Chiropractic Validation
Empirical evidence suggests that Chiropractic is a safe and
effective means of natural healing and a major body of scientific data supports
Chiropractic effectiveness.The studies
listed below are just a fraction of the published studies on the efficacy of
Chiropractic.
The RAND Study
The RAND Corporation, one of the most prestigious centers for research in
public policy and health, released a study in 1991 which found the spinal manipulation is appropriate for most kinds
of low back pain.
The Koes Clinical Trial
A 1992 Dutch project compared Chiropractic manipulation and physiotherapy for
treatment of persistent back and neck complaints.After 12 months, the manipulative therapy group
showed greater improvement in the primary complaint as well as in physical
function, with fewer visits
The AHCPR Guideline
In
1994, the agency for health Care policy and Research and Research (AHCPR), now
the Agency on Health Research and Quality (AHRQ), an arm of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, released a clinical practice guideline for the
treatment of acute low back problems. The guidelines recommend the use
of spinal manipulation as an effective method of symptom control.The researchers developed the guideline
found that ;"manipulation...is safe and
effective for patients in the first
month of acute low back pain symptoms without radiculopathy."
The Manga Study
This study researched both the effectiveness and
cost-effectiveness of Chiropractic management of low back pain. Dr. Pran Manga, the Studies author. Found "on the evidence,
particularly the most scientifically valid clinical studies, spinal
manipulation applied by Chiropractors is shown to be more effective that alternative
treatment for low back pain. Many
medical therapies are of questionable validity or are clearly inadequate".
The Duke Study
Based on a literature review of several headache treatment options, a panel of
19 multidisciplinary experts concluded that spinal manipulation resulted in
almost immediate improvement for cervicogenic headaches and had significantly
fewer side effects and longer lasting relief of tension-type headaches than
commonly prescribed medications. Researchers concluded the following: "Manipulation appeared to result in frequency and severity." immediate
improvement in headache severity and sustained improvement in headache
The Boline study
This randomized controlled trial compared six weeks of spinal manipulative
treatment of tension-type headache by Chiropractors to six weeks of treatment
with amitriptyline, a medication often prescribed for treatment of severe
tension headache pain. Researchers
found that chiropractic patients
experienced fewer side-effects (4.3%) than the amitriptyline group (82.1%) and
while both were effective during the treatment phase of the study, only the
Chiropractic patients continued to report fewer headaches when treatment ended.
The Nelson Migraine Study
This study compared Chiropractic spinal manipulation to amitriptyline (a medication
often prescribed for the treatment of headache) for the treatment of migraine
headache. The researchers found that "spinal
manipulation seemed to be as effective
as a well-established and efficacious treatment (amitriptyline), and on the basis of a benign side effects profile,
it should be considered as a treatment option for patients with frequent
migraine headaches." The researchers
found that in the weeks immediately following treatment, patients who had
received spinal manipulation had a 42% reduction in headache frequency,
compared to only 24% of those who took amitriptyline.
A Study of Education
This study examined the education provided in medical school to that provided
in chiropractic school. The researchers found that "considerable commonality exists between chiropractic
and medical programs." Surprisingly, it was found that more time is spent in basic and clinical
sciences in the chiropractic education. Not surprisingly, chiropractic education spends more time on nutrition,
while medical education spends more time on public health. In addition, little time in medical school
is devoted to the study of the neuromusculoskeletal system and its related
health problems; this is a major focus in chiropractic education.
The Colic Study
When researchers compared spinal manipulation for treatment
of infantile colic to dimethicone (a medication for colic), they came to the simple conclusion: "Spinal manipulation is effective in relieving infantile colic"
The British government completed a major ten year study on
Chiropractic in 1990 and found it to be more
effective than medicine within it’s realm by as much as a 2-1 advantage. It used random control trials and a scientifically
accepted Oswestry Scale of pain measurement that were evaluated by PhD’s acting
as independent referees.
The Italian government conducted a major two year study on
17,142 patients and found that Chiropractic care reduced hospitalization by
87.6% and work loss by 75.5%. The study
involved using Chiropractors within 22 medical clinics in cooperation with
leading universities. It utilized PhD’s
as independent referees to record the results of Chiropractic adjustments.
The government of New
Zealand appointed a commission to study Chiropractic that conducted an
extensive 20 month study that took an investigative team to the United States,
Canada, Australia and Great Britain. The study was responsible for prompting the British government to
conduct it’s own study on Chiropractic. The New Zealand Commission concluded that Chiropractic is a "vital,
therapeutically effective, impressively safe, scientifically based
profession." It recommended that Chiropractic be available in all hospitals in New
Zealand in the best interest of the patients.
A Medical/Chiropractic
research team from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, found that one group
of 171 chronically (seven years) disabled, medically unresponsive low back pain
sufferers received 87% results under Chiropractic care within two to three
weeks and remained without pain on reevaluation one year later.
A hospital study involving two hospital orthopedic
wards in the Chicago area compared their results, one using Chiropractic care
and the other only conventional Medical services. The hospital using Chiropractic care was sending patients home
seven to nine days sooner! The study is
a matter of public record in the Northern Illinois Federal Court case that
Chiropractic had against the AMA as elated by Per Freitag, MD, PhD, professor
and leading Chicago area orthopedist.
One of America’s largest HMO’s, AVMED, sent 100 cases
to a local Chiropractor to evaluate his results. Eighty of these cases were "medical failures." Twelve of them were diagnosed by a medical
team as needing disc surgery. The
overall results were 86% within three weeks and not one of the 12 disc cases needed surgery after
receiving Chiropractic care. The Medical director of AVMED concluded that the
Chiropractor saved the HMO hundreds of thousands of dollars and untold
suffering, as well as the hazards of major surgery.
The workers compensation records for the State of Utah
revealed that workers compensation costs for Chiropractic were 10 times less
than for Medicine for like injures.
California and Oregon Worker’s Compensation records
show that Chiropractic outperformed Medicine by a 3-1 ratio on cost
effectiveness and time lost from work for similar conditions
The Ontario government commissioned a study on
Chiropractic that analyzed all available clinical studies, statistics and other
pertinent data and found that there was an "overwhelming body of evidence" that
Chiropractic was superior, more therapeutically effective, cost efficient, safer, more scientifically based and
had a much higher level of patient satisfaction than Medical care. It cautioned the Ontario government against
many of the "untested, questionable or harmful medical treatments" and urged the
government to prefer Chiropractic care over Medical care for some
ailments. It also recommended that
Chiropractors be "gate keepers" in hospitals when admitting back ailments
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