Chiropractic And Asthma

As with the medical profession, chiropractic research can be easily found with just a few clicks of the mouse. While scanning through some chiropractic headlines, I found the below excerpts from a study conducted in Michigan on asthma and chiropractic care.

“Asthma has become a large health concern for children in recent years. Over the past 20 years, the incidence of asthma has doubled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that in 1998, approximately 17,299,000 people in the United States, or 6.4% of the population suffered from asthma, with cases among very young children up 160%. As reported in the June 16, 1999 issue of JAMA, the CDC also noted that between 1980 and 1994, the number of people self-reporting asthma grew 75%.”

“In a study conducted in 1996 by the Michigan Chiropractic Council (MCC), a panel of doctors performed an out-come assessment study to test the qualitative and quantitative effectiveness of chiropractic care on children with asthma. The high demand of parents seeking alternative care for pediatric asthma was shown by the overwhelming interest in the study. More than 500 parents called the MCC seeking to get their child involved in the chiropractic study.”

The study, which took place during May and June of 1996, examined the chiropractic effectiveness in correcting the cause of asthma in patients from birth to age 17. The average age of the participant was 10 years.  "After 30 days of chiropractic health care, patients averaged only one attack, whereas prior to the study they were experiencing more than four attacks," said MCC Dr. Bob Graham, who directed the study.  "Medications, which can be costly, were decreased by nearly 70 percent. Finally, patient satisfaction was rated 8.5 on a scale of 10."  More than 70 chiropractors from 62 cities in Michigan studied more than 80 children suffering from asthma.”

With asthma in children on the continuous rise, it is important that studies like these see the light of day. If a parent knew that they may be able to ease 75% of their child’s attacks and reduce their medications by up to 70%, I’m sure they would be interested!

More over, it is also very important to realize that chiropractic, although extremely effective for back and neck pain, is not confined to those symptoms alone. Chiropractic is a tool to help your body heal itself. By removing subluxations within your spine and restoring optimal nervous system function, Chiropractic gives your body all the tools it needs to do what it does best.

Your body is built to heal itself. When you have a cut, do you have to think about that cut in order for it to heal? Of course you don’t. Your body is completing millions of functions each day that you are not thinking about. You continue to breathe, your heart continues to beat, and your internal temperature is stabilized all while you are off doing other things. It’s an amazing system and it is vital that we take care of it!