Fertility treatment yields "87pc" higher birth rate

2008-07-20 12:02:45 - A new treatment to replace or facilitate in vitro fertilisation in Australia seems to achieve a much higher rate of pregnancies and births than most IVF programs around the world.

The treatment involving acupuncture and Chinese medicine has been developed by Dr Kenneth Snell at his Acupuncture IVF and Fertility Clinic in Sydney and put into practice over the last year.

Dr Snell says he has helped achieve an 87 per cent success rate for live births with his treatment program compared with typical rates of less than about 40 per cent for most IVF programs.

'Our clinic treats couples wanting to enter an IVF program as well as couples who want to conceive naturally.'

He says, 'Our treatment offers high hopes for couples everywhere who are seeking to overcome fertility problems.'

He developed his treatment with his own research and clinical experience with male and female infertility and prevention of miscarriage.

In the 2007-2008 financial year, 24 female patients completed his full program and 21 of them became pregnant and gave live birth.

Three failed to become pregnant.

There were no miscarriages.

That is an 87.5 per cent success rate.

Of the 21 patients who became pregnant and gave birth, 81 per cent became pregnant from natural conceptions (no IVF intervention) and 19 per cent from conceptions using IVF.

Of the same 21 patients, 9 per cent were younger than 30 years, 48 per cent were from 30 to 34 years old, 24 per cent were from 35 to 40, and 19 per cent were 40 or older.

Dr Snell says that although 12.5 per cent of the patients failed to become pregnant, their hormone test results, follicle numbers and egg quality increased to above acceptable levels.

Any patient who had not fallen pregnant within six months was deemed as an 'unsuccessful pregnancy' for the purpose of his study.

About a third of the 24 patients he treated in the study had tried IVF before and failed.

Before beginning Dr Snell's treatment program, 48 pc of the women were not ovulating, 33 pc had had miscarriages, 24 pc had ovarian cysts, 29 pc had irregular menstrual cycles and 5 pc were not menstruating.

Of their partners, 24 men, 10 pc had low sperm counts.

Dr Snell compares his results against those of IVF programs in the United States.

The overall live birth rate via IVF in the United States is generally less than 30 per cent, he says. Where a woman's own eggs are used, not those of a donor, for women under 35, the live birth rate is generally less than 40 per cent per cycle. The rate is much lower for older women.

Dr Snell recorded his 87 per cent success rate for live births with pregnancies achieved over one to five menstrual cycles.
"Chinese medicine is taken over more than one cycle usually," he says.
'Western medicine tries to achieve a result within one cycle,' he says, 'though a lot of women fail their IVF cycles and return for multiple IVF treatments.

'So in the long run Chinese medicine taken over a few cycles is usually quicker and more effective."

Dr Snell (Dr of TCM) is a member of the Fertility Society of Australia and the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association.

He graduated from the University Of Technology Sydney with a bachelor of health science in traditional Chinese medicine and completed his clinical internship in the China Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing.

He continued his studies with a three-year apprenticeship under Professor Lee Yuan and post-graduate training in abdominal acupuncture in Beijing.

Natural fertility is a specialised area of his training.

He runs the Acupuncture IVF and Fertility Clinic, a Chinese medicine, infertility and gynaecology clinic, at Chatswood on the North Shore of Sydney.

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a medical process in which a woman's egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside of her womb. This process involves hormonally controlling ovulation, removing eggs from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid. A fertilised egg is then transferred to the uterus in an attempt to achieve pregnancy.

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Media contact: Dr Kenneth Snell - phone 61 2 9412-3844 or 0404877402; email dr@ivfacupuncture.com.au .



Dr Kenneth Snell
Acupuncture IVF & Fertility Clinic
Suite 228 / 1 Katherine St, Chatswood, NSW, 2067, Australia
Ph: +61 2 9412-3844 Fax: +61 2 9412-1733
Email: dr@ivfacupuncture.com.au Web: www.ivfacupuncture.com.au