Another Study Shows Safety of Chiropractic

2010-08-13

A research article published on August 3, 2010 in the journal, Chiropractic & Osteopathy, further shows the safety of chiropractic adjustments. The article itself was a review of numerous other studies done recently that looked at the chances of adverse events from chiropractic care.

One of the studies reviewed looked at the effectiveness of chiropractic for neck pain. In this additional study, published on July 9, 2010 in the journal Chiropractic & Osteopathy, authors noted that there were no serious adverse events among the subjects and that all minor events were resolved within 1 to 3 days.

One of the largest studies reviewed in this research article was one by a Dr. Cassidy and his colleagues in Canada. In this study, the researchers looked at official Canadian health records and reviewed 109,020,875 person-years of cases over a period of nine years. This study was so well constructed that it ruled out other factors so as to leave their conclusions unapproachable. The results of this study showed that the odds of a vascular adverse event occurring within 24 hours of a visit to a primary care physician was virtually the same as the chances of it occurring within 24 hours of a visit to a chiropractor.

Detractors of chiropractic have recently mounted a well funded campaign to try to scare the general public into believing that chiropractic carries a serious risk of arterial problems. This study, reporting on several others shows that in fact chiropractic is as safe, or safer than visits to general practitioners.

The size and funding of those trying to suggest that the safest health profession is somehow dangerous has led some to question the motives of those backing and funding the campaign of disinformation. A recent release from the International Chiropractors Association stated, "This smear campaign has little to do with public safety and everything to do with the old turf war between chiropractic and our old competitors," said Dr. Robert Braile, a chiropractor from Marietta Georgia, and former president of the ICA. Dr. Braile continued, "It is of course a tragic event when any patient suffers a serious health issue, whether under chiropractic care or medical care." Braile then asserted, “But to take advantage of those events in order to distort truth for a turf war is wrong."