Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help with infertility and POF.
Part two of three
Does Western medicine have a lot of keys to unlock egg quality? Nope. Most IVF protocols are limited to drugs that impact a small range of hormones – FSH, LH, GnRH, estrogen and progesterone.
What happens to a client when they don’t respond to the limited range of hormonal keys? They are told its premature ovarian failure and old ovaries.
For this article FSH will be our example drug.
So let’s have a look at the old/premature ovarian failure from the perspective of lock and key. Going back to the key in the car ignition scenario – let’s say your key (i.e. drug) is FSH. Visualizing the FSH key in your hand, you go to the first four cars. Every time you get into a car, there’s a key in the ignition (Remember you can’t remove the key in the ignition.) The next 4 cars you can get the key in the ignition but the engine won’t start. Finally you get to the last four cars, the FSH key fits the ignition and the engine starts.
In this analogy, the ignition is your follicles. We don’t have clear answers why but sometimes the FSH receptor can’t respond to the key/drugs. FSH receptors might have issues igniting growth signals thus no response. It could be another key blocking the FSH key. In either case the follicles don’t grow since the key can’t activate development in the follicle. This can be seen in clients who ovulate every month or have a normal antrical follicle count, but “stimulate poorly” during an IVF cycle.
Can Western medicine measure if there is a problem with FSH receptors? Nope. Is there any way to check if another key is blocking the FSH receptor? Nope. Is it right to say to a couple “you have old eggs” when the scenario cannot be clearly understood? I don’t think so.
Remember a drug like FSH starts the follicle’s engine going. Once the key has turned on the ignition, other growth mechanisms start to operate inside the follicle. Thinking of the car – you might be able to turn on the ignition but if oil pressure is low or coolant is leaking the car can’t be driven. This can be seen in clients as they respond to FSH stimulation but produce “poor quality” follicles.
Does Western medicine understand all cellular actions “under the hood” of a follicle? Nope. Are there any drugs to turn on all the internal actions of follicular growth? Nope. Is it right to say to a couple “you have old eggs” when the scenario cannot be fully understood? I don’t think so.
Since western medicine has a limited tool box to encourage follicular growth, doesn’t defining a women as “old eggs” limiting too? Ladies start asking your doctors some hard questions and let’s push for more research into follicular growth.
Next Article: Research on POF lock and key issues.