New research from Cardiff University has shown that complementary therapies could be potentially harmful to women undergoing
infertility treatment, the BBC has reported.
It is thought that this is due to the interference of herbal remedies with IVF drugs.
Another argument was that stress was the key factor: women who turned to complementary medicines often did so after trying fertility treatments for longer and reported higher levels of stress as a result.
According to the report, women who used complementary therapies were 30 per cent less likely to fall pregnant than those who used IVF alone.
The tests were conducted on 818 women, of which about a third went on to use complementary medicine.
Women who used complementary medicine had more attempts at IVF but were less likely to become pregnant, researchers discovered.
But Mr Michael Dooley, a consultant gynaecologist at the Poundbury Clinic (UK) argued to the BBC that he thought the basis of the study was in question: "It is difficult to draw conclusions from this study because it is not comparing like with like.
"It's well recognised that some CAMs can reduce stress. And stress can have an impact on fertility."
Infertility treatment news : 04/07/2007
