Acupuncture and herbal medicine to lower FSH level

In the present industrial societies such as United States, many women choose or are forced to have children at an older age. They postponed the decision to have children for economical reasons, finding a suitable partner, advancing in their carrier or their education. As the result of this phenomena, women are getting pregnant at older ages (late 30s to early 40s) which contributes to problems with their fertility capability.
The optimal physiological age for pregnancy for a woman is early 20s to early 30s. Formal evaluation of infertility is generally indicated in women attempting pregnancy who fail to conceive after a year or more of regular, unprotected intercourse.
It has been proven as women age, the quality of follicles which are produced by their ovaries are compromised which can be measure via few different blood test. One of the most popular used blood tests which indicate ovarian reserve is FSH (follicle stimulating Hormone) test which is measured on day 2-3 of menstrual cycle.
FSH is produced by the anterior pituitary gland, it is a gonadotropin which functions to stimulate the Ovaries. During the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, FSH secreted by the pituitary glands stimulates the production of ovarian follicles and estradiol (E2), this continues as the E2 levels peaks, causing the pituitary gland to increase the production of luteinizing hormone (LH), which in turn acts as the trigger for ovulation to take place. If ovaries respond poorly to the FSH, and the level of E2 does not rise sufficiently, the pituitary gland recognizes this and secrets more FSH to further stimulates the ovary. In this feedback system the FSH level rises as the ovary become less responsive.

In Traditional Chinese medicine gynecology texts the section on female infertility is usually found in the last chapter as one of “eight miscellaneous diseases”. According to these texts the major etiologies of female infertility include:
1- Kidney deficiency, which include Kidney jing deficiency, kidney yin deficiency, kidney yang deficiency, kidney yin and yang deficiency.
2- Heart and liver Qi stagnation
3- Blood stagnation
4- Damp phlegm accumulation
Although in Chinese medicine texts do not specifically discuss etiology of a rise in FSH level, but any of the above could cause a high FSH level.
Elliot et al; discusses that main differential diagnosis of high FSH levels according to Chinese medicine which are as follows:
1- Kidney yin deficiency with empty
2- Liver blood deficiency leading to yin deficiency
3- Liver and heart qi stagnation
4- Liver fire
5- Blood stagnation
6- Kidney yang deficiency
Some studies have shown the effectiveness of Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in various gynecological problems and women with fertility issues where FSH levels were measured before and after treatments; but few studies have been done to only measure the effectiveness of Acupuncture and Chinese herbs on FSH level.