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May
2006
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Chiropractic
Adjustments Improve Movement Time
A
study published in the May 2006 issue of the scientific periodical,
The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, looked
at how chiropractic adjustments would affect relative times to
perform movements in a controlled test. 
Ten
patients from a private chiropractic practice participated in
this prospective, randomized, and controlled trial. These ten
patients received chiropractic adjustments to areas determined
to have vertebral subluxations. A separate group of individuals
who did not receive chiropractic care were also tested to have
a baseline for comparison with those receiving the chiropractic
adjustments.
Movement
time was measured on a computer screen where subjects were asked
to move a cursor onto a target.
The
results showed that all those in the study who received chiropractic
adjustments for subluxation correction had significantly improved
movement times. This was in stark contrast to the control group
that did not receive chiropractic care where only one participant
showed improvement in their movement times.
The
average improvement in movement time for the group that received
chiropractic care was 183 ms (mille-seconds), which represents
a 9.2% improvement. This can be compared to the control group
that showed only a 29 ms, or 1.7% improvement. The study researchers
reported, "The difference (improvement) scores after the
intervention were significantly greater for the chiropractic group
compared with the control group."
The
authors showed the importance of the results of this study in
their conclusion, "The results of this study demonstrated
a significant improvement in movement time with chiropractic care.
These results suggest that spinal adjustments may influence motor
behavior." The ramifications are large for those involved
in sports, as these results suggest improved performance is possible
with chiropractic care.
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Patients
With Acute Neck Pain Helped by Chiropractic - Study Shows
Published
in the May 2006 issue of the peer reviewed scientific journal,
The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, is
a study that looked at patients with acute neck pain and their
results under chiropractic care.
 Researchers
listed the "aim" of this study as, "to determine
the extent to which a group of patients with acute neck pain managed
with chiropractic manipulative therapy (chiropractic adjustments)
benefited from chiropractic care and the degree to which they
were subsequently satisfied."
For
this study 115 chiropractic patients were contacted, of whom 94
became study participants. The breakdown was 60 women (64%) and
34 men with the mean age being 39.6 years old. The average number
of visits that patients in this study received was 24.5.
Participants
in this study responded to a telephone survey to measure pre and
post treatment pain levels and their level of satisfaction with
the care they received. The patients used a 0 to 10 scale to
rate pain, with 0 meaning that there was no pain and 10 was the
worst pain imaginable.
The
results with this group was impressive with patient pain levels
improving significantly from a mean of 7.6 (median, 8.0) before
chiropractic adjustments to 1.9 (median, 2.0) after care. The
participants were obviously very pleased with their results and
researchers were able to rate the overall patient satisfaction
level at 94%.
The
researchers concluded, "Patients with acute neck pain involved
in this study seemed to be satisfied with chiropractic treatment
and reported reductions in associated pain levels and activity
restrictions."
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Polio
and Chiropractic, a Case Study
A
case study appeared in the June 2006 issue of Clinical Chiropractic
and reported on a 69-year-old retired woman and civil servant
who is a post-polio sufferer. In this case the woman presented
with left hand pain of over 40 years duration with limited flexion
of the fingers of her left hand. She reported that the pain had
increased considerably over the past year.
 The
polio left the woman disabled, with the muscles of her right arm
being severely wasted and affected so badly that it was now practically
useless. She also suffered from additional health issues, some
of which were related to her history of polio. She also reported
an itching in her left hand. Her problems were severe enough
that her surgeon recommended surgery for her multiple problems
with her left hand.
In
this case the patient began a course of chiropractic care and
received care for 13 visits that were recorded for this case study.
Over this period a number of improvements were noted. Following
just her first visit, the patient noticed improvement with the
feel and look of her left hand. She reported that it noticeably
changed color from white to a more normal pink. Over the next
few days she continued to notice hand improvement as well as a
discontinuation of her hand itching.
After
her sixth visit the patient`s hand strength was measured and monitored.
Over the next seven visits it improved going from a measured strength
of 11.5 kg to 16kg. The case study also documented a noticeable
improvement in her posture, with a significant visual decrease
in her scoliosis and an improvement in her gait.
The
case study noted that the woman returned to her surgeon after
the study. They noted that the surgeon was very pleased with
the patient`s improvement in her appearance and functionality
in her left hand and stated that he believed there was no longer
a need for surgery or for any further visits.
In
the discussion of this case the authors reported on a previous
survey of 500 members of post-polio self-help groups in Australia,
and their ratings of their responses to various forms of care
including chiropractic. The results of this survey showed that
Chiropractors received the highest patient satisfaction ratings
for being “very helpful” at 45%, and General Practitioners received
the lowest percentage at 22%. Additionally, that survey showed
that chiropractors were judged as providing significantly more
help than the other major health practitioner groups.
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Wrong
Site Surgery on the Rise
 The
above headline appeared in USA Today from the April 17, 2006,
issue. The story by Robert Davis, starts off by noting that although
there have been years of patient-safety efforts, "an increasing
number of health care facilities have reported mistakenly removing
the wrong limbs or organs, slicing into the wrong side of bodies
and performing surgery on the wrong patients."
The
original study on this reviewed 2.8 million operations over a
20-year period and was published in the April 2006 issue of Archives
of Surgery. This study recorded all wrong-site surgery cases
reported to a large malpractice insurance company between 1985
and 2004. This study uncovered 25 wrong-site operations that
were identified.
The
Joint Commission on Accreditation, a non-profit organization that
sets patient safety requirements and guidelines, and inspects
more than 15,000 hospitals and surgical centers nationwide received
reports from health care facilities last year of 84 operations
that involved the wrong body part or the wrong patient.
Dennis
O`Leary, who heads the non-profit Joint Commission stated, "It`s
getting worse. I can assure you that this is just the tip of the
iceberg," O`Leary says. "Some hospitals are reporting
everything and some hospitals don`t report anything at all."
Dr.
Donald Palmisano, a New Orleans surgeon on the non-profit National
Patient Safety Foundation`s board of directors commented, "We`re
trying to get the number down to zero." He continues, "It
is such a catastrophe when this happens."
The
article reports that since 2004 the joint commission has required
doctors to mark the spot they plan to cut while consulting with
their patient before surgery. Additionally, the commission is
encouraging patients to insist on such a mark prior to their surgery.
However,
the article notes that many surgeons do not follow the guidelines.
Dr. Glenn Rothman, chairman of surgery at Banner Desert Medical
Center in Mesa, Arizona, commented, "They think this is useless.
Doctors fight it because they are the captains of the ship. There
is a lot of resistance to standardized conduct."
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Veterinarian
Adds Chiropractic to His Medical Kit
The
above headline appeared in the May 8th 2006 issue of the agricultural
publication, the Capital Press. The ensuing article by Jodi Kerr,
starts off by saying, "Humans have been counting on chiropractors
to relieve pain and stress for years, but our four-legged friends
are seeing the benefits as well."
The
article chronicles a veterinarian, Dr. Donald Howard, who
after practicing
traditional veterinary medicine
for 30 years, turned his practice toward
chiropractic. Dr. Howard decided to take extensive training to
be certified from the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society
(IVAS) and the American Veterinary Chiropractor Association (AVCA).
 Dr.
Howard noted his reasons, "I have been benefiting from chiropractic
work on myself for years. It just made sense: I am feeling so
much better from treatments, why wouldn’t my four-legged patients?”
The story notes that as with many chiropractors who care for animals,
performance horses are the main recipients.
“Most
of my patients are performance horses. When people need their
horse to compete at their best, they begin to think of alternative
ways to get results.” Dr. Howard then continued, “All horses
can benefit, and it’s important for recreation horses that get
ridden a lot. The better a horse feels, the better horse you have.”
Even
a medical doctor, Dr. Holly Jo Hodges, a jackpot barrel racer,
explained the benefits she had seen on her horses. “My open barrel
horse has been having terrible problems,” Dr. Hodges said. “At
the top of his buttocks he was completely out of alignment, you
could push on his joints and bring him to the ground.” She continued,
"My backup horse had been on-and-off-again lame for years.
Since the chiropractic work, he has been the soundest horse ever.
I had the best season and had a horse I could count on.”
In
the article, Dr. Howard explained how this helps by stating that
chiropractic adjustments are a natural way to let the horse’s
body heal itself. He noted, “This type of treatment concentrates
on proper nerve conduction through and from the brain to the spinal
cord. Subluxation interferes with proper supply of nerve impulses.”
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Rodeo
Cowboys Helped by Chiropractic
 From
the May 8th, 2006, issue of the Ventura County Star comes an interesting
article on rodeo cowboys and chiropractic. The article starts
off by reviewing the harsh incidents rodeo cowboys endure. The
article describes how they get tossed around on the back of an
angry 1,800-pound bull, they leap off a galloping horse, many
times into the spiky horns of a charging steer. Often they get
hurt and then pick themselves up, dust themselves off and endure
the pain.
The
article continues and notes that even the roughest, toughest cowboys
need help. That`s when they mosey over to the Pro-Sport Chiropractic
tent to get some TLC and Chiropractic care. At the the Conejo
Valley Days rodeo, the cowboys would slip just beyond the spectators
site into a tent where they would get adjusted.
A
local chiropractor who cares for the cowboys, Dr. Terry Weyman
said, "I`ve seen guys with noses splayed open, and they still
talk to you like nothing is wrong. It`s the world`s roughest sport,
bull riding. If you can handle these guys, you can handle anybody."
The
article goes onto say that every time ProSport Chiropractic sets
up a tent at professional rodeos around the country, the cowboys
come to get care. One rodeo cowboy, bull wrestler Kevin McKinney
noted in the article that his pain was a "nine" on a
scale of one to ten. "I`m hurting," was his comment
as he came into the tent for care.
McKinney`s
wife, Tammy, who was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Every
girl loves a dirty cowboy," agreed that he must be hurting
if he says anything. She added, "He`ll ride if he`s hurt.
That`s how much he loves it." After getting evaluated and
receiving chiropractic care, McKinney walked away. Then, referring
to his aches and pain, he commented, "It`s always worth it."
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