Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Special Issue on
Infertility: ART, Medicinal Plants,
and Acupuncture
Medicinal plants and herbal formulas used to treat
infertility have been studied for the support of pregnancies
that have been achieved using
artificial reproductive technologies (ART). Likewise, acupuncture’s effects
on pregnancy have been studied, particularly when applied before
and after in vitro fertilization (IVF). However,
to date there are only a few papers
that examine herbal
support for fertility, and only one paper
that presents findings
of acupuncture and traditional Chinese
herbal medicine combined to treat infertility. Practitioners often employ more than one therapeutic in
clinic.
We invite research and review papers
describing current and expected usage of medicinal plants and acupuncture (used
individually or concurrently) for ART clients. Clinical trials and clinical
experiences are welcome. Papers based on clinic experience would need to devote several
paragraphs to justifying their methodological approach
and of course need patient consent.
Potential topics
include, but are not limited to:
Systematic reviews that only discuss the limitations and weaknesses of previously conducted research will not be acceptedAuthors who
have already published research
on medicinal plants
and ART are welcome to discuss patient
details that were excluded from their original publicationsFailures to achieve
pregnancy using ART and
medicinal plants are also welcome if patient
details such as poor oocyte
quality or other
medical issues are discussed as
the probable reason for failure
Authors can submit their manuscripts via the Manuscript Tracking System
at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ecam/iamp/.
Lead Guest Editor
Cheryl Lans, Institute
for Ethnobotany and
Zoopharmacognosy, Ubbergen,
Netherlands
Guest Editors
Manuscript Due
Friday, 29
January 2016
First Round of Reviews
Friday, 22 April 2016
Publication Date
Friday, 17
June 2016
