The 20th podcast episode of “Your Fertility Pharmacist” is a bit different. With guest speaker Melsa Maher, fertility acupuncturist, this episode discusses a recent study on traditional medicine. The audio was recorded over Zoom.

Study Background

WHAT

• How do lifestyle changes, combined with acupuncture, help to treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)?

WHERE

• Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

WHO

• Inclusion criteria

  • Women with PCOS (n = 40)

  • Ages 18 - 40 years old

  • Tested positive for depression or anxiety on self-assessment questionnaire

  • Volunteer/informed consent

• Exclusion criteria

  • Acupuncture in the past two months

  • Drug use in past 90 days

    • steroid medications

    • anti-hyperglycemic medications

    • hormonal medications

    • anti-depressants

  • “Severe diseases” (kidney, liver, autoimmune, or cancer)

  • Suicidal thoughts or other mental health disorders (bipolar, cyclothymia, etc.)

  • Pregnancy or lactation

HOW

• Randomly assigned to acupuncture + lifestyle changes (intervention group) or lifestyle changes alone (control group)

• Acupuncture (intervention group)

  • Every other day (3 times weekly) for four months

  • specified acupuncture points Ren 4/12, St29/32/34/36, Sp6, Du20, LI4, Ht7

• Lifestyle Changes (both intervention and control groups)

  • Exercise requirements

    • 30-40 minutes daily

    • each exercise must last at least 10 minutes

  • Diet requirements

    • avoid fried foods

    • reduce daily intake by 500-1000 kcal

• Obtained markers at baseline and end of study

  • Body Mass Index (BMI)

  • Questionnaires self-rated anxiety score (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and PCOS health-related quality of life (PCOSQ)

  • Serum levels of beta-endorphin, estrogen (E), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), free androgen index (FAI), luteinizing hormone (LH), progesterone (P), prolactin (PRL), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and testosterone (T)

Results

• Women receiving acupuncture self-reported improved anxiety, depression, and quality of life compared to controls

• Acupuncture group had higher beta-endrophin levels and lower BMI & FAI levels (p < 0.05)

• Additional differences: not stated in Chinese-to-English translations

• Safety/ evidence of harm: not stated in Chinese-to-English translations

Conclusions

This was a small but well-conducted study. These results indicate that the emotional aspects of PCOS can be improved with a commitment to acupuncture; physical improvements and fertility outcomes should be studied in larger, multi-site trials.

Resources

Chaudhari AP, Mazumdar K, Mehta PD. Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Indian J Psychol Med. 2018;40(3):239-246. doi:10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_561_17

Cooney LG, Lee I, Sammel MD, Dokras A. High prevalence of moderate and severe depressive and anxiety symptoms in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hum Reprod. 2017;32(5):1075-1091. doi:10.1093/humrep/dex044

De Leo V, Musacchio MC, Cappelli V, Massaro MG, Morgante G, Petraglia F. Genetic, hormonal and metabolic aspects of PCOS: an update. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2016;14(1):38. Published 2016 Jul 16. doi:10.1186/s12958-016-0173-x

PCOS Awareness Association. Overview. https://www.pcosaa.org/overview Accessed 29 Sept 2020.

Zhang HL, Huo ZJ, Wang HN, et al. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2020;40(4):385-390. doi:10.13703/j.0255-2930.20191231-k0005

Translations via Google Translate as well as Yandex.Translate