Research

Chiropractic Research Testimony at the National Institute of Medicine

By Frank M. Painter|August 8, 2011|Editorial, Research|

Director of Chiropractic Research Testifies at the National Institute of Medicine

Anthony L. Rosner, Ph.D.

Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research

Anthony Rosner, Ph.D., Director of Research and Education for the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, presented testimony on behalf of chiropractic research and practice standards at hearings conducted at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) headquarters in Washington, D.C., on February 27, 2003. The occasion marked the first of six meetings of a study committee planned by the IOM over the next 18 months to explore the scientific and policy implications of the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies by the American public.

The objectives of the study committee are as follows:

To describe the use of CAM therapies by the American public, including the populations that use them and what is known about how they are provided;

To identify major scientific and policy issues related to CAM research (including gender effects), regulation, interactions with conventional medicine, and training and certification; and

To develop conceptual frameworks for guiding decision-making on these issues and questions.

The Institute of Medicine is a private, non-governmental organization that initiates studies in areas of medical care out of appropriations made available to federal agencies. It is a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, which was created by the federal government to be an advisor on scientific and technological matters.

The following is Dr. Rosner’s presentation to the Institute of Medicine.

The Use of CAM by the American Public

INTRODUCTION

My dear colleagues:

I want to thank the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for two reasons; first, for inviting my testimony this afternoon, but especially for carrying what I believe is the unfulfilled work of both the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine an essential step forward by calling us to the table today.

I also want to offer my strongest assent and congratulations to the Institute for its most pertinent and insightful assessment of American healthcare — first, in its forthright reporting of medical errors in 1999; [1] second, in providing one of the most equitable definitions among the many offered for “primary care; [1] [2] ” and finally, for having published two years ago the most candid and uncompromising assessments of U.S. healthcare, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. [3]

This last publication courageously concluded that “the American healthcare system is in need of a fundamental change,” especially because “what is perhaps most disturbing is the absence of real progress toward restructuring health care systems to address both quality and cost concerns. . . .” [3] (more…)

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The Obstacles and Barriers to CAM or Alt-Med Research

By Frank M. Painter|August 3, 2011|Editorial, Research|

The Obstacles and Barriers to CAM or Alt-Med Research

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Testimony to the White House Commission On Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy

By Anthony L. Rosner, Ph.D.

FCER Director of Research and Education

Introduction:

Until 25 years ago, chiropractic research was vastly underdeveloped and appeared to some as an oxymoron. In 1975, a conference at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that “There are little scientific data of significance to evaluate this (chiropractic’s) clinical approach to health and to the treatment of disease.” [1] From that time onward, both clinical and basic research have advanced to the point at which:

(i) over 40 randomized clinical trials comparing spinal manipulation with other treatments in the management of back pain have been published in the scientific literature, [2, 3](ii) meta-analysis and systematic reviews attesting to the support of spinal manipulation in the management of back pain [4, 5] have also appeared, and(iii) multidisciplinary panels representing the governments of the United States, [6] Canada, [7] Great Britain, [8] Sweden, [9] Denmark, [10] Australia, [11] and New Zealand [12] have expressed similar recognition of the robust evidence base in support of spinal manipulation for managing low back conditions.Barriers:

The efforts to launch and develop a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) within the framework of the NIH are indeed admirable, taking the Center from a humble $2 million annual budget in 1991 to one that approaches $70 million today. This has taken place despite the comments of highly visible and influential individuals within the medical community to discredit alternative medicine in virtually any shape or form, a topic that I shall return to momentarily.

The following are what I believe to be the most significant barriers to research efforts in alternative medicine, the barriers having either remained in place or only recently having been removed.

1. Collaborative Arrangements: (more…)

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Certified Nurse-midwives Give Chiropractic The Thumbs-Up

By Frank M. Painter|July 21, 2011|Pediatrics, Research|

Certified Nurse-midwives Give Chiropractic The Thumbs-Up

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Comp Therapies In Clinical Practice 2011 (Aug); 17 (3): 135–140

Linda Mullin, Joel Alcantara, Derek Bartonad, Lydia Deverae

Life University, College of Chiropractic, 1269 Barclay Circle, Marietta, GA 30060, USA.

187 certified nurse-midwives filled out an on-line, self-administered survey designed to gather their opinions on the safety of chiropractic, and the scope of chiropractic practice. It also captured demographic information relating to their professional training and their personal and professional clinical experiences with chiropractors.

The results were most revealing:

Responders were aware that chiropractors worked with “birthing professionals”
They were aware that DCs attended to patients for both musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal disorders
The vast majority indicated a positive personal and clinical experience with chiropractic
They also believed that chiropractic was safe for pregnant patients and for children

We want to thank the researchers at Life University and at the ICPA for their continued efforts to explain how (and why) chiropractic care is beneficial for pregnant mothers, as well as for their children. There has been a smattering of negative articles over the years trying to paint chiropractic as an unsupported “fringe” therapy, so articles like this help to set the record straight.

You may also enjoy reviewing these other relevant pages:

The Chiropractic Pediatrics Page

The “Kids Need Chiropractic, Too!” Page

The ADD/ADHD Page (more…)

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Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness At Your Fingertips

By Frank M. Painter|June 26, 2011|Cost-Effectiveness, Research|

Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness At Your Fingertips

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Virginia Chiropractic Association

The Path to Change in the US Healthcare System:
Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness

The following is a collection of studies relating to the cost effectiveness and efficacy associated with chiropractic care and the procedures that doctors of chiropractic provide. The American Chiropractic Association, The International Chiropractic Association, The Congress of State Associations, and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges appreciate the opportunity to provide these materials for your review.

All These Articles And More Are Available On Our:
The Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic Page

BACKGROUND STUDIES: (Regarding Medical Management)

Prognosis in Patients With Recent Onset Low Back Pain in Australian Primary Care: Inception cohort study
British Medical Journal 2008 (Jul 7); 337: a171 ~ FULL TEXT

This study contradicts Clinical Practice Guidelines that suggest that recovery from an episode of recent onset low back pain is usually rapid and complete. Their findings with 973 consecutive primary care patients was that recovery was slow for most patients, and almost 1/3 of patients did not recover within after one year, while following standard medical management. This study was designed to determine the one year prognosis of patients with low back pain. 973 patients with low back pain that had lasted less than 2 weeks completed a baseline questionnaire. Patients were reassessed through a phone interview at six weeks, three months and 12 months. The study found that the prognosis claimed in clinical guidelines was more favorable than the actual prognosis for the patients in the study.

(more…)

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New evidence for innate knowledge

By John Wiens DC|June 6, 2011|Research|

Source Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Do we have innate knowledge? Neuroscientists working on Blue Brain Project at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) are finding proof that this is the case. They’ve discovered that neurons make connections independently of a subject’s experience. Their results have been published in an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

We have known for a long time that neuronal circuits become established and get reinforced via experience – it’s a phenomenon known as “synaptic plasticity.” For example, this is how memories become anchored in the brain. The team working on the Blue Brain Project at EPFL, led by Professor Henry Markram, however, is offering radically new evidence that this may not be the whole story. The researchers were able to demonstrate that small clusters of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex interconnect according to a set of immutable and relatively simple rules. They published their discovery in an article that appeared in the last issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

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25 Years of Whiplash Research

By Frank M. Painter|May 31, 2011|Research, Whiplash|

25 Years of Whiplash Research

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: The American Chiropractor ~ September 2010

An interview with Arthur Croft, D.C.

Dr. Croft is the Founding Director of the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. He has been actively engaged in whiplash research for the past twenty-five years and has co-authored a best-selling textbook on whiplash (Whiplash Injuries: the Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration Syndrome, 3rd edition, 2002) and temporomandibular joint disorders (Whiplash and Temporomandibular Disorders: an Interdisciplinary Approach to Case Management), along with several other books, textbook chapters, and over 320 professional papers. He was the original developer of the now widely used whiplash (WAD) grading system, as well as the widely adopted treatment guidelines. Dr. Croft wrote and produced the Emmy-nominated video Whiplash, and the most recent human subjects crash test DVD’s, Machine vs. Man I and II and is the only chiropractic physician to conduct ongoing, full scale human volunteer crash testing.

Dr. Croft is a biomechanist, a trauma epidemiologist, and chiropractic orthopaedist and lectures extensively in the United States and abroad. He serves on the editorial boards of several professional peer-reviewed chiropractic, medical, and engineering journals, including Spine, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, SAE, JMPT, DC Tracts, Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, Chiropractic Technique, and is a senior editor of the Journal of Whiplash-Related Disorders. He has served as faculty of University of California, San Diego, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Western States Chiropractic College, and New York Chiropractic College. In addition to his own research, Dr. Croft has contributed to several research steering committees and has participated in RAND projects, including the cervical spine manipulation study, and has served as a grant reviewer for the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Croft is also a certified accident reconstructionist (NUTI). He currently serves as a panelist on the International Whiplash Task Force. Dr. Croft’s focus is public health and injury prevention and he is very close to receiving his PhD in epidemiology.

In an interview with The American Chiropractor (TAC), Dr. Croft shares some of the wisdom his studies have distilled.

Dr. Croft, please tell our readers a bit about some of the things you have been able to discover regarding whiplash through research.

Croft: Most of the discoveries concerning the whiplash phenomenon have come from the eight years of human subject crash testing we’ve done at the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. In many cases, our findings have been new and innovative and, in other cases, they have served to support or extend previous research or theory. We’ve found, for example, that occupant kinematics and biomechanics is much more complicated than previously thought and that smaller persons and larger persons have very different responses. [1] A small female will experience two to four times the head linear acceleration as a larger male in the same crash. The male, however, will experience greater rearward bending. (more…)

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