Showing posts with label Chiropractic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chiropractic. Show all posts
Chiropractic: Pseudo-Physical Therapy
Sam Homola, a retired chiropractor who has written several books exposing his colleagues, has written an update on the Science-Based Medicine blog on the status of chiropractic in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is essentially pseudo-physical therapy. As a retired physical therapist who has fought chiropractic for several decades, this post is very satisfying.
Chiropractic Neurology?
Steven Novella has posted in the Science-Based Medicine blog on the continuing creativity of chiropractic in attempts to legitimize itself. What's the harm? Let the buyer beware.
Chiropractic And Resistance To Evidence
This blogger has posted on more than one occassion regarding the lack of evidence for the concept of the chiropractic subluxation. Jann Bellamy has posted on the Science-Based Medicine blog evidence that chiropractic education continues to promote this bogus concept and how it is continuing to be promoted for various medical problems. How is this different than Christian apologetics, where erroneous statements have been shown to be wrong by science but they continue to be spewed out by the apologists? Either delusion or money seem to be the reason in both cases.
Chiropractic And Politics
Jann Bellamy has posted on the Science-Based Medicine blog an expose of Chiropractic efforts to gain legislative approval as legitimate primary care providers. As the conclusion states:
It is unfortunate enough that the state legislatures have legitimized a figment of the imagination first proposed by a charlatan in 1895 — the “subluxation” — by creating a licensed health care profession known as chiropractors to “detect” and “correct” them. Giving chiropractors authority to prescribe dietary supplements, and, even worse, drugs, only exacerbates their original mistake. Instead of expanding the scope of practice, state legislatures should remove diagnosis and treatment of the nonexistent “subluxation” from the chiropractic practice acts.
Consumer Reports Drops The Ball: More Evidence
This blogger recently reported this expose of Consumer Reports. For more evidence of the recent shift of this magazine into unscientific medical reporting, the recent subscribed-to email sent out by Consumer Health Digest reports the following:
Consumer Reports goes "quack!"
The September 2011 issue of Consumer Reports has inappropriately endorsed chiropractic treatment by reporting that subscribers who answered its annual survey said that chiropractic treatment had been more helpful to them than various other treatments for back and neck pain. [Barrett S. Consumer Reports gives bad advice about chiropractors. Chirobase, Aug 7, 2011] http://www.chirobase.org/14Misc/cr.html The article acknowledges that the survey data might not represent the experiences of the general population and should not be compared to the results of clinical trials. However, it fails to place the survey's findings in proper perspective. In 1975 and 1994, Consumer Reports thoroughly debunked chiropractic's subluxation concept and warned very clearly about bad chiropractic advice and overselling. The September 2011 report provides no such warnings, shows a subluxation-based chiropractor giving an "adjustment," and recommends using the American Chiropractic Association to help find a chiropractor. The article gives similar uncritical advice about acupuncture and massage therapy.
Acupuncture is based mainly based on nonsensical theories about the flow of nonmaterial energy though imaginary "energy channels." http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/acu.html Stating that acupuncturists use needles to "purportedly stimulate and restore healing energy" it advises readers to find practitioners by contacting organizations that espouse this nonsense. Massage can be beneficial, but a substantial percentage of massage therapists advocate and use quack "energy medicine" practices. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/massage. html
Consumers Union's longtime medical consultant and (Marvin M. Lipman, M.D.) and a few other senior staff members are fully aware of the problem of quackery, but the magazine has published very little about it during the past 15 years. Quackwatch has added Consumer Reports to its list of nonrecommended periodicals in the category headed "Magazines, Excellent Except for Too Many Poorly Reasoned Articles on "Complementary" and/or "Alternative" Medicine." http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/nonrecperiodic mlals.ht
An Expose On Chiropractic
The Science-Based Medicine blog as a lengthy but thorough and balanced post on Chiropractic and how chiropractors market their activities to the public.
Unfortunately, this gentleman is very rare in this blogger's experience, which includes interacting with patients who have previously been treated by chiropractors almost exclusively of the type described in this article.
Frankly, there really is no need for chiropractic, period. The subluxation theory upon which it is historically based is bogus. What legitimate limited services they provide can be provided at least as well by qualified and licensed orthopedic physical therapists such as this blogger before he retired.
Unfortunately, this gentleman is very rare in this blogger's experience, which includes interacting with patients who have previously been treated by chiropractors almost exclusively of the type described in this article.
Frankly, there really is no need for chiropractic, period. The subluxation theory upon which it is historically based is bogus. What legitimate limited services they provide can be provided at least as well by qualified and licensed orthopedic physical therapists such as this blogger before he retired.
Chiropractic Woo
This blogger just received the weekly email newsletter entitled Consumer Health Digest, which is edited by Stephen Barrett, MD of Quackwatch.org. It "summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer protection and consumer decision-making."
This email newsletter had an interesting report of the results of a survey of chiropractors by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. :
The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners has published the results of its periodic survey to which 2,371 randomly selected chiropractors responded last year. Previous surveys, reported under the title Job Analysis of Chiropractic, were performed in 1991, 1998-99, and 2003. The reports are interesting because they provide a basis to assess the minimum extent of irrational practices among chiropractors. The 2003 survey, for example, found that 37.6% used applied kinesiology muscle testing, 69.9% of respondents used activator methods, 38% used "cranial" techniques, 49.6% used sacrooccipital technique, 28% used Logan basic, and 25.7% used Palmer upper cervical, and 15.1% used the meric system. However, unlike the previous versions, the 2009 survey questionnaire did not ask about the use of applied kinesiology or any of the subluxation-based "adjustive procedures" that place chiropractic in an unfavorable light. The 2009 survey found that 38.6% of respondents said they prescribe homeopathic remedies, 13% use acupuncture/meridian therapy with needles, and 41.1% use acupuncture/meridian therapy without needles (acupressure), which it defines as "applying digital pressure to stimulate certain sites on the skin to affect distant functional mechanisms of the body . . . . based on the belief that these sites are organized along meridians that carry life force." The 2009 survey also found that 94.4% of respondents said they offer "nutritional/dietary recommendations," but the number does not indicate the extent to which the recommendations include unnecessary or irrational products.
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Why would anyone entrust any portion of their healthcare needs to practitioners of such bunk?
This email newsletter had an interesting report of the results of a survey of chiropractors by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. :
The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners has published the results of its periodic survey to which 2,371 randomly selected chiropractors responded last year. Previous surveys, reported under the title Job Analysis of Chiropractic, were performed in 1991, 1998-99, and 2003. The reports are interesting because they provide a basis to assess the minimum extent of irrational practices among chiropractors. The 2003 survey, for example, found that 37.6% used applied kinesiology muscle testing, 69.9% of respondents used activator methods, 38% used "cranial" techniques, 49.6% used sacrooccipital technique, 28% used Logan basic, and 25.7% used Palmer upper cervical, and 15.1% used the meric system. However, unlike the previous versions, the 2009 survey questionnaire did not ask about the use of applied kinesiology or any of the subluxation-based "adjustive procedures" that place chiropractic in an unfavorable light. The 2009 survey found that 38.6% of respondents said they prescribe homeopathic remedies, 13% use acupuncture/meridian therapy with needles, and 41.1% use acupuncture/meridian therapy without needles (acupressure), which it defines as "applying digital pressure to stimulate certain sites on the skin to affect distant functional mechanisms of the body . . . . based on the belief that these sites are organized along meridians that carry life force." The 2009 survey also found that 94.4% of respondents said they offer "nutritional/dietary recommendations," but the number does not indicate the extent to which the recommendations include unnecessary or irrational products.
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Why would anyone entrust any portion of their healthcare needs to practitioners of such bunk?
Chiropractic Manipulation Update
The Science-Based Medicine Blog has updated information on the status of Chiropractic manipulation.
Chiropractic and Stroke
Why would you risk a stroke to receive a treatment that has not been found to be significantly effective for any medical condition?
Chiropractic and Stroke Risk
Chiropractic and Stroke Risk
Alt Med - Chiropractic (4 of 20)
(from PT and Alternative Medicine)
Introduction
Chiropractic uses spinal manipulation (SM) (moving a joint beyond its passive range of motion limit by means of a sudden thrust ---"adjustment") to correct "subluxations" (small mal-alignments) in the spine. However, such “subluxations” have not been scientifically verified.
Some chiropractors only use SM, others use other treatments as well (i.e. physical therapy modalities, massage therapy, sale of “alternative” products and services like herbs, vitamins, colonics, etc.)
The rationale behind an "adjustment" is to correct "subluxations" that effect the nerves going to the body's organs, thus removing the cause of disease. This belief is scientifically unsupported.
Support
For anyone who has gone to a chiropractor: How many chiropractors does it take to change a light bulb? One, but it will take three times a week service for 6 months.
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