Free webinar on Ovarian Assement Report for Acupuncturist

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Anonymous
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Free webinar on Ovarian Assement Report for Acupuncturist

When: Oct 29 (thurs) 7 pm (PST) (Time zone converter http://ow.ly/tR1u )
Where: Webinar so anywhere you have internet access
Sponsored by www.prodseminars.com and www.chinesemedicinetools.com

http://www.tcmtv.net/

I met the team from Reprosource last year and had in depth conversations with them how their Ovarian Assessment report can benefit acupuncturist who have a large fertility practice. They claim to have a blood teat and algorithm that can predict how many follicles will most likely stimulate in an IVF cycle. I thought my patients could benefit from this test. Instead of spending $10,000 to $20,000 on an IVF cycle to find out you responded poorly you can spend $400 to lean the same information. So for my older patients who are told to rush into an IVF because of the clicking clock thay can take this test. if it predicts good response then go for it. If poor response them they may be willing to take some time doing the preconception program we recommend to see if we can improve their response. And it is also a quantitative measure to see if what we are doing is helping. Have your patient take the test as a base line and then again 3 or 6 months after herbs and acupuncture to see if the Ovarian Assessment Report (OAR) has improved.

For details about this blood test please join the free Webinar.
http://prodseminars.na4.acrobat.com/oar102909/
Convert to your time zone http://ow.ly/tR1u

Description

This session will discuss the current technical challenges associated with ovarian reserve testing and the corresponding impact on the management of the patient’s therapy and expectations for success. Learning Objectives CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH SERUM FSH TESTING IN EVALUATION OF THE INFERTILE PATIENT NEWER TESTS: AMH AND INHIBIN B BIOLOGY COMPARED TO FSH PROS AND CONS GOLD STANDARD APPROACH TO INTEGRATING OLD AND NEW APPROACHES REAL WORLD EXAMPLES HOW TO INTEGRATE WESTERN TESTING APPROACHES WITH TCM This lecture is scheduled for 1 hour including questions.

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rayrubio
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Gan Cao Harvester
Joined: 2007-05-29
Points: 2075
OAR Testing is a valuable tool for TCM Fertility Specialists

I have been using the Ovarian Assessment Report (OAR) with my female patients diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve for about the last 6-9 months. This test measures FSH/Estradiol/LH/Inhibin B/Anti-Mullarian Hormone (AMH).

Although each of these serum markers can be measured individually, or together by any lab, what makes the OAR unique is that Dr. Ben Leader was able to develop a mathematical predictive model of the actual Egg Recruitment Score (i.e., how many eggs/follicles will be recruited with ovulation induction/stims during an IVF cycle). This mathematical predictive model was developed by looking retrospectively at over 1500 different women undergoing IVF, and looking at the above serum values vs. how many eggs they produced under stimulation. 

Why does this mean anything for us as TCM Fertility Specialists? The answer is quite pragmatic and simple:

Most of us who specialize in the treatment of fertility patients work frequently with patients diagnosed with elevated FSH/Diminished Ovarian Reserve. After a few months of treatment, if the patient hasn't conceived spontaneously, they will usually want to try another IVF Cycle if there FSH is low enough to allow it.

Unfortunately, because FSH is a pituitary hormone, it can be unstable, and not absolutely correlative of how the patient will respond to IVF Medications/Gonadatropins. Because AMH and Ihibin B are intra-ovarian hormones, and because they are highly correlative of the number of antral-and in the case of AMH - pre-antral - follicles, they are good predictors of how the patient will respond to IVF Meds. As we have all experienced with our patients, because they are anxious to not waste precious reproductive time, and because their RE's are often pushing them to move on to the next IVF, they will often proceed with an IVF, and spend thousands of dollars on IVF meds, only to have the cycle cancelled or converted to IUI when they only produce 2-4 follicles. 

The OAR Test Results/Egg Retrieval Score can - and have - saved my patients unnecessary frustration, disappointment, and money by given them a very reliable benchmark of where they are in the process of embellishing their ovarian reserve with TCM. Instead of going ahead with another fruitless cycle of IVF, the OAR can let us know in advance that we need to work together a little bit longer with TCM before moving on to ART. I have found that this helps my patients to have more patience in the process, and it also gives them encouragement and positive feedback when the AMH and Ihibin levels go up, while the FSH goes down. 

Although the OAR does not predict live-birth rates, it is nevertheless a useful addition to the practice of any TCM Fertility Specialist, and Repro-Source (the company that makes this test) will be happy to provide you with personalized requisition forms with your name and your practice logo on them, with which to order the labs. They also work with a mobile phlebotomy service that will go right to your patient's house for the blood-draw. 

Repro-Source labs also offers Sperm DNA Fragmentation testing (The Sperm DNA Fragmentation Assay/SDFA) which you can use for your patients with Male Factor. Data has shown that an elevated DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI) is predictive of significantly lowered success rates with IUI. This can also be very useful for the TCM Fertility Specialist because if the female partner is not diagnosed with Advanced Maternal Age, but the Male partner has a compromised DFI, then you can work with the male with TCM to lower the DFI and allow them to attempt conception either with IUI or spontaneously. Conversely, if there is Advanced Maternal Age, and the couple and RE are debating whether to start with IUI or IVF, the SDFA can be a very useful tool with which to guide the decision-making process. 

Dr. Ben Leader and Charles Jenkins (His Director of Operations) are both very friendly and approachable businessmen, and they are eager to assist us in the TCM Community to employ these valuable clinical tools into our integrative TCM Fertility practices.

I very much encourage everyone to tune in to this exciting and informative Webinar scheduled for tonight (October 29th) at 7:00 pm.

 

Ray Rubio, DAOM, L. Ac. (FABORM)

President ABORM

Chair: Reproductive Medicine Department/Yo San University DAOM Program

www.westlakecomplementarymedicine.ocm