McGee Chiropractic

A recent study suggests that wellness care provided by doctors of chiropractic may improve health behaviors, enhance patient perceived quality of life and reduce health care costs. Published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR), a joint study by chiropractors and researchers at the University of Lund found that chiropractic care could influence basic physiological processes that affected oxidative stress and DNA repair. The study’s landmark results offer a scientific explanation for the positive health benefits reported by chiropractic patients.

The study measured serum thiol levels in 21 patients under short term chiropractic care and 25 patients undergoing long-term chiropractic care, compared with 30 subjects in a non-chiropractic care control group. Long-term chiropractic care of two or more years was shown to re-establish a normal physiological state independent of age, sex or nutritional supplements. Symptom-free or primary wellness subjects under chiropractic care demonstrated higher mean serum thiol values than patients with active disease, and produced somewhat higher than normal wellness values. Serum thiols, primary antioxidants that serve to measure human health status, provide a surrogate estimate of DNA repair enzyme activity, which has been linked with lifespan and aging.

The chemical, physical and emotional stress of life affects the function of the nervous system and the study hypothesized that these disturbances in nerve function could affect oxidative stress and DNA repair on a cellular level. Now a broadly accepted theory about human aging and disease development, oxidative stress metabolically generates free radicals, which result in DNA damage and inhibition of DNA repair, the mechanism that fixes the damage caused by environmental impact. Chiropractors apply spinal adjustments to correct disturbances of nerve function, thereby improving the ability of the body to adapt to stress.

Oklahoma patients overwhelmingly declare that they are satisfied with their chiropractic care, according to a survey taken by the Oklahoma State Chiropractic Independent Physician Association (OSCIPA), a non-profit physician association with 175 chiropractors.

The survey was conducted among a random sample of 750 patients, selected from 36, 710 patients seen by OSCIPA members in 2004.

The study also found that word-of-mouth communication is a cost-effective way to build a chiropractic practice. Findings included:

• 93% of respondents are very satisfied with chiropractic care they receive.
• 93% say that the chiropractic care they receive is excellent
• 91% say they would strongly recommend their chiropractor to others
• Only 6.3% were referred to their chiropractor by a medical doctor
• 59% were referred by a friend or family member
• 10.3% found their chiropractor through an advertisement

Chiropractic is one of the “great jobs” according to a ranking by the business magazine Fast Company. The magazine ranked chiropractic fourth in its list of Top 25 jobs in America.

The magazine used four criteria to identify the best jobs: job growth, salary potential, education level, and room for innovation. It relied “heavily” on data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics and Salary.com.

Spinal manipulation, in the form of chiropractic, osteopathy, or manipulative physiotherapy, followed by a program of exercise, provides significant relief of symptoms and improvements in general health, according to a trial by the Medical Research Council (MRC). The results of the trial were published November 19, 2006 in the Online edition of the British Medical Journal.

According to the MRC, which is a national research organization funded by the British Parliament, lower back pain is one of the most common ailments general practitioners have to treat.

The MRC trial recruited more than 1,300 patients from across the UK, whose back pain had not improved after receiving “best care” in general practice, to assess the effectiveness of three different treatments. The treatments were:

• A class-based physical exercise program.
• Spinal manipulation.
• A combined package of spinal manipulation followed by a program of exercise.

The results showed that patients in all treatment groups reported improved back function and reduced pain over time, but to varying degrees. On average, patients assigned to exercise classes in addition to care by a general practitioner (GP) reported a small benefit at three months but not at one year.

Those assigned to spinal manipulation in addition to GP care reported a small to moderate benefit at three months and a small, on average, benefit at one year.

The greatest improvement was found in the patients assigned to combined manipulation and exercise in addition to GP care. They reported a moderate, on average, improvement at three months and a small average improvement at one year. These benefits were the same whether treatment was delivered using private or National Health Service (NHS) premises.

An economic analysis was also carried out. It showed that the cost to the NHS of all three treatments was modest. It also showed that both spinal manipulation and the combined package of spinal manipulation and exercise achieved similar benefits to patients at a similar cost to the NHS.

According to the American Chiropractic Association, the MRC study is one of a number of recent studies regarding chiropractic’s effectiveness for back pain over traditional medical care.

A March 2004 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that chiropractic care is more effective than medical care at treating chronic low-back pain in patients’ first year of symptoms. And a study published in the July 13, 2003 edition of the medical journal Spine found that manual manipulation provides better short-term relief of chronic spinal pain than does a variety of medications.