May 7, 2021

Due to many things happening over the last few years I had temporarily stopped writing case reports for those years. It is 2021 and with a little more time on my hands I have more time to write some case reports again.

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Covid 19 is currently over a year now and I hope everyone who is reading this will continue to adhere to safety protocols. We are blessed to live in BC where the cases, while not little, is still not on the high end compared to other places. As of writing this it is on a downward trajectory and I hope it continues like that with the prospect of returning to some level of normalcy in the foreseable future.

Recently more and more people are coming to see me for infertility. Age ranges from early 30s to early 40s. Population studies are very clear now that most developed countries will continue to experience population declines due to low birth rates, as a result of delayed marriages, delayed pregnancies etc. Economic realities are a key reason but societal changes and cultural changes as a result of modernization are I think a bigger reason although this is usually omitted from the discussion. I say this because the economic reasons aside, many of the patients I have seen don't really have financial difficulties, as many can still afford IVF. If you ask about IVF you will know how much it costs. However they all have what we call in Chinese Medicine liver qi stagnation which means circulation is poor due to mental stress. Mental stress can cover anything from feeling depressed, moody, ease of anger, pent up feelings, anxiety and any of the sort that disrupts one's quality of life. Reasons behind this are complex but I think it is all attributed to the effects of modernization, industrialization and societal competition.

The liver in TCM covers a wide area. It covers the brain, eyes, mouth, chest, liver organ, reproductive organs, genitals and inside portion of the leg. Patients with liver qi stagnation have usually a combination of symptoms affecting these areas. Knowing how to manage your stress and reconditioning your mental brain wiring is homework I believe everyone should do on a daily basis considering the state of the world we live in these days.

One of the patients I recently saw, while she does not admit or show any signs, is over liver qi stagnation. After treatment with acupuncture over a about a 2 month period she said she got pregnant. We usually aim for 3 months to begin with but some people succeed sooner so good for her.