Women who have difficulty conceiving may benefit from taking an herbal supplement-a much more inexpensive and less invasive way to induce conception than in vitro fertilization-if the results of a small study are borne out.
Researchers conducted a pilot study involving 30 women ages 24-46 who had attempted to become pregnant for 6-36 months. Some of the subjects had been diagnosed with specific disorders that impaired fertility while others had no explainable causes for being infertile.While the sample size was small, the trial was randomized and double-blinded. Subjects were given either a placebo or a supplement made of chasteberry, L-arginine, green tea, and numerous vitamins and minerals.
At the beginning of the study, a group of researchers monitored the women’s progesterone levels, basal body temperatures, and menstrual cycles at baseline; these parameters were measured again at three months and six months. After three months, the supplement-treated group had increased progesterone levels and experienced more days in their menstrual cycle during which their basal temperatures were lower than 37 degrees C-both indicators of better ovulation. The placebo group experienced no notable changes in these parameters.
At four months, five of the supplement-treated women became pregnant while none of the women on placebo had conceived. Later on, four women had healthy babies and one woman miscarried. The study’s lead researcher said that she believed that the chasteberry had most likely been the critical factor in helping the women to become pregnant.
Source: Journal of Reproductive Medicine 49:289-293, 2004
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