Information 2...
Is Chiropractic right for you?
The choice of health care provider is a
highly personal one. Concerns for most people include the
education of the practitioner, the ability of the
practitioner to make an accurate diagnosis, and whether
other patients would recommend that doctor.
Doctors of Chiropractic can easily hold their own and in
some instances surpass their colleagues from other health
care professions.
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 chiropractic education. Not
surprisingly, chiropractic education spends more time in
nutrition, while medical education spends more time in
public health.
In addition, little time in medical school is devoted to
the study of the neuromusculoskeletal system and related
health problems; this is a major focus in chiropractic
education.
The Abt Study - Abt Associates of Cambridge, MA, convened
two expert panels (one panel primarily of medical doctors
and the other entirely chiropractic), and asked the panels
to investigate the role of the Doctor of Chiropractic as a
primary health care provider.
Both panels agreed that, with respect to a list of 53
primary care functions found to occur in daily medical
offices, chiropractors are capable of making diagnoses in
92% of these activities.
The researchers concluded that "the overriding sense of
agreement between allopathic and chiropractic physicians
in terms of the scope of primary care activities, suggests
that there is opportunity for chiropractors and medical
doctors to work together on patient care and
organizational strategy."
While research is helping the scientific community to
consider the effectiveness of the chiropractic method of
treatment for various conditions, thousands of individuals
all over the world are finding restored mobility and
relief from pain in the hands of their Doctor of
Chiropractic.
As health care choices become
increasingly diverse, and as consumers take more
responsibility for designing a personal plan for optimal
health, it is clear that chiropractic will be a choice for
many. How about you?
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Research Supports 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 that spinal manipulation is
appropriate for specific kinds of low back pain.
The Koes Clinical Trial
A 1992 Dutch project compared manipulative therapy
(chiropractic) and physiotherapy for the 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 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 headache than a commonly-prescribed
medication.
Researchers conclude the following.
"Manipulation appeared to result in immediate improvement
in headache severity when used to treat episodes of cervicogenic headache when compared with an
attention-placebo control.
Furthermore, when compared to
soft-tissue therapies (massage), a course of manipulation
treatments resulted in sustained improvement in headache
frequency and severity."
The Colic Study
When researchers compared spinal manipulation for the
treatment of infantile colic to dimethicone (a medication
for colic), they came to a simple conclusion: "Spinal
manipulation is effective in relieving infantile colic."
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