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Chiropractic (from Greek chiros and praktikos meaning "done by hand") is a complementary and alternative medicine health profession whose purpose is to diagnose and treat mechanical disorders of the spine and musculoskeletal system with the intention of affecting the nervous system and improving health. Chiropractic uses manual treatments including spinal adjustment and other joint and soft-tissue manipulation. Historically, it is based on the premise that a spinal joint dysfunction can interfere with the nervous system and result in many different conditions of diminished health. The contemporary view examines the relationship between structure and function and its impact on neurological mechanisms in both health and disease.

Chiropractors, also known as a Doctor of Chiropractic or chiropractic doctors/physicians use a combination of treatments which are predicated on the specific needs of the individual patient. A chiropractic doctor can develop and carry out a comprehensive treatment/management plan which can include spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy exercise prescription and health and lifestyle counseling.

Chiropractic was founded in 1895 by D. D. Palmer in the USA, and it is now practiced in more than 100 countries. Since its inception, Chiropractic has been the subject of controversy, criticism, and outright attacks regarding the metaphysical approach that the early profession had taken. It has come from philosophical conflicts within the profession, critics outside the profession, and from researchers in the scientific community. This same criticism may well have been the catalyst that allowed some within the profession to take a more neuromuscular approach in their educational standards (see Council on Chiropractic Education), leading them away from the more metaphysical explanations of their predecessors towards more scientific ones.

The philosophy of chiropractic care: a complementary and holistic approach to health care

According to Robert Mootz D.C. and Reed Phillips D.C., Ph.D., although chiropractic has much in common with other health professions, its philosophical approach distinguishes it from modern medicine. The philosophy of Chiropractic involves what has been described as a "contextual, naturopathic approach" to health care. Also, the chiropractic model favours a holistic and biopsychosocial model of disease in contrast to the reductionist and biomedical model used in mainstream medicine.

The traditional, "allopathic" or "medical" model considers disease as generally the result of some external influence, such as a toxin, a parasite, an allergen, or an infectious agent: the solution is to counter the perceived environmental factor (e.g., using an antibiotic for a bacterial infection). By contrast, the naturopathic approach considers that lowered "host resistance" is necessary for disease to occur, so the appropriate solution is to direct treatment to strengthen the host, regardless of the environment. In contemporary clinical practice, one can find elements of both naturopathic and allopathic philosophy among all types of providers. The degree to which a practitioner emphasizes different tenets of these philosophies is one factor that determines the manner in which they practice.

Chiropractic Perspectives That Reflect a Holistic Approach to Patient Care

  • noninvasive, emphasizes patient's inherent recuperative abilities
  • recognizes dynamics between lifestyle, environment, and health
  • emphasizes understanding the cause of illness in an effort to eradicate, rather than palliate, associated symptoms
  • recognizes the centrality of the nervous system and its intimate relationship with both the structural and regulatory capacities of the body
  • appreciates the multifactorial nature of influences (structural, chemical, and psychological) on the nervous system
  • balances the benefits against the risks of clinical interventions
  • recognizes as imperative the need to monitor progress and effectiveness through appropriate diagnostic procedures
  • prevents unnecessary barriers in the doctor-patient encounter
  • emphasizes a patient-centered, hands-on approach intent on influencing function through structure
  • strives toward early intervention, emphasizing timely diagnosis and treatment of functional, reversible conditions
Source:AHCPR Chapter 2 Chiropractic Belief Systems, Robert D. Mootz DC; Reed B. Phillips DC, PhD

The Chiropractic approach to healthcare stresses the importance of prevention. Former president of National College of Chiropractic, Joseph Janse DC (1909-1985) explains:

"Unless pathology is demonstrable under the microscope, as in the laboratory or by roentgenograms, to them it does not exist. For years the progressive minds in chiropractic have pointed out this deficiency. With emphasis they have maintained the fact that prevention is so much more effective than attempts at a cure. They pioneered the all-important principle that effective eradication of disease is accomplished only when it is in its functional (beginning) phase rather than its organic (terminal) stage. It has been their contention that in general the doctor, the therapist and the clinician have failed to realize exactly what is meant by disease processes, and have been satisfied to consider damaged organs as disease, and to think in terms of sick organs and not in terms of sick people. In other words, we have failed to contrast disease with health, and to trace the gradual deteriorization along the downward path, believing almost that mild departures from the physiological normal were of little consequence, until they were replaced by pathological changes..."


According to a 2002 survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, chiropractic care was among the ten most commonly used complementary and alternative medicine(CAM) therapies among adults in the USA. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, suggests that chiropractic care will increasingly play an important role in health care:

"Because chiropractors emphasize the importance of healthy lifestyles and do not prescribe drugs or perform surgery, chiropractic care is appealing to many health-conscious Americans. Chiropractic treatment of the back, neck, extremities, and joints has become more accepted as a result of research and changing attitudes about alternative, noninvasive health care practices."

Chiropractic manipulative treatment techniques

Main article: Chiropractic treatment techniques

Spinal manipulation was used medicinally as early as 2700 B.C. in ancient Chinese medicine. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine" used manipulative techniques as did the ancient Egyptians and many other cultures. The modern introduction of manipulative therapy occured in the late 1800s in North America with the emergence of Osteopathic and Chiropractic professions. While some manipulative procedures associated with chiropractic care can be traced back to ancient times, the modern profession of chiropractic was founded by Daniel David Palmer in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa. Over the years, the chiropractic profession has developed hundreds of manipulative techniques, but critics suggest that certain 'specialized' techniques are dubious and lack plausible scientific rationale. Spinal manipulative therapy gained recognition during the 1980’s by mainstream medicine with supporters such as James Cyriax, MD, John McM. Mennell, M.D., Scott Haldeman, D.C., Ph.D., M.D. and recently many others physicians who hold academic and clinical appointments at medical and chiropractic colleges and with multidisciplinary research and professional organizations supporting spinal manipulative therapy. Today manipulative therapy is becoming more mainstream and is employed by medical specialists (e.g. physiatrists, orthopedists, sports medicine practitioners), and some osteopathic physicians, physical therapists and athletic trainers


Despite this increased interest from conventional medicine, chiropractors still perform over 90% of all spinal and joint manipulations and are considered to be the expert providers of spinal adjustment, manipulation and other manual treatments.

Most frequently used manipulation techniques (US)

The United States' National Board of Chiropractic Examiners has rated the following as the most frequently used techniques, here listed with the percentages of chiropractors who use them and patients who are treated with them:

Technique % of Chiropractors
using technique 		% of Patients
treated with technique
1. Diversified 96.2 71.5
2. Extremity manipulating/adjusting 95.4 46.8
3. Activator Methods 69.9 23.9
4. Thompson 61.3 28.2
5. Gonstead 57.2 26.2
6. Cox Flexion/Distraction 56.5 23.5
7. Sacro Occipital Technique 49.6 15.3
8. Manipulative/Adjustive Instruments 40.3 15.7
9. Cranial 38.0 10.3
10. Applied Kinesiology 37.6 12.9
11. NIMMO/Receptor Tonus 33.6 13.4
12. Logan Basic 26.0 5.2
13. Palmer upper cervical (Hole-in-One) 25.7 6.7
14. Pierce-Stillwagon 15.4 5.1
15. Meric 15.1 4.3
16. Other 12.5 10.4

Manipulation under anesthesia or MUA is specialized procedure that requires direct medical supervision and typically occurs in hospitals. MDs administer general anaesthesia and DCs adminster spinal manipulation. Typically, it is performed on patients who have failed to respond to other forms of treatment.

Practice styles and schools of thought

All chiropractors share a common approach to patient care: all are based on conservative, non-invasive, non-medication approaches via manual therapy. Nonetheless, there are significant differences amongst the practice styles, claims and beliefs between various practitioners.

There are 2 main practice styles and schools of thought. Straight chiropractors chiropractors are the oldest movement. They adhere to the philosophical principles set forth by DD and BJ Palmer; that vertebral subluxation leads to interference of the human nervous system and is a primary underlying risk factor for almost any disease. Straights adhere to the chiropractic diagnosis of subluxations, and view the medical diagnosis of patient complaints (which they consider to be the "secondary effects" of subluxations) to be unnecessary for treatment. Thus, straight chiropractors are concerned primarily with the detection and correction of vertebral subluxation via adjustment and do not "mix" other types of therapies. Their philosophy and explanations are metaphysical in nature and prefer to use traditional chiropractic lexicon (i.e. subluxation, adjustment, spinal analysis, etc). They primarily wish to remain separate and distinct from mainstream health care.

Mixer chiropractors are an early offshoot of the straight movement. This branch "mixed" diagnostic and treatment approaches from naturopathic, osteopathic, medical, and chiropractic viewpoints. Unlike straight chiropractors, mixer chiropractors incoporate mainstream medical diagnostics and employ a myriad of treatments including joint and soft tissue manipulation, electromodalities, physical therapy, exercise-rehabilitation and other complementary and alternative approaches such as acupuncture. They tend to specifically focus more on the neuromusculoskeletal system and frequently treat extremity complaints in addition to spinal ones. Mixers tend to use more mainstream scientific methods and descriptions as opposed to metaphysical ones. In contrast to straight chiropractors, mixers generally want to be integrated into mainstream health care.

Reform chiropractors are a minority group who advocate the use of palpation and manipulation to identify and treat osteoarthritis, painful joints, and other musculoskeletal problems. They do not subscribe to the Palmer philosophy of Innate Intelligence and vertebral subluxations, do not believe that spinal joint dysfunction causes organic or systemic disease, and tend not to use alternative medicine methods. They prefer to align themselves more with medical and osteopathic physicians in their views of disease causes, processes and responses to manipulative therapy. Reformers tend to share the viewpoints found in the National Association for Chiropractic Medicine.

Perspective Attribute Potential Belief Endpoints
Scope of practice: narrow ("straight") <-- --> broad ("mixer")
Diagnostic approach: intuitive <-- --> analytical
Philosophic orientation: vitalistic <-- --> materialistic
Scientific orientation: descriptive <-- --> experimental
Process orientation: implicit <-- --> explicit
Practice attitude: doctor/model-centered <-- --> patient-situation-centered
Professional integration : separate and distinct <-- --> integrated into mainstream
Table 2. Range of Belief in Chiropractic

Source: Phillips RB, Mootz RD. Contemporary chiropractic philosophy. In Haldeman S (ed). Principles and Practice of Chiropractic, 2nd Ed. Norwalk, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1992. Chart reprinted from Keating J (1995), D.D. Palmer's Forgotten Theories of Chiropractic

Chiropractors generally cannot write medical prescriptions. Traditionally, they consider the prescription of drugs the province of conventional medicine, with the chiropractor's role being to pursue drug-free alternative treatments. More recently (2003), a survey of North American chiropractors found that a majority supported limited prescription rights. A notable exception is the state of Oregon, which allows chiropractors with minor additional qualification to prescribe over-the-counter drugs. Generally speaking, mixers are more in favour of expanding their scope and obtaining limited prescription rights whereas straights remain opposed to any outside interventions asides from subluxation correction via spinal adjustments.

Depending on the country or state in which a Chiropractic school is located, some chiropractors may obtain additional training to perform minor surgery, obstetrics and proctology. When indicated, the doctor of chiropractic consults with, co-manages, or refers to other health care providers.

Chiropractic history and the subluxation construct

Main article: Vertebral subluxation
File:Ddpalmer3.jpg
DD Palmer

DD Palmer gave the first spinal adjustment to a deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard, on September 18, 1895, reportedly resulting in a restoration of the man's hearing.. Palmer had discovered that manual manipulation of the spine could result in improved neurological function. Friend and Rev. Samuel Weed suggested combining the words cheiros and praktikos (meaning "done by hand") and chiropractic was born. Palmer claimed that vertebral joint misalignments, which he termed "Subluxations" interfered with the body's function and its inborn ability to heal itself. This concept was later expanded upon by his son,BJ Palmer.

DD Palmer, using a vitalistic approach, imbued the term subluxation with a metaphysical and philosophical meaning. He held that a malposition of spinal bones, which protect the spinal cord and nerve roots, interfered with the transmission of nerve impulses. Because half of the nervous system is sensory and the other half motor (control), he postulated that living things had an Innate intelligence, a kind of "spiritual energy" or life force that received the sensory information from the various parts of the body and made a decision as to what the motor nerves should convey. DD Palmer claimed that subluxations interfered with this innate intelligence, and that by fixing them, all diseases could be treated.

Early on, the Palmers described this concept as similar to applying pressure to a water hose that supplies a garden - relieve the pressure and the garden flourishes. It was later theorized that a vertebral subluxation was a misaligned vertebrae that pinched a nerve. They thought that this interfered with the information the nerve was transmitting between the central nervous system and the structures of the body. He qualified this by noting that knowledge of Innate Intelligence was not essential to the competent practice of chiropractic.

In 1996, it was proposed that a vertebral subluxation is more aptly defined as, "a complex of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health" though this has paradigm has come under critique both internally and externally.

Debate about the need to remove the concept of subluxation from the chiropractic paradigm has been ongoing since the mid 1960s. While straights hold firmly to the term and its vitalistic construct, reformers suggest that the mechanistic model will allow chiropractic to better integrate into mainstream medicine without making claims inherent in the term. Anthony Rosner PhD, director of education and research at the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) considered subluxation and the concept of Occam's razor. He suggests "there is no obvious reason to discard the concept of subluxation, while at the same time maintaining that it is not a rigid entity, but rather an important model and concept; a work in progress that undoubtedly will undergo extensive modification as our concepts of light or psychoanalysis have evolved over half a century."

Meridel I. Gatterman DC, educator and writer observed:

"The word subluxation has been ... embodied with a multitude of meaning by chiropractors during the past one hundred years. To some it has become the holy word; to others, an albatross to be discarded ... to add to the confusion, more than 100 synonyms for subluxation have been used. Why then do we persist in using the term when it has become so overburdened with clinical, political, and philosophical ... significance ... that the concept that once helped to hold a young profession together now divides it and keeps it quarrelling over basic semantics? The obvious answer is: The concept of subluxation is central to chiropractic."

Despite the term's vitalistic roots, chiropractic today may still use the term Innate Intelligence; however, it has taken on a less metaphysical meaning. Innate Intelligence today is used to describe the self-healing power of the body. Thus, a modern chiropractic view is that by removing the restrictions caused by subluxation, the chiropractor is improving the body's own potential for self-healing.

Lon Morgan, DC, a reform chiropractor, expressed his view of innate intelligence this way: "Innate Intelligence clearly has its origins in borrowed mystical and occult practices of a bygone era. It remains untestable and unverifiable and has an unacceptably high penalty/benefit ratio for the chiropractic profession. The chiropractic concept of Innate Intelligence is an anachronistic holdover from a time when insufficient scientific understanding existed to explain human physiological processes. It is clearly religious in nature and must be considered harmful to normal scientific activity."

It should be noted, however, that not all chiropractic institutions subscribe to the vertebral subluxation theory, as well as the difference between a chiropractic subluxation and its use in Medicine and Ophthalmology. See subluxation.

Main article: Chiropractic history

Medicine vs. chiropractic

In September 1899, a medical doctor in Davenport, IA, named Heinrich Matthey started a campaign against drugless healers in Iowa. DD Palmer, whose school had just graduated its 7th student, insisted that his techniques did not need the same courses or license as medical doctors, as his graduates did not prescribe drugs or evaluate blood or urine. However, in 1906, Palmer was convicted for practicing medicine without a license. He chose to turn over his interests in the Palmer School of Chiropractic to his son, BJ and wife, Mabel. Thus began a long standing feud between chiropractic doctors and medical doctors that would culminate in the mid 1980's in a land mark case, Wilk et al. vs American Medical Association (AMA).

Until 1983, the AMA held that it was unethical for medical doctors to associate with an "unscientific practitioner", and labeled chiropractic "an unscientific cult". Principle 3 of the AMA Principles of Medical Ethics stated:

"A physician should practice a method of healing founded on a scientific basis; and he should not voluntarily professionally associate with anyone who violates this principle."

A Chicago chiropractor, Chester A. Wilk, initiated an antitrust suit against the AMA and other medical associations in 1976 - Wilk et al. vs AMA et al.. The landmark lawsuit ended in 1987 when the US District Court found the AMA guilty of conspiracy and restraint of trade; the Joint Council on Accreditation of Hospitals and the American College of Physicians were exonerated. The court recognized that the AMA had to show its concern for patients, but was not persuaded that this could not have been achieved in a manner less restrictive of competition, for instance by public education campaigns. The AMA lost its appeal to the Supreme Court, and had to allow its members to collaborate with DCs.

Judge Susan Getzendanner, who presided over the Wilk case, said:

"Evidence at the trial showed that the defendants took active steps, often covert, to undermine chiropractic educational institutions, conceal evidence of the usefulness of chiropractic care, undercut insurance programs for patients of chiropractors, subvert government inquiries into the efficacy of chiropractic, engage in a massive disinformation campaign to discredit and destabilize the chiropractic profession and engage in numerous other activities to maintain a medical physician monopoly over health care in this country."

She then said that chiropractors clearly wanted "a judicial pronouncement that chiropractic is a valid, efficacious, even scientific health care service." She said no "well designed, controlled, scientific study" had been done, and concluded "I decline to pronounce chiropractic valid or invalid on anecdotal evidence, even though "the anecdotal evidence in the record favors chiropractors."

BJ Palmer re-develops chiropractic

File:BJPalmer2.jpg
BJ Palmer Developer of Chiropractic 1882-1961

BJ created the Universal Chiropractic Association (UCA) for the purpose of protecting its members by covering their legal expenses should they get arrested. Its first case came in 1907, when Shegataro Morikubo DC of Wisconsin was charged with unlicensed practice of osteopathy. Morikubo was freed using the defense that chiropractic philosophy was different from osteopathic philosophy. The victory reshaped the development of the chiropractic profession, which then marketed itself as a science, an art and a philosophy, and BJ Palmer became the "Philosopher of Chiropractic".


The movement toward science

In 1975, the National Institutes of Health brought chiropractors, osteopaths, medical doctors and Ph.D. scientists together in a conference on spinal manipulation to develop strategies to study the effects of spinal manipulation. In 1978, the Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) was launched, and in 1981 it was included in the National Library of Medicine's Index Medicus. Joseph Keating dates the birth of chiropractic as a science to a 1983 commentary in the JMPT entitled "Notes from the (chiropractic college) underground" in which Kenneth F. DeBoer, then an instructor in basic science at Palmer College in Iowa, revealed the power of a scholarly journal (JMPT) to empower faculty at the chiropractic schools. DeBoer's opinion piece demonstrated the faculty's authority to challenge the status quo, to publicly address relevant, albeit sensitive, issues related to research, training and skepticism at chiropractic colleges, and to produce "cultural change" within the chiropractic schools so as to increase research and professional standards. It was a rallying call for chiropractic scientists and scholars.

Scientific inquiries into chiropractic care

Main article: Scientific inquiries into chiropractic care
The Testable Principle The Untestable Metaphor
Chiropractic Adjustment Universal Intelligence
Restoration of structural integrity Innate Intelligence
Improvement of Health Status Body Physiology
Materialistic Vitalistic
Operational definitions possible Origin of Holism in chiropractic
lends itself to scientific inquiry cannot be proved or disproved
Table 1. Two chiropractic system constructs.

Source: Phillips RB, Mootz RD. Contemporary chiropractic philosophy. In Haldeman S (ed). Principles and Practice of Chiropractic, 2nd Ed. Norwalk, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1992. Chart reprinted from Keating J (1995), D.D. Palmer's Forgotten Theories of Chiropractic

Chiropractic researchers Robert Mootz and Reed Phillips suggest that, in chiropractic's early years, influences from both straight and mixer concepts were incorporated into its construct. They conclude that chiropractic has both materialistic qualities that lend themselves to scientific investigation and vitalistic qualities that do not (Table 1).

With relatively little federal funding, academic research in chiropractic has only recently become established in the USA. In 1994 and 1995, half of all grant funding to chiropractic researchers was from the US Health Resources and Services Administration (7 grants totaling $2.3 million). The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (11 grants, $881,000) and the Consortium for Chiropractic Research (4 grants, $519,000) accounted for most of the rest. By 1997, there were 14 peer-reviewed chiropractic journals in English that encouraged the publication of chiropractic research, including The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT), Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, and the Journal of Chiropractic Humanities. However, of these, only JMPT is included in Index Medicus. Research into chiropractic, whether from Universities or chiropractic colleges, is however often published in many other scientific journals.

While there is still debate about the effectiveness of chiropractic for the many conditions in which it is applied, chiropractic seems to be most effective for acute low back pain and tension headaches. When testing the efficacy of health treatments, double blind studies are considered acceptable scientific rigor. These are designed so that neither the patient nor the doctor knows whether they are using the actual treatment or a placebo (or "sham") treatment. However, chiropractic treatment involves a manipulation; "sham" procedures cannot be easily devised for this, and even if the patient is unaware whether the treatment is a real or sham procedure, the doctor cannot be unaware. Thus there may be "observer bias" - the tendency to see what you expect to see, and the potential for the patient to wish to report benefits to "please" the doctor. Similarly, it is often difficult to devise a sham procedure for surgical procedures, but it is not impossible. It is also a problem in evaluating treatments; even when there are objective outcome measures, the placebo effect can be very substantial. Thus, DCs have historically relied mostly on their own clinical experience and the shared experience of their colleagues, as reported in case studies, to direct their treatment methods. In this, they are not different to the practice in much of conventional medicine. . Consequently there has been a call to increase qualitative research studies which can better examine the whole chiropractic clinical encouter.

The Manga Report

The Manga Report was an outcomes-study funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and conducted by three health economists led by Professor Pran Manga. The Report supported the scientific validity, safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of chiropractic for low-back pain, and found that chiropractic care had higher patient satisfaction levels than conventional alternatives. The report states that "The literature clearly and consistently shows that the major savings from chiropractic management come from fewer and lower costs of auxiliary services, fewer hospitalizations, and a highly significant reduction in chronic problems, as well as in levels and duration of disability."

Workers' Compensation studies

In 1998, a study of 10,652 Florida workers' compensation cases was conducted by Steve Wolk. He concluded that "a claimant with a back-related injury, when initially treated by a chiropractor versus a medical doctor, is less likely to become temporarily disabled, or if disabled, remains disabled for a shorter period of time; and claimants treated by medical doctors were hospitalized at a much higher rate than claimants treated by chiropractors." Similarly, a 1991 study of Oregon Workers' Compensation Claims examined 201 randomly selected workers' compensation cases that involved disabling low-back injuries: when individuals with similar injuries were compared, those who visited DCs generally missed fewer days of work than those who visited MDs.

A 1989 study analyzed data on Iowa state records from individuals who filed claims for back or neck injuries. The study compared benefits and the cost of care from MDs, DCs and DOs, focusing on individuals who had missed days of work and who had received compensation for their injuries. Individuals who visited DCs missed on average 2.3 fewer days than those who visited MDs, and 3.8 fewer days than those who saw DOs, and accordingly, less money was dispersed as employment compensation on average for individuals who visited DCs.

In 1989, a survey by Cherkin et al. concluded that patients receiving care from health maintenance organizations in the state of Washington were three times as likely to report satisfaction with care from DCs as they were with care from other physicians. The patients were also more likely to believe that their chiropractor was concerned about them.

American Medical Association (AMA)

In 1997, the following statement was adopted as policy of the AMA after a report on a number of alternative therapies.

Specifically about chiropractic it said,

"Manipulation has been shown to have a reasonably good degree of efficacy in ameliorating back pain, headache, and similar musculoskeletal complaints."

In 1992, the AMA issued this statement:

"It is ethical for a physician to associate professionally with chiropractors provided that the physician believes that such association is in the best interests of his or her patient. A physician may refer a patient for diagnostic or therapeutic services to a chiropractor permitted by law to furnish such services whenever the physician believes that this may benefit his or her patient. Physicians may also ethically teach in recognized schools of chiropractic. (V, VI)"

British Medical Association

The British Medical Association notes that "There is also no problem with GPs referring patients to practitioners in osteopathy and chiropractic who are registered with the relevant statutory regulatory bodies, as a similar means of redress is available to the patient."

In Addition to this, a placebo-controlled study published in March of 2007, showed that Chiropractic adjustments actually lower high blood pressure..."

Safety issues

See also: Spinal adjustment § Safety issues See also: Spinal manipulation § Safety issues

In a 2005 report, the World Health Organization states that when "employed skilfully and appropriately, chiropractic care is safe and effective for the prevention and management of a number of health problems." The WHO report goes on to say, "there are however, known risks and contraindications to manual and therapeutic protocols used in chiropractic practice.

Of particular note, cervical spine manipulation (upper cervical specifically), which has been practised by chiropractors since 1895, has been a source of controversy. Critics suggest that chiropractic spinal manipulation is of limited benefit and a risk factor for vertebral basilar stroke ." Chiropractors have frequently countered that cervical spinal manipulation was a safe and effective procedure relative conventional medical approaches for neck pain.

Recently,the The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Forceon Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders comprised of a group of international clinician-scientists and methodologists to undertake a best-evidence synthesis on neck pain and its associated disorder and make recommendations of clinical practice guidelines for the management of neck pain and its associated disorders. This included a consensus of the top experts in the world whose findings will be collated using best-evidence synthesis, which addresses risk and prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment risks and benefits.

Out of over one million patient years (the length of time the total number of patients had been under care), 818 hospitalized vertebrobasilar artery stroke patients were identified. In the patients below the age of 45, those experiencing a stroke were three times more likely to have visited either their chiropractor or their PCP than the control patients. Those over 45 showed no increased association between experiencing a stroke and having seen their chiropractor than those experiencing a stroke and having seen their PCP. With respect to cervical manipulation and stroke the authors concluded


(1) Vertebrobasilar artery stroke is a rare event in the population.

(2) There is an association between vertebrobasilar artery stroke and chiropractic visits in those under 45 years of age.

(3) There is also an association between vertebrobasilar artery stroke and use of primary care physician visits in all age groups.

(4) no evidence of excess risk of VBA stroke associated chiropractic care.

The increased risks of vertebrobasilar artery stroke associated with chiropractic and physician visits is likely explained by patients with vertebrobasilar dissection-related neck pain and headache consulting both chiropractors and primary care physicians before their VBA stroke.

This study follows on a 2007 study of 50,276 chiropractic manipulations of the cervical spine conducted by the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in the UK turned up no reports of serious adverse effects; the study concluded that the risk of serious adverse effects was, at worst, 6 per 100,000 manipulations.

The most common minor side effect was fainting, dizziness, and/or light-headedness, which occurred after, at worst, 16 in 1,000 treatments.

Education, licensing, and regulation

Main articles: Chiropractic education, Chiropractic schools, Council on Chiropractic Education, and Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards

Today, there are 15 accredited Doctor of Chiropractic programs in 18 locations in the USA and two in Canada, and an estimated 70,000 chiropractors in the USA, 5000 in Canada, 2500 in Australia, 2,381 in the UK, and smaller numbers in about 50 other countries. In the USA and Canada, licensed individuals who practice chiropractic are commonly referred to as chiropractors, doctors of chiropractic (DC), or chiropractic physicians.

References

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  4. What Is Chiropractic?
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See also

External links

General resources

Internal criticism

Samuel Homola DC, a notable and outspoken dissident within the profession, expresses his opinion that evidence-based chiropractic is the only way forward.
This book, published in 1964, contains trenchant criticism of the profession, and the following year Homola's application to renew his membership of the ACA was rejected. In 1991, David J. Redding, chairman of the ACA board of governors, welcomed Homola back to membership of the ACA, and in 1994, 30 years after its publication, the book was reviewed for the first time by a chiropractic journal.
JC Smith, a chiropractor in private practice, writes in 1999 that ethical issues are "in dire need of debate" because of "years of intense medical misinformation/slander" and because of well publicised examples of tacky advertising, outlandish claims, sensationalism and insurance fraud.
Joseph C. Keating, Jr, PhD, professor at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic and notable historian of chiropractic, warns of pseudoscientific notions that still persist in the mindsets of some chiropractors
Dr Keating critically distinguishes between sound and unsound arguments in support of chiropractic
Christopher Kent, DC president of the Council on Chiropractic Practice, advises his colleagues of the importance of high standards of evidence, noting that in the past chiropractors were too ready to accept anecdotal evidence
A 1992 letter from ACA attorney, George P. McAndrews, warns the chiropractic profession that advertising of scare tactic subluxation philosophy damages the newly won respect within the AMA.
A 1991 editorial from chiropractic trade magazine, Dynamic Chiropractic, where Joseph C. Keating Jr discusses his concerns for advertising products before they are scientifically evaluated.
A 2000 commentary by Ronald Carter, DC, MA, Past President, Canadian Chiropractic Association in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association discussing his opinion that the subluxation story regardless of how it is packaged is not the answer. He suggests it is now time for the silent majority to make their voices heard and come together to present a rational and defensible model of chiropractic so that is not just included in the health care system, but an essential member of the health care team.

External criticism

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