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VAILDAILY SECTION B TUESDAY, 4
.
23
.
13
HighLife
Enhancing
By Rosanna Turner
DAILY CORRESPONDENT
First we believed babies came from a stork. Then at
one point we discovered the truth, learning about the
tale of the sperm and the egg from either our parents,
a teacher, or a wise older friend, like a fourth grader.
We thought we knew everything about how babies
are made and as adults many people still believe that
conceiving a child is a simple, elementary process. In
reality baby-making is a complex endeavor, with
many factors affecting both female and male fertility.
Some see the traditional method, the ol thrust
and trust if you will, as the only natural way to get
pregnant. But the stork doesnt stop there. The field of
natural fertility methods is growing faster than
Princess Kate Middletons heir to the throne, with
many local health care providers adding treatments
that aid in fertility to their practices.
Pressure points and pregnancy
Kellie Krasovec is a licensed acupuncturist based
in Edwards. Krasovec started treating fertility issues
seven years ago and sees a number of women and
couples trying to conceive. Krasovec said acupunc-
ture, or a Chinese form of medicine, restores the body
to its best state of balance.
(Acupuncture) helps clear out excess toxins so
that blood can flow more (easily) through the repro-
ductive system, ovaries, and testes, Krasovec said.
When a woman comes to see Krasovec for fertility
treatments, shell often issue a pulse diagnosis, where
one can measure the blood flow quality of the uterus.
Krasovec said she asks patients to commit to a full
three months of treatments, which includes not only
acupuncture but diet and lifestyle changes, before
expecting results. Krasovec estimates that 50 to 60
percent of her patients who go through the entire
process end up conceiving a child.
I do have quite a few folks who are just not ready
to do the work, Krasovec said. Most people have to
make significant dietary changes. In the culture we
live in, we like instant results.
Krasovec said its not uncommon for women to
receive acupuncture in conjunction with other assist-
ed reproductive technology treatments, such as in vit-
ro fertilization (IVF). In a study done by the Repro-
ductive Medicine and Fertility Center located in Col-
orado Springs, of the 578 patients treated between
2003 and 2008, there was a 15 percent increase in
pregnancies and a 23 percent increase in live births
for IVF patients treated with acupuncture.
A womans fertility rate does decrease as she ages.
According to the American Society for Reproductive
Medicine, a 30-year-old woman has a 20 percent
chance of getting pregnant per menstrual cycle, while
a 40-year old woman has a 5 percent chance.
Krasovec thinks women over the age of 35 should still
remain hopeful despite what they read online or hear
about from friends and family.
All those statistics are for people who are doing
nothing to enhance their fertility, Krasovec said. If a
woman is having a period every month and they are
ovulating, then with work they (could) conceive and
have a child. I cant make guarantees, (but) I will
always do my best to get them to the goal of having a
child.
The mind and body conception method
For some health care providers, witnessing a cou-
ple bring their first child into the world is what moti-
vates them to delve deeper into the mysteries sur-
rounding fertility. Lynsi Eastburn is a Denver-based
registered psychotherapist and the founder of Hyp-
noFertility, a program that trains therapists on how to
use hypnosis to affect fertility and aid in pregnancy.
Eastburn began applying what she knew about hyp-
nosis to childbirth 12 years ago, with surprising
results.
I ended up with women getting pregnant who
were not even candidates for in vitro fertilization,
Eastburn said. I dont like to quote numbers, (but)
most of the clients that I work with end up getting
pregnant. Its a high enough number that its been
worth me training other therapists (in HypnoFertili-
ty) and writing two books on the (sub-
ject).
Eastburn said hypnosis affects the
parasympathetic nervous system,
known as the rest and digest
response which is the opposite of the
sympathetic nervous system, or what we
commonly refer to as the fight or flight
response.
Hypnosis naturally impacts
and neutralizes our fight or flight
(response) and helps you get back
into that peaceful state, Eastburn
said.
Eastburn said she also sees
patients who have had miscar-
riages or are undergoing IVF.
People will have four or five
miscarriages, or theyll go
through a number of medical
treatments, usually IVF, and
come to do hypnosis along with
it, Eastburn said. They carry
the baby through and they tell
me the only thing theyve done
different (this time) is hypnosis.
Risk-free fertility
treatments
Stacey Horn, a local licensed
clinical social worker and certified
hypnotherapist, studied with Eastburn and now
offers HypnoFertility to her clients.
A lot of times when people come in for hypnosis,
theyve gotten desperate, Horn said. Theyre willing
to try anything that might possibly help. I never make
promises, but I do believe that if women are relaxed,
if they are calm and managing stress well, this
increases the possibility that (getting pregnant) could
happen.
Horn had her first child at age 44 and used hypno-
sis as her sole fertility method. Horn was uncertain
whether or not she could conceive a child at that age,
but she did not undergo any type of infertility testing
Fertility, page B5
New types of fertility
treatments seek to
increase conception
rates through natural
methods
your
chance
What about
the men?
Although this article focuses
on women and fertility, men can
also be a factor. According to
the American Society for
Reproductive Medicine,
infertility affects men and
women equally. In roughly 40
percent of infertile couples, the
male partner is either the sole
cause or a contributing cause.
For more information about
male infertility, visit
www.reproductivefacts.org.
Natural fertility methods,
such as acupuncture and
hypnosis, have proved
effective for some clients,
according to natural
health practitioners in
Eagle County.
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
THE VAIL DAILY || 970 949 0555 || vaildaily.com Tuesday, April 23, 2013 || B5
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health
National Drug Take
Back event planned
for Saturday
Daily staff report
NEWSROOM@VAILDAILY.COM
VAIL The Vail Police Department is partici-
pating in National Prescription Drug Take Back
Day on Saturday. The collection takes place from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Vail Municipal Building
parking lot, at 75 South Frontage Road. This is an
opportunity to clean out your medicine cabinets
of all unwanted, expired or unused medications
and have them disposed of safely. Getting rid of
unused medications helps prevent accidental
and intentional misuse of these items, while safe
disposal protects water sources by keeping drugs
out of wastewater and the landfill. The service is
free and anonymous, no questions asked.
The collected items will be incinerated in an
environmentally-friendly manner by the Drug
Enforcement Administration which spearheads
the national effort. Locally, the DEAs National
Take Back Initiative is being coordinated by the
Safe Drug Disposal Program, which is a partner-
ship among the Vail Police Department, Eagle
County Sheriffs Office, Eagle River Water & San-
itation District, Eagle County and Vail Valley
Medical Center.
If you cant make it to Vail, there will be collec-
tion sites at Battle Mountain High School in
Edwards and Costco in Gypsum from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. on Saturday. Items that can be dropped off
include vitamins, supplements, medicated oint-
ments/lotions, over-the-counter and prescrip-
tion medications, including controlled sub-
stances. Please, no needles (sharps) or pressur-
ized canisters.
During the last national collection event in Sep-
tember, Americans turned in 244 tons of prescrip-
tion drugs at over 5,200 sites operated by the DEA
and its thousands of state and local law enforce-
ment partners. In its five previous National Drug-
Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in
over 2 million pounds of pills.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and
public health issue. Medicines that languish in
home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion,
misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug
abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the
number of accidental poisonings and overdoses
due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of
abused prescription drugs are obtained from fam-
ily and friends, likely from their home medicine
cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised
that their usual methods for disposing of unused
medicines flushing them down the toilet or
throwing them in the trash both pose potential
safety and health hazards.
Four days after the first event, Congress passed
the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of
2010, which amends the Controlled Substances
Act to allow an ultimate user of controlled sub-
stance medications to dispose of them by deliv-
ering them to entities authorized by the attorney
general to accept them. The Act also allows the
attorney general to authorize long term care
facilities to dispose of their residents controlled
substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting
regulations to implement the Act. Until new reg-
ulations are in place, local law enforcement
agencies like The Vail Police Department and
the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug
take-back events every few months.
For more information, contact Sergeant
Justin Dill with the Vail Police Department at
970-477-3409.
Dispose of prescription
medication safely
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Several Eagle County
agencies are hosting
a Drug Take Back
event on Saturday.
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Kellie Krasovec, a licensed acupuncturist based in Edwards, uses
acupuncture to help treat fertility issues in women and couples trying
to conceive. Krasovec said acupuncture, a Chinese form of medicine,
restores the body to its best state of balance.
prior to getting pregnant. Because
hypnosis is such a recent addition to
the field of fertility, Horn under-
stands why some would question its
effectiveness.
I think its good to be skeptical of
things, Horn said. I know for
myself, I didnt think I could get
pregnant at that point. That was the
mindset that I had. Operating on
that belief system makes it more
difficult for women. You never
know if that unknown factor is a
belief system based on experience
or something someone told us
once (about how we couldnt get
pregnant).
No fertility method has a 100 per-
cent success rate. Because the prac-
tice of natural fertility methods like
acupuncture and hypnosis are so
new, theres little research that can
definitively prove just how much
they increase ones chance of get-
ting pregnant, if any. But unlike
more costly and invasive methods,
such as IVF, the risks of getting an
acupuncture treatment or under-
going hypnosis to enhance ones
fertility are minimal or practically
non-existent.
(With) acupuncture, almost all
the side effects are positive,
Krasovec said. Its not just about
getting pregnant, its about getting
your body to the best state of health
that you can and everything
improves.
If a couple has been trying to get
pregnant with no luck, maybe its
time they stop thrusting and put
their trust in a different kind of nat-
ural method. If this doesnt work,
maybe our childhood friend the
stork is still taking delivery orders.
For answers to some of the most
common questions asked about fer-
tility and infertility, check out last
months High Life health article
Understanding Fertility online at
www.vaildaily.com.
FERTILITY
FROM PAGE B1