- A CBS 2 Special Report
CBS 2's Cindy Hsu
Feb 25, 2004 11:00 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS)
Infertility. If you haven't struggled with it yourself,
chances are you know someone who wants to become pregnant but can't. Now,
there's surprising new research that may crack the case and offer some couples
new hope.
As CBS 2's Cindy Hsu reports, infertility affects more than six million
women and their partners across the country.
Kaycee Mogel always dreamed of becoming a mother. She and her husband struggled
for years trying to get pregnant.
She was even on fertility drugs but nothing worked. Then, she took a trip to the
chiropractor.
"Within a couple months, I was pregnant. Oh, we're really excited,"
she remembers.
Startling new research shows a possible link between spinal adjustments and
increased fertility in some women.
"It lets couples who have been infertile or couples who are planning on
having a family, it offers them hope," explains Dr. Madeline Behrendt.
Dr. Behrendt led a study looking at 15 women who struggled with infertility,
some for more than a decade. Then, for various reasons, each went to the
chiropractor.
Fourteen became pregnant and are now mothers.
"The chiropractor identifies spinal distortions, which are called
subluxations, and once they were detected and corrected, the fertility function
improved," Dr. Behrendt explains.
She says there's a link between chiropractic care and fertility because the
nerves to your reproductive system run through your spine. And she says when the
back is misaligned, the nerves misfire and cause a hormone imbalance, which can
prevent a woman from getting pregnant.
But not everyone is convinced.
Dr. Sandra Ann Carson is with the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. She
says the study is too small and she worries it may give women false hope.
"Until chiropractic care is compared to standard infertility treatment in a
clinical trial, we don't really know what the side effects are to either
treatments or the benefits of one versus the other."
Dr. Carson's advice to women trying to have a baby? "Talk with their health
care professionals about all treatments available, their side effects and their
success rates."
Dr. Behrendt is heading to Washington, D.C. this spring, trying to get funding
for a larger, more comprehensive study on chiropractic care and fertility.
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