after government subsidization ranged from 50% of annual disposable income in the United States to 6% in Australia. The cost of ART treatment did not exceed 0.25% of total healthcare expenditure in any country. Australia and Scandinavia were the only country/region to reach levels of utilization approximating demand, with North America meeting only 24% of estimated demand. Demand displayed variable price elasticity. Assisted reproductive technology is expensive from a patient perspective but not from a societal perspective. Only countries with funding arrangements that minimize out-of-pocket expenses met expected demand. Funding mechanisms should maximize efficiency and equity of access while minimizing the potential harm from multiple births.

0 comments Cited 91 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sci Rep

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sci Rep

Title: Scientific Reports

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

ISSN (Electronic): 2045-2322

Publication date (Electronic): 22 May 2014

Publication date Collection: 2014

Volume: 4

Electronic Location Identifier: 5028

Affiliations

[1 ]Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University , China. 310006

[2 ]Key Laboratory of Reproductive Genetics , Ministry of Education of China, and Key Laboratory of Women's Reproductive Health of Zhejiang Province, China. 310006

[3 ]These authors contributed equally to this work.

Author notes

[a ] xinglf@ 123456zju.edu.cn

[b ] huanghefg@ 123456hotmail.com

Article

Publisher Item ID: srep05028

DOI: 10.1038/srep05028

PMC ID: 4030259

PubMed ID: 24848522

SO-VID: e853ef07-7cfa-4f36-98b6-bbb7d5a286f5

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. The images in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the image credit; if the image is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the image. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Auricular Acupressure Reduces Anxiety Levels and Improves Outcomes of in Vitro Fertilization: A Prospective, Randomized and Controlled Study

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion

Most cited references 55

Women's emotional adjustment to IVF: a systematic review of 25 years of research.

Acupuncture modulates the limbic system and subcortical gray structures of the human brain: evidence from fMRI studies in normal subjects.

The economic impact of assisted reproductive technology: a review of selected developed countries.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 134

Cited by 11

Most referenced authors 514