Spinal Health Program Envisions Goals
In collaboration with health-promotion experts, the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA) is taking a new step to help Americans improve their quality of life with a spinal health program called, “Straighten Up America.” “Though in its infancy as an initiative, the program is ready to introduce to the US Congress for approval and funding,” says Ron Kirk, MA, DC, facilitator of “Straighten Up America” Seed and Delphi panels. “Straighten Up is designed to continue until every person on the planet is improving their spinal and neurological health habits on a daily basis by participating in the simple invigorating exercises.”
A five-person expert seed panel and the Delphi review panel began the program in the summer of 2004. Currently, the Delphi panel includes approximately 50 state, national, and international chiropractic organization leaders, 17 chiropractic college presidents and program heads, 23 college clinic directors, numerous health promotion and fitness experts, and officials and researchers from the World Health Organization. “Straighten Up America” includes healthful activities useful as an ergonomic break, exercise warm-up or cool-down, and is designed to get people of all ages up and moving, while they improve their posture and spinal health. The program was tested last summer. After 5 weeks of daily “Straighten Up” exercises, 83% of participants reported that they had improved their posture, 78% reported that they had strengthened their core muscles, and 80% reported that they were able to sit and stand more uprightly and that their backs were more comfortable. COCSA is currently seeking donations to support a 6-month advocacy program to obtain congressional endorsement. For more information, visit www.cocsa.org. |
House Bill to Study Chiropractic Benefits
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (HR 1815) contains a provision mandating an extensive study of the costs, offsets, and cost savings to be found in implementing a system-wide chiropractic benefits program in the US military, including the Chiropractic Tricare Bill.
“Prompted by legislation (HR 1594) introduced at the International Chiropractic Association’s (ICA) request by New Hampshire Representative Jeb Bradley that would establish a permanent chiropractic benefit under the program, as well as the ongoing efforts to expand and improve chiropractic services for active-duty military personnel, this study represents a new opportunity for chiropractic to showcase both the profession’s clinical and cost-effectiveness,” says Michael S. McLean, DC, chair of ICA’s Board of Directors and co-chairman of the ICA Legislative Committee.
Section 704 of HR 1815, titled “Study and Plan Relating to Chiropractic Health Care Services” calls upon the US Secretary of Defense to “conduct a study of providing health care services and benefits to...All members of the uniformed services on active duty, their dependents, and all members of reserve components of the uniformed services and their eligible dependents ... All members or former members of the uniformed services who are entitled to retired or retainer pay or equivalent pay and their eligible dependents.”
HR 1815 specifies that the US Secretary of Defense will study and provide estimates on the cost of providing such services and benefits; the feasibility of providing the benefits; an assessment of the health care benefits; and an estimation of the potential cost savings of providing such services and benefits in lieu of other medical services.
The legislation also requires the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress the results of the cost study as well as a revised plan for the improved and expanded implementation of the currently mandated chiropractic benefits program no later than March 31, 2006.
Children Benefit from Chiropractic Care
A study published in The Journal of Pediatrics has found that chiropractic is the most frequently used holistic health care choice for America’s children. The journal findings state that the more education the parents received, the more likely they were to choose holistic health care such as chiropractic.
“Millions of children suffer from spinal injuries and subluxation worldwide,” says Brian Petrie, DC, Tremont Chiropractic, Taunton, Mass. “These injuries may never be examined or identified in a hospital setting and can result in severe health problems. Parents educated about chiropractic are choosing to provide proactive health and wellness care to ensure the healthy growth and development of their children.”
According to the study, 51% of the children who sought chiropractic care were seen for relief of respiratory or ear, nose, and throat symptoms; 15% were seen for muscular and joint problems; 12% for digestive problems; 6% for allergy complications; and another 5% for prevention of illnesses.
Supplement Restrictions Raise Concerns
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is monitoring the threats from the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) food code—a joint venture between the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regarding the restriction of vitamin and supplement sales and how these restrictions may impact DCs.Some fear that the threats from Codex will ultimately result in the adoption of guidelines that could have an impact on the future regulation of supplements in the United States. However, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), concerns over Codex are vastly overblown and have been fueled by misinformation that circulates via the Internet and other channels. According to Gerald A. Anzalone, DC, Peekskill, NY, these possible restrictions would hurt the chiropractic profession. “Because many doctors of chiropractic incorporate nutritional recommendations and supplementation as a part of their professional practice, any potential restrictions on supplementation use and availability in the United States would have disastrous repercussions on chiropractors' ability to help their patients,” Anzalone says. It is important to note that the proposed Codex guidelines would not put an end to the supplements or make them prescription-only. Regardless of any international trade-related guidelines that might be adopted by Codex, dietary supplements in the United States will continue to be regulated by the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act. Additionally, Codex standards are voluntary in the United States, and companies would not be required to comply with provisions that are more restrictive than the current United States law. The ACA is working with a coalition of organizations to prevent major changes in the current US law governing supplements. |
Palmer’s CLRC to Expand
According to construction plans, the Chiropractic Learning Resource Center (CLRC) on the Palmer College of Chiropractic (PCC) campus will include outpatient clinic facilities.
“The new Chiropractic Learning Resource Center and its world-class clinic facility will further enhance the education that students receive at Palmer,” says Donald Kern, DC, PCC president. “We are so excited to add clinic facilities to this new building, which will be a focal point on campus, a crossroads for the entire profession, and will provide alumni, faculty, students, and researchers with an educational resource found nowhere else in the chiropractic profession.”
Preliminary plans for the facility call for 40,000 square feet of space that will be used to house community outpatient clinic facilities, a visitor center, rehabilitation and radiology services, and clinical learning resources for students.
The anticipated completion date is set for 2007.
Chiropractic for Migraines?
Migraines are relatively common and affect an estimated 10% of the population. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, chiropractic care may be the answer for migraine sufferers.
“Many people still don’t know that many headaches and migraines start from the neck,” says Chris Almas, DC, Bodyframe Wellness Centres, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. “When you correct these problems in the neck, the pain usually goes away. This is probably why pain pills don’t decrease headache frequency; they don’t address the cause of the headache, just the pain.”
In the study, 127 migraine patients who suffer from at least one migraine per month were divided into two groups. One group received chiropractic adjustments at specific vertebral subluxations determined by the treating practitioner; the other group served as controls and received inactive treatment (electrical stimulation with no current delivered).
Following 2 months of treatment, patients who received chiropractic adjustments reported substantial reductions in migraine frequency, duration, disability, and medication use.
Almas is currently conducting research on the effects of chiropractic methods on headache frequency. According to Almas, his study results show a very dramatic reduction in headache symptoms within only 2 weeks of care.
Survey: Chiropractic is Top Alternative Treatment
Chiropractic ranks ahead of all conventional alternative treatments for back pain, including prescription drugs, according to a Consumer Reports (CR) survey of more than 34,000 readers.
“This dovetails well with recent reports in the prestigious orthopedic journal Spine, which found that poor outcomes were associated with having receiving medically prescribed physical therapy or muscle relaxers for low-back complaints,” says Frank M. Painter, DC, Alternative Care Chiropractic, La Grange, Ill. “The next question will be how quickly the medical community will change their prescription and referral patterns to reflect what the research has demonstrated.”
Readers suffering from back pain deemed chiropractic and massage more effective than acupuncture and acupressure, and one-fourth of readers who had tried the alternative therapies said they felt much better afterward. CR readers stated that chiropractic care also provided relief for neck pain.
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