<b>Acupuncture Efficacy for Follicular Growth in 3 Cases </b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition noted in many patients who are seen for menstrual irregularity or infertility in routine practice. The current author previously found that women with PCOS who underwent a unique form of acupuncture, with 1 session taking place each week, had a response rate of about 60%. Subjects of the current study were 3 patients who lacked ovarian follicular development despite 1 acupuncture session per week. In the current study, these patients underwent 2 sessions per week, and the effectiveness of this treatment was examined. When acupuncture was not performed, none of the 3 patients exhibited ovarian follicular development. Two acupuncture sessions per week resulted in ovarian follicular development in 86.7% (13/15 cycles) of all menstrual cycles during which acupuncture was performed. Performing an average of 4-5 acupuncture sessions every 4 days or so was found to result in a mature ovarian follicle on an average of 18.7 days into the menstrual cycle. In this study, acupuncture involved slight insertion of the needles in a pattern. Changing the frequency of sessions from 1 per week to 2 per week resulted in ovarian follicular development within 3 weeks in 3 patients with PCOS, as reported here.