Study Shows Popular Infertility Treatments To Have Little or No Effect

By Aaron Poehler

Published on August 07, 2008

A study in the British Medical Journal shows that women trying to become pregnant who were given either of two popular fertility treatments demonstrated no higher conception rate than patients given no treatment at all.

The University of Aberdeen study published last week collected data on 580 women with unexplained infertility problems who were randomly selected to receive the fertility pill clomifene citrate, intrauterine insemination treatment (IUI), or no treatment at all save counseling on the need to have regular sexual intercourse. After the study's conclusion, researchers concluded that the differences between the numbers of live births resulting from each method were not statistically significant and that neither the clomifene nor IUI treatments demonstrated any notable advantage.

Prof Siladitya Bhattacharya, who led the research, was quoted as saying that money spent on clomifene, IUI, and other ineffective fertility treatments should be redirected towards in vitro fertilization (IVF) and similar treatments which have demonstrated quantifiable advantages. The five centers around Scotland where the study was conducted have already stopped offering clomifene and IUI to couples with unexplained fertility issues.

Clomifene causes side effects in 10 to 20 percent of women who take the drug, including abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, hot flashes, and headaches, and increases chances of multiple births.

Infertility affects about one in seven couple trying to reproduce.

 

Comment on this article →