Strong Foundations II - Effectiveness

A patient was asked by a relative what evidence there was that supported chiropractic. I thought this would make a good subject for a blog post. Especially since I haven't done one in a while. The first thing that needs to be understood is that the majority of research on chiropractic and the journals that publish that research are not included in the standard medical reference guide known as the index medicus (PubMed). For the sake of this post I am going to stick with those that are contained in the index medicus. The problem with the vast majority of research is it tends to focus on a problem (diagnosis) then a treatment (chiropractic adjustments) and then follow up to see if the problem resolved. Since the approach to chiropractic I take and how chiropractic actually works doesn't match this formula for research, the research can be ambiguous. Let's use a little analogy. Lets say you wanted to lose 150 lbs. and went to the gym and were prescribed exercise. You tried it for 2 weeks. You didn't lose the 150 lbs. The amount of weight you lost was deemed insignificant therefore exercise does not contribute to weight loss. Are you starting to see the issue. Chiropractic (and our approach of structural correction) deals with the accumulation of trauma and stress on mainly the spine and the central nervous system it protects, over the course of life. Expecting an intervention or a couple of interventions to reverse all of that is a little bit of a stretch. Healing takes time. So what type of data would be evidence for chiropractics' effectiveness? Well, it turns out there a 2 particular studies that put things in perspective. Both of the studies were published in JMPT (2000; Jan 23(1):10-9 & 2007 May 30(4):263-9) if you're into references. These studies looked at seniors under regular, long term chiropractic care. They were checked and adjusted when necessary. It was done more on a brushing your teeth, maintenance type of approach not a treat a symptom approach. The average was 16 plus years under care. The outcome measures are truly insightful.

These seniors also demonstrated the following:

• 60.2% Fewer Hospital Admissions
• 59.0% Fewer Days in the Hospital
• 62.0% Fewer Outpatient Surgeries and Procedures
• 85% Lower Pharmaceutical Costs

These numbers are based on 70,274 member-months over a 7-year period.

If you found this interesting, feel free to pass it along.