Are chiropractors confused?

Question

‘Straight’ chiropractors believe that ‘vertebral subluxation complex’ is the leading cause of all disease. ‘Reform’ chiropractors reject this altogether, and ‘Mixer' chiropractors are on the fence.

Meanwhile, the whole foundation of one branch of chiropractic - ‘Upper Cervical Chiropractic’ – is that subluxation complex is real but occurs in the upper cervical vertebrae only.

Yet the UK regulatory authority, the General Chiropractic Council, advises that chiropractic vertebral subluxation complex "is not supported by any clinical research evidence that would allow claims to be made that it is the cause of disease or health concerns”. http://www.gcc-uk.org/files/link_file/Guidance_on_claims_made_for_the_chiropractic_VSC_18August10.pdf

And the British Chiropractic Association states: "For many years, the BCA has not supported the concept of the Vertebral Subluxation Complex in the light of the absence of evidence supporting claims made it can be the cause of disease and serious illness"

Can anyone shed any light on this mess?

Which type of chiropractor (if any) can you trust for valid treatment and advice?

Answer 1

To answer Gary's question"are chiropractors confused' Here is an article written by a chiropractor that ,with out a doubt, will clear up any misconceptions anyone could possibly have about the validity of the science behind chiropractic. After reading this(a little lengthy) I sincerely hope that Gary's question can be put to rest once and for all. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Straight-Chiropractic-3674/2010/2/detecting-subluxations-1.htm

Answer 2

A very good question.



You may find these interesting:



1. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3022

2. http://www.chirobase.org/02Research/crelin.html



The first discusses a paper investigating the evidence for subluxations (http://chiromt.com/content/pdf/1746-1340-17-13.pdf) that concludes:



"There is a significant lack of evidence to fulfill the basic criteria of causation. This lack of crucial supportive epidemiologic evidence prohibits the accurate promulgation of the chiropractic subluxation"



The second discusses a 1973 paper that tested whether spinal displacements could possibly impinge on nerves spinal nerves passing through the intervertebral foramina and concludes that they could not.



Both are well worth reading in full.

Answer 3

mess is right. the initial working theory for the first 25 years of chiropractic was that vertebral misalignment anywhere down the spinal column could produce nerve interference by pressing on spinal nerve roots. practicing according to this theory produced inconsistent and usually rather temporary results. it was not until the 1920's when dr. b.j. palmer discovered that all nerve interference originates from upper neck misalignment pressing on the cord, that much more lasting and consistent results were obtained. the reason for results from full spine "adjustment" is that it temporarily and partially disrupts the effects of the short-circuiting from the upper neck misalignment. misalignment below axis is mere effect and not cause, and promptly returns after "adjustment" when the upper neck has not been properly corrected. along with it, full interference pattern soon returns, along with it's symptoms. dr.b.j. palmer, widely recognized as the developer of chiropractic and the greatest chiropractor who ever lived, was once asked why some chiropractic students, having been taught this in college, disregarded it and reverted to full spine manipulation and therapeutics. he observed that you can take any group of students and teach them something, but not all of them will understand. he was right. unfortunately, there can also be a monetary motivation for some, as short-lived relief can keep patients returning. today, most "chiropractors" do not practice upper cervical specific technique and few colleges teach it, such is their blindness of chiropractic purpose and history. instead they have foolishly imposed on themselves the allopathic model of stupid and futile attempts at symptom suppression-the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do-learn to correct cause. only upper cervical correction can truly accomplish the sole purpose of chiropractic-the correction of the cause of nerve interference. the subluxation is the basis of chiropractic practice, therefore anyone who calls themself a chiropractor and denies it's existence is an imposter, i don't care who they are or claim to represent. such persons are nothing more than therapists, at best.

Answer 4

I guess that many chiropractors are confused, just as their many of their counterpart fakescientific mainstream medical white collar colleagues.



I hope this finally makes things clear for you.

Usually people don't stay retard till such an old age.

If you continue, you may not be 'normal' anymore but start to be an 'exception',

so probably your case of mental degeneration may not be double checked anymore.

Answer 5

I am a retired Chiropractor in the U.S., which is where the Chiropractic profession began in 1895.



I do not know of any Chiropractic college in North America that teaches the idea that spinal subluxations (spinal intersegmental dysfunction) is the "leading cause of disease". This is a myth propagated by those with an "agenda" against the profession. You, of course, have no such agenda.



Since you love to criticize my profession, I must assume that you have extensive training in Chiropractic and that you regularly study all of the published scientific research in this field. Therefore, I must conclude the studies below are thoroughly familiar to you. Yes, I am being sarcastic.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17905321



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14589467



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16242852



For our uninitiated readers, the above journals are leading Medical Journals.



I can't address anything about Chiropractic "across the pond", because I have no knowledge of the profession there.



I'm curious. Why do you not challenge the extensive B.S. in allopathic medicine? The history of "western medicine" is ripe with irrational theories and beliefs and that is still true today. JAMA has reported that prescription drugs KILL 100,000 Americans EVERY YEAR. Why are you not challenging the endless use of dangerous drugs? Spinal surgeries lack scientific evidence (I've never seen a valid RCT on spinal surgeries) and harm thousands of naive patients every year. Arthroscopic surgery on the knee for degenerative arthritic changes has been proven USELESS in a large, multi-center RCT, yet BILLIONs of Dollars are still made by surgeons in the U.S. performing this PROVEN to be useless procedure. Diet/nutritonal status is the leading factor in the development of most chronic degenerative diseases that kill 70% of Americans - yet, medical doctors still have NO substantive training in nutrition! (This fact is well documented in the medical literature - look it up.) Ouch! etc. etc. etc.



Use your intellect to question the most dangerous and often inappropriate therapies - drugs and surgeries. You might then do something productive for society.



Best wishes and good luck.

Answer 6

The "leading cause of disease" quote also appears in this reference: "Hammett RJ. Perfect practice parameters: part II. Am J Clin Chiropract. 1993;3:3"



I was about to embark on a demolition of Doctor J's inept posting but you've beaten me to it Gary. As soon as I read the first paper (that can be summarised as "We hit cats; we concluded that cats' bodies responded to being hit") I knew his post (Red Herring Fallacy aside) was going to be an almighty fail.



Confused? Heck you've only just scratched the surface.

Answer 7

It's all made up. No legitimate doctor will diagnose "subluxation." You'll do better and be safer going for a nice massage.



http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(09)00583-X/fulltext

Answer 8

Chiropractors are not "confused" but people who regularly post questions and answers on here trying to run down the profession certainly are. Apply the same standard to conventional medicine, especially the drug industry, and you'll see a lot more "confusion".



Re: appeal to authority -- it's only illogical to appeal to false authority, ie. someone who is not an expert on a subject, like a skeppie website for example, or a highschool dropout like James Randi.



Chiropractic boosts brain-body coordination

by Dr. David Jockers, citizen journalist

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(NaturalNews) The brain is the master control system for the entire body. It sends and receives a complicated frequency of signals with the body that dictate the function of the body. When there is interference in this neurological feedback loop, it alters the environment the brain perceives itself to be in; this consequently changes the adaptation process the brain orchestrates throughout the body. Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to enhance the sensorimotor integration of the brain with the body.



Many experts have hypothesized that increased stress cycles in the body produce the environment for dis-ease and eventually disease within the body. Stress can come from a variety of sources in the mental/emotional form, chemical form, and physical realm. When the body is under increased stress it responds by increasing its sympathetic tone. This means the body shunts itself into "fight or flight" survival based mode by altering cardiovascular & endocrine function to get itself ready for dynamic activity.



Increased sympathetic tone causes a release of stress hormones such as adrenalin, epinephrine, and cortisol. This is the same response we get when we are anxious or exercising. This is okay if it is for a short period of time; however, when the stress lasts longer than expected it exhausts the body and causes a state of dis-ease to manifest.



When the brain sends information to the organs, muscles, and tissues of the body, this is called efferent neurological flow. In return, the afferent flow of information includes all the messages sent to the brain from skin, muscle, joint, and organ receptors. This afferent/efferent neurological loop is how the body is able to respond and adapt appropriately to its environment.



The ramifications of increased stress hormones in the body include overworked adrenal glands, lowered immunity, decreased digestive functions, fatigue, & blood pressure disturbances. Increased cortisol levels also cause ligament laxity by stripping critical proteins from the tendon and ligament structures. This causes joint weakness throughout the body, including the spine and extremities, making them much more susceptible to injury.



Subluxation is a term used to describe mechanical compression and irritation to spinal joints and nerves. Subluxation scrambles the neurological feedback loop by causing altered rhythms of neurological flow. Subluxations are caused by trauma, poor posture, or increased chemical and emotional stresses.



Subluxations are a physical stress on the body and therefore increase the sympathetic tone, so the body shunts its energy toward the fight or flight system. If the subluxation(s) are not corrected they continue to produce this increased stress response. This increases cortisol and causes greater joint & ligament laxity in the spine and extremities making them more susceptible to injury. Additionally, increased long-term stress on the body greatly accelerates the degenerative processes of the spine and joints leading to osteoarthritis.



Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to normalize spinal afferent/efferent processes to their proper resting tone. This is like hitting the reset button on the computer when it is malfunctioning. The computer is allowed to pause and reprocess itself. Chiropractic adjustments stop the stress response and restore normal hormonal and cardiovascular function to the body. This allows the body to reset itself and begin healing the damage that was done in the body due to chronic stress cycles.



Research performed by Taylor and Murphy demonstrated that chiropractic adjustments enhanced sensorimotor integration, the body's ability to sense where it is in space and effectively coordinate complex movement patterns. This improves function in both the brain and the body. Improved spatial intelligence translates into better physical and mental balance, coordination, and mobility. Chiropractic adjustments make you think and move with better speed, skill, and finesse.



http://www.alpineclinicofchiropract...

Taylor H, Murphy B. Cervical Spine Manipulation Alters Sensorimotor Integration: A Somatosensory evoked potential study. Clin Neurophysiol; 2007;118:391-402

Taylor, H, Murphy B. Altered Sensorimotor Integration with Cervical Spine Manipulation. J Manipulative Physiol Ther; 2008;31:115-126