A moon in the dark night-Science based medicine-part 3-Chiropractic

Dr Harriet Hall continues with her presentation watch it here

Chiropractic is a pre-scientific belief system based on a mythical
concept, the chiropractic “subluxation.”(incomplete or partial dislocation of a joint or organ)
Some of the things chiropractors offer, like spinal manipulation for low back pain, are useful but are also offered by science-based health care providers.
Many chiropractors use an array of quack diagnostic and treatment methods, and visiting a chiropractor can be dangerous

Notes: Chiropractors (DCs) are not doctors and must be distinguished from DOs.
False claims:
• Chiropractic is a science.
• Chiropractic is based on neurology, anatomy and physiology.
• Chiropractors are doctors of the nervous system.
• Chiropractic improves health and quality of life.
Reality:
 Invented by a grocer all by himself in a single day: September 18, 1895.
o D.D. Palmer believed all illness was caused by bones out of place
o He extrapolated from a single case based on a misunderstanding of anatomy
• Based on false theory
• The mythical chiropractic “subluxation”
• Impairment of nerve flow
• Interference with a mystical vitalistic power (“Innate”) that maintains health
• Chiropractic manipulation can have adverse effects
• Strokes from neck manipulation
• Broken bones, herniated disc, paralysis, death
• Half of all patients have mild to moderate side effects
• Often associated with quackery
• Bogus tests used by some chiropractors: Biological Terrain Assessment, computerized “nutrient deficiency” testing, contact reflex analysis, contour analysis (also called moiré contourography), cytotoxic testing, other improper allergy testing, electrodermal screening, Functional Intracellular Analysis (FIA), hair analysis, herbal crystallization analysis, iridology, leg-length testing (to check for “subluxations”), live blood cell analysis (also called nutritional blood analysis or Hemaview), testing with a Nervo-Scope, Nutrabalance, NUTRI-SPEC, pendulum divination, reflexology, saliva testing, spinal ultrasound testing to “measure progress,” surface electromyography (SEMG), thermography, testing with a Toftness device, weighing on a twin-scale device (Spinal Analysis Machine).
• 43% of American chiropractors use applied kinesiology, a bogus muscle testing procedure, for both testing and treatment.
• Bogus treatments used by many chiropractors: acupuncture, Activator Methods, applied kinesiology, Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.), chelation therapy, colonic irrigation, cranial or craniosacral therapy, laser acupuncture, magnetic or biomagnetic therapy, Neuro Emotional Technique(NET), Neural Organization Technique (NOT), homeopathic products, unproven dietary supplements or herbal products.
• Some chiropractors do bad things:
• Unnecessary x-rays
• Unethical advertising
• 50% discourage immunizations
• Discourage conventional medical care
• Offer lifelong “maintenance” adjustments
• Miss diagnoses and fail to refer appropriately
• Treat young children and even newborns whose spine hasn’t finished forming.
• Presume to function as family doctors
Types of chiropractors:
 Straights: do chiropractic adjustments only
 Mixers: add other treatments, everything from massage to voodoo
 Upper cervical chiropractors: only adjust the top vertebra in the neck
 “Reform” chiropractors who reject the subluxation concept and try to practice evidence-based chiropractic.
The only thing chiropractors do that has been definitely proven effective is spinal manipulation treatment (SMT) for certain types of low back pain.
 There’s nothing uniquely “chiropractic” about SMT: it’s also used by physical therapists, DOs, and others.
 It’s no more effective in the long run than other treatments for low back pain, but it is a reasonable option for people who prefer it, and it may offer earlier relief.
If you want to see a chiropractor, here’s what you should look for:
• Rejects subluxation theory
• No full spine x-rays
• No quack procedures or tests
• No preventive or maintenance adjustments
• No promotion of unproven dietary supplements
• Doesn’t pretend to be family doctor
• Doesn’t treat young children
• No antagonism to scientific medicine
• Doesn’t discourage immunizations
• Limited to short-term treatment of musculoskeletal problems
• Knows when to refer
• Bottom line: If a chiropractor offers SMT for short-term treatment of certain kinds of musculoskeletal pain, he might be able to help you. If he offers to “adjust your subluxations”, or to treat problems elsewhere in the body, it’s best to avoid him.
Horror stories illustrate just how unscientific chiropractors can be.

Chiropractic research
 Studies are generally poor quality, usually without controls, and often are simply case reports that are poorly documented.
 No evidence supports spinal manipulations for somatovisceral diseases
 No real progress has been made in over a century
 Their research has never found a treatment ineffective
 They keep adding treatment methods and never give any of them up.

Source: James Randi Education foundation