Dr Maggie Ju Acupuncture London Chelsea, North Kensington, Notting Hill, and Richmond

Hormones are the body's messengers, regulating various physiological processes and ensuring the body functions efficiently. These chemical messengers play a vital role in maintaining overall health and well-being. When your hormones are balanced, your body operates harmoniously, allowing you to feel and perform your best. However, imbalances in hormones can lead to a range of health issues. In this article, we will explore why it's essential to maintain balanced hormones and how you can achieve this equilibrium for a healthier life. Understanding Hormones Hormones are chemical substances produced by glands in the endocrine system. These glands include the thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, and ovaries/testes, among others. Hormones travel through the bloodstream to target organs and tissues, where they instruct these areas on how to function properly. Key Hormones and Their Functions: Estrogen and Testosterone: These sex hormones play a significant role in reproductive health and hav...

In vitro fertilization (IVF) has revolutionized the field of reproductive medicine, offering hope to millions of couples struggling with infertility. One crucial aspect of the IVF process is the assessment and grading of embryos. Embryo grading plays a pivotal role in determining the quality and viability of embryos, aiding fertility specialists in selecting the most promising embryos for transfer. In this article, we delve into the significance of embryo grading and its impact on the success of IVF procedures. Understanding Embryo Grading: Embryo grading involves the systematic evaluation of various characteristics of embryos to assess their quality and developmental potential. Typically, embryos are graded based on two main factors: morphology and development rate. Morphology: Embryo morphology refers to the visual appearance and structure of the embryo. Experts examine parameters such as cell number, symmetry, fragmentation, and the presence of specific structures, such as the inner...

In recent years, the process of freezing eggs has revolutionized fertility preservation for women. This procedure, known as oocyte cryopreservation, allows women to preserve their eggs at a younger age when they are typically healthier and more fertile, thereby extending their reproductive options. While egg freezing itself offers tremendous advantages, the complementary use of acupuncture has emerged as a supportive therapy, offering potential benefits for enhancing female fertility during the process. What is Egg Freezing Egg freezing involves extracting a woman's eggs, freezing them at very low temperatures, and storing them for future use. This technique has become increasingly popular among women who wish to delay pregnancy for various personal or medical reasons. It provides them with the opportunity to preserve their fertility potential and have more control over their reproductive choices. The Supportive Role of Acupuncture Acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medical practic...

 

There are certain foods associated with Christmas, and nuts including walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and pecans are one of them. Where are the ideas from? This goes back to pre-Christian time, the shortest day of the year which is often 21st and 22nd of December. It was celebrated by encouraging light to return. Feast is used to celebrate. In Christian time, Christmas became such an important feast and every luxury item was saved up for it. Nuts were harvested in autumn and were available to store for the big festival. Eating nuts at Christmas became such an important part of the celebration. Do you know that nuts promote your fertility? Nuts are important part of fertility nutrition; this is because they contain ample protein, minerals and essential fatty acids. Eating nuts provides vegetable proteins you need and this promotes your ovulation. There is high level of selenium, a natural antioxidant in Brazil nuts and this plays a key role in the early stages of conception. Nuts with ...

No1, reduce stress. Stress impacts fertility more than you imagined. If you are stressed, it can make your hormone imbalanced. Many women have experience that when they are stressed, their period arrives earlier than it should; or they have spots break out. Acupuncture can effectively reduce the stress. No2, improves blood circulation. Good blood circulation is essential for the body to preform including ovaries and uterus. Many researches have shown that acupuncture can improve blood circulation to the body and ovaries and uterus. No3, reduce inflammation. Metabolism products from inflammation can have toxic effects to the organs include reproductive system. Acupuncture can effectively reduce inflammation and has detoxing effect. No4, release tension and muscle spasms. Tension and muscle spasm in the body can compromise micro blood circulation in the body including ovaries and uterus. Acupuncture can release all the tensions. No5, rebalance hormones. Follicle development depends on ho...

What is ectopic pregnancy? Ectopic pregnancy is that the fertilized egg implanted outside of the uterus. The commonest site is in the fallopian tube. The egg will not develop a baby, but it is threatening condition for the pregnant women. Ectopic pregnancy occurs in 1% pregnancy. The risk factors include pervious pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, tubal surgery, intrauterine contraceptive device and previous ectopic. Patient has positive urinary pregnancy test. Patient presents lower abdominal pain and slight vaginal bleeding. Ultrasound shows empty uterus and may identify ectopic embryo. If the egg dies before it can grow larger, the pregnancy terminates and the tissue is absorbed in the woman’s body. In this case, the pregnancy test becomes negative. If the pregnancy is left to grow, there is a risk that the fertilized egg grows larger and causes the tube to rupture which can cause life threatening internal bleeding. The signs of tube rupture are sudden severe sharp abdominal ...

Short luteal phase with infertility and miscarriage? acupuncture can help Women’s period cycle is divided into two phases: follicular phases when follicles develop and mature. The time for eggs to mature and release may vary between different women and same woman in different period cycle. This is the reason why period cycles vary to a great extent. When one of the eggs becomes mature, it is released from the ovary. As soon as egg is released, luteal phase began. Dwon KA and Gibson M studied body basal temperatures (BBT) charts and the luteal phase defect from three menstrual cycles of 20 normal women and 20 women with luteal phase defect. They found that luteal phase length in the normal women was 13.4 days and that of the women with luteal phase defect was 11.8 days. 30% of the women with luteal phase defect had luteal phases with less than 11 days and 5 of these women had severely endometrial problems. None of the normal women had luteal phase less than 11 days. Luteal phase does no...

If you are trying to conceive, you may already be familiar with the term progesterone. Progesterone is one of female sex hormones. Progesterone is an essential hormone for pregnancy. Without it there would be no successful pregnancy. In women progesterone is mainly made in the ovary. Progesterone level varies during the menstrual cycles and high level after ovulation is seen. The production of progesterone is increasing rapidly after ovulation. Its level is highest during luteal phase especially from day 19 to day 22 of the menstrual cycle. Progesterone prepares uterine inner lining for implantation, helps uterine lining development and make it ready for embryo implantation; it prevents further ovulation and it makes mucus thicker to prevent sperm to penetrate. If pregnancy occurs, it helps to maintain the uterine lining throughout pregnancy; if there is no pregnancy, progesterone level drops and period starts. If fertilization happens, much more progesterone is produced during pregnan...

Infertility is defined as failure to achieve pregnancy after 12 months of regular and unprotected sexual intercourse. Approximately 15% of couples worldwide are affected by infertility which is caused by various factors. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the therapeutic options for couples with infertility, however IVF success rate is not 100%. Acupuncture can activate nerve fibers and peripheral afferent receptors, produce sensory interactions at various levels of the central nervous system, and release various transmitters and modulators, thus producing anti-inflammatory signals as well as neuroendocrine and neuroimmune signals. Acupuncture is one of the candidates that applied during IVF procedure to increase its success rates. The mechanisms of acupuncture related to application of IVF is 1, modulating neuroendocrine factors. Acupuncture improves female infertility through modulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary– ovarian (HPO) axis, estrogen regulation, and increased ß-endorp...

Acupuncture is effective for unexplained infertility What is infertility? Infertility is defined as inability to conceive after 1 year of regular unprotected intercourse. It is 6 months with women older than 35 years. If you were told that you had unexplained infertility, what does that mean? If you have difficulty to conceive for some time, you would be put on some tests to evaluate the underlying causes for the infertility. There is some standard infertility evaluation. It includes a semen analysis, assessment of ovulation, and a hysterosalpingogram (to detect uterine and fallopian tube pathology); ovarian reserve and laparoscopy are further tests that could be done to examine function of reproductive system. When these results are normal, you would be diagnosed unexplained infertility which means that there are no underlying causes for your infertility found. Are there many people suffer from this condition? Yes. 1 in 6 couples are seeking specialist help in trying for a baby. There...

What is Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)? There are three organs that are directly involved in producing hormones for reproduction: the hypothalamus, pituitary gland (in the brain) and ovary (in the pelvis). Five hormones are produced by these organs including GnRH, FSH, LH, oestrogen and progesterone. GnRH is produced by the hypothalamus; FSH and LH are produced by the pituitary gland; oestrogen and progesterone are produced by the ovary. The FSH production is determined mainly by the levels of oestrogen and progesterone. At the start of menstrual cycle when oestrogen level is low, FSH is produced. FSH acts at the ovary to stimulate follicles growth in the ovary. FSH level can be checked in the blood test. This is a part of the fertility check. Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is one of the most important hormones involved in female reproductive function. It is involved in producing mature eggs in the ovaries. It is used to stimulate ovaries during IVF treatment. FSH is produced ...

We all know women have period cycles, which are normally a month (28 days) with ovulation. Women have two ovaries containing about 1 millions eggs at birth. These are the eggs they ever have and there are no more eggs produced after birth. The existing eggs are lost constantly. By the time at puberty, there are only about 400,000 eggs left. Only 400 to 500 eggs are ovulated in life time. Each month, 15-20 eggs develop and normally only one of them becomes mature (the size of a mature egg is ready to ovulate is about 18-28 mm in diameter) and is released. About 14 days after ovulation the woman would get a period if she is not pregnant. If the eggs in ovaries don’t develop and mature properly, there is no ovulation. This will cause problems in women. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is such a condition with ovulation problem. The ovaries in women with PCOS contain many small cysts which are fluid-filled sacs. This is because eggs stop growing and form many cysts; they don’t mature and a...

Not ovulate, acupuncture improves ovulation There are many factors that cause anovulation and here are some common causes of anovulation. Hypothalamic-pituitary causes Hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian-axis dysfunction. This is caused by problems of hypothalamus or pituitary gland in the brain. As a result the hormones are not balanced which does not trigger ovulation and leads to infertility. The reasons that affect hormone balance include stress (see below); the other common causes are excessive exercises and/or underweight. As we already known that subtle environmental changes may alter the menstrual cycle and cause anovulation. For example, summer camp menstrual disturbances and exam anovulation. Women in emotional stress could have no ovulation. This is temporary situation. If women get out of the stress environment, menstruation and ovulation could be returned. However if this situation is prolonged, anovulation could be persistent. Finding the causes of stress situation and avoidin...

Age affects fertility A more recent study of university students in Sweden found that half of the female students were not aware of the age-related decline in fertility and intended to have children after the age of 35. There is clear evidence of an age-related decline in female fertility. By the time women reach 35 years of age, their fertility is declining markedly. This presents that the number and quality of eggs decrease; also genetic abnormalities and spontaneous abortion increase noticeably with female age. A study involved in 1000 women in pregnancy showed that 71% of women aged 30 conceived within 3 months whereas only 41% of women aged 36 conceived within 3 months. A negative effect of increasing male age particularly in the late 30s was also found. A study involved 2112 women in pregnancy showed that increasing age for both men and women take longer time to conceive. There were some other studies presented similar results. There is a significant decline in clinical pregnancy...

How many eggs retrieved in IVF are good numbers? IVF becomes a popular technique for infertility treatment since it was invented 30 years ago. During the procedure it is difficult to predict the side effect and success for individuals. IVF success rate is related to egg number retrieved in the procedure. What is the optimum number of eggs for IVF? Is there a connection between egg numbers and live birth rate (LBR)? Ji J et al analysed the data from 2007 and 2011 from total 2455 patients who was undergoing first cycle of IVF treatment. All patients had normal menstrual cycles and were stimulated with a long GnR agonist protocol. Associations between egg number and LBR and miscarriage rate and the rate of moderate-severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) were analysed. These patients were divided into four groups according to the egg number retrieved: 0-5, 6-10,11-15 and >15. The fresh embryo transfer LBR and cumulative LBR were assessed. Their data suggested that for IVF cyc...