TCM Treatment for Luteal Phase Defect
53 patients with Luteal phase defect (LPD) were treated with different Chinese medicinal herbs at different phases of menstrual cycle. On the 5th day of the
menstrual cycle, the treatment was implemented with the rationale of "nourishing the Kidney Yin, invigorating the Spleen and replenishing the Qi, promoting the blood circulation and enriching the Blood" which might promote follicular development. The principle for the postovulatory treatment was that invigorating the Kidney and strengthening the Yang" might enhance the development of corpus luteum and maintain its function. The patients were treated for three menstrual cycles.

There were significant improvement in the luteal phase of endometrium, and prolonged basal body temperature elevation in progestational stage with a tendency for normalization of the wave forms and its amplitude after the treatment. In the mid-progestational stage, the level of serum LH and PRL were reduced (P < 0.05) and that of serum progestin (P) rose significantly (P < 0.01), as compared with those before the treatment. The findings suggested that Chinese herbal medicines capable of replenishing the Kidney could regulate the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis and thus improve the luteal function. Among the 53 cases, 22 (41.5%) conceived but 68.18% of them required other measures to preserve the pregnancy.