News – Page 8 – Chiropractic Resource Organization

Historic Grant for Palmer, Rand Corporation, and Samueli Institute To Study Chiropractic Care For Active-duty Military Personnel

By Frank M. Painter|April 8, 2011|News, Research|

Historic Grant for Palmer, Rand Corporation, and Samueli Institute To Study Chiropractic Care For Active-duty Military Personnel

On Febuary 18, 2011 we reported that the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research received a $7.4 million Military Readiness Grant. Here’s an interesting update (4-09-2011) on the proposed study from Dynamic Chiropractic

On the Front Lines With Chiropractic Research

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program has awarded the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, the RAND Corporation and the Samueli Institute $7.4 million to conduct a four-year research project featuring members of the U.S. military as study subjects.

The primary area of study: the impact of chiropractic treatment on the military readiness of active-duty personnel. Dr. Christine Goertz, Palmer College of Chiropractic’s vice president for research and health policy, who serves as co-principal investigator of the project, summed up the importance of the award: “The three clinical trials to be conducted at six sites across the country under this grant represent the largest coordinated research effort to date within the chiropractic profession. In one of the trials, we will randomize 850 active-duty military personnel at four of the six sites. This represents the largest clinical trial effort to date evaluating chiropractic care.” (more…)

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Don’t sit up straight

By John Wiens DC|April 5, 2011|News, Uncategorized|

Source MSNBC

The longstanding advice to “sit up straight” has been turned on its head by a new study that suggests leaning back is a much better posture.

Researchers analyzed different postures and concluded that the strain of sitting upright for long hours is a perpetrator of chronic back problems.

Using a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers studied 22 volunteers with no back pain history. The subjects assumed three different positions: slouching; sitting up straight at 90 degrees; and sitting back with a 135-degree posture—all while their spines were scanned. (more…)

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Spinal Cord Processes Information Just as Areas of Brain Do, Research Finds

By Michael Beattie|March 23, 2011|News|

“Basic physiology books describe the spinal cord as a relay system, but it’s part of the central nervous system and processes information just like parts of the brain do,” explains Dr. Stroman, director of the Queen’s MRI Facility and Canada Research Chair in Imaging Physics.

The technique involves capturing multiple images of the spinal cord using a conventional MRI system. The image capturing is repeated every few seconds over several minutes. During the imaging temperature sensations on the skin are varied allowing areas of the spinal cord that respond to the temperature changes to be detected in the MRI.

During their research, Dr. Stroman’s team was also surprised to discover that levels of attention impact information processing in the spinal cord. By examining the differences in spinal cord functioning in people who were either alert or distracted by a task they were able to see changes in the level of cord activity picked up by the MRI scanner.

“The effect of attention is one of the reasons that when you’re playing sports and you get hurt, you often don’t become aware of the injury until after the game when your attention and focus changes,” says Dr. Stroman. “We already knew that a person’s level of attention affects information processing in the brain, but this finding has made us aware that level of attention has to be properly controlled in research that aims to accurately map spinal cord function.”

Original Article

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Got An Opinion on Tort Reform?

By Frank M. Painter|March 18, 2011|News, Tort Reform|

Got An Opinion on Tort Reform?

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: MedScape

NOTE: Registration is free on MedScape

Medscape’s new headline trumpets: “Tort Reform Bill Would Reduce Deficit by $40 Billion”. Sounds pretty intoxicating doesn’t it. Aren’t we all just dying to see the deficit shrivel down to where it was when Bill Clinton was in office? I sure am.

However, after reading several paragraphs, I am horrified to see the unreasonable limits they want to set on noneconomic damages. I have heard too many stories of amputations of the wrong limb to think that a pittance is a reasonable payout for sloppy workmanship. Read on:

Tort Reform Bill Would Reduce Deficit by $40 Billion

By: Robert Lowe

March 11, 2011 — A House bill that caps noneconomic damages in malpractice cases at $250,000 and enacts other reforms to curb frivolous lawsuits against clinicians would reduce the federal deficit by $40 billion from 2011 to 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The bill, called the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011, would lower premiums for malpractice insurance and reduce the number of “defensive medicine” services ordered by clinicians to avoid getting sued, the CBO stated in an analysis released yesterday. As a result of these lower costs, direct federal spending on healthcare would decrease by $34 billion over 10 years.

In addition, lower costs on the provider side would cause premiums for private health insurance to fall, which would allow employers to increase taxable wages for employees. That, in turn, would boost federal tax revenue by roughly $6 billion. (more…)

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Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness

By Frank M. Painter|March 16, 2011|Cost-Effectiveness, News|

Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Health Insights Today

By Daniel Redwood, DC

“Doctors of chiropractic are a vital part of our nation’s health care system. Your services have been proven both effective and cost-effective and every day you help countless Americans with a variety of health conditions.”

~ Kathleen Sebelius,
Secretary of Health and Human Services
2011 National Chiropractic Legislative Conference

Health care costs in the United States continue to rise and now account for 17.6% of the economy. In the public sector, Medicare and Medicaid budgets are under continual strain, while accelerating private sector insurance premium increases are pricing millions of American families out of the market each year.

Aside from outlawing pre-existing condition exclusions and providing premium subsidies for those who need them most, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) empowers the Department of Health and Human Services to take a variety of steps toward controlling costs. But attempts to utilize these powers will trigger strong opposition from groups facing adverse impact to their bottom lines. Further complicating matters, the future of PPACA remains uncertain as opponents seek to vilify, defund and repeal it. (more…)

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Are Chiropractic Patients Less Likely To Be Vaccinated?

By Frank M. Painter|March 11, 2011|News, Vaccination|

Are Chiropractic Patients Less Likely To Be Vaccinated?

The Chiro.Org Blog

Influenza vaccination among chiropractic patients and other users of complementary and alternative medicine: Are chiropractic patients really different?

SOURCE: Preventive Medicine 2011 (Feb 4) [Epub ahead of print]

Davis MA, Smith M, Weeks WB.

Center for Health Policy, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, 35 Centerra Parkway, Lebanon, NH 03766, United States; Grace Cottage Hospital, Townshend, VT, United States.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies suggest a possible association between using chiropractic care and lower influenza vaccination rates. We examined adult influenza vaccination rates for chiropractic patients to determine if they are different than those for users of other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). (more…)

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