Alternative Treatments for Infertility

Story Published: Jul 5, 2007 at 5:21 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jul 5, 2007 at 5:21 PM EDT

Women suffering from infertility often turn to alternative medicine for
help, but do these treatments really increase the odds of pregnancy?

In a new study of more than 800 women being treated for infertility, Danish
researchers found that alternative medical therapies appeared to lower the
chances of pregnancy.

The women in the study were undergoing traditional in vitro fertilization
to try to conceive, but some of them also tried complementary techniques such as nutritional
supplements or reflexology, which is nerve stimulation of the ears, hands,
and feet.

Over the course of a year, women who added these alternative therapies to
in vitro treatments were 20 percent less likely to become pregnant than women who
relied only on in vitro.

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