The following is an excerpt from an associated press report:
A third of the 580 couples in the study were simply counseled on the need to have regular sex and received no treatment. Another group got clomifene citrate, which stimulates the ovaries to release eggs. It is sold as Clomid, Serophene, and Milophene, among other names.
For the third group, doctors performed artificial insemination, injecting sperm into the womb using a syringe.
Women who were pregnant after six months were then monitored until they gave birth.
In the no treatment group, 32 couples had babies. That compares to 26 babies for the women who took fertility pills and 43 for those who had artificial insemination. Experts said the slight differences were not statistically significant.
"It's not in the realm that you would expect it to be if these interventions were really performing," said Allan Pacey, of the University of Sheffield and secretary of the British Fertility Society. He was not linked to the study.
Still, Pacey said that artificial insemination was still useful in certain situations, such as when donor sperm is used.
Fertility drugs like clomifene have long been shown to work in women who have difficulties ovulating. Side effects include nausea, headaches, and hot flashes. It also increases the chance of having twins.
Stacey's comment
There have been other studies supporting this outcome over the years, especially about Clomid but I keep hearing from patients who are ovulating that the reason the doctor has put them on Clomid is because if the produce 2 eggs they have double the chance of becoming pregnant. Unfortunately this comment by some doctors doesn't seem to be true if there is no ovulation disorder.
WE look at Unexplained Fertility Issues this way, if it's unexplained and there is no baby yet, then the cause has not been found. We oftentimes see couples with male factor infertility be diagnosed as unexplained. This is especially true if the count is above 20million but the sperm quality is low. We also see men and women experiencing insulin resistance being diagnosed as unexplained. Other issues we have seen not addressed in couples diagnosed with unexplained infertility are underlying thyroid issues which can be related to progesterone deficiency,coeliac disease or gluten intolerance, stress i.e. emotional and/or physiological. I realise this last one is difficult to diagnose but more and more is being written about stress and infertility. Prolonged stress can effect progesterone production so it should not be overlooked.
If your situation is "unexplained" you may want to consider our Natural Fertility Solutions ebook, Go from Unexplained to pregnant! this is available at www.naturalfertility.com in the books section.
Remember I am not against the use of medications, just the overuse of them. Herbs can work very well together with Clomid and/or to prepare for IUI, or IVF. Meds and herbs, in my opinion, should not be started at the same time because it's important to be able to monitor the changes of one before introducing something new. We do offer a free ebook about
HERBS and IVF (the only comprehensive ebook on the topic)
so if you are interested in how they can be used together, send us an email at info@sharkeyshealingcentre.com.au or info@naturalfertility.com
