Results of a research project have been published which show a remarkable increase in the effectiveness of addiction treatment when combined with chiropractic adjustments.

The paper appeared in the February 2001 issue of the prestigious Molecular Psychiatry, a publication of the Nature Publishing Group.

Lead researcher, Jay Holder, D.C., is the chair of the World Chiropractic Alliance Council on Addictionology, founder and medical director of Exodus Addiction Treatment Center, founder and director of the American College of Addictionology & Compulsive Disorders, and inventor of the Torque Release Technique used in the research project.

According to Dr. Holder, Molecular Psychiatry is rated second in psychiatry and tenth in neurosciences out of hundreds of peer-reviewed medical research journals in the world.

"This is the first time chiropractic research has been published in a journal of such international importance in the world scientific community," he told The Chiropractic Journal. Nature Publishing Group's flagship journal, Nature, is the world's top rated peer-reviewed scientific research journal, he added.

During the 18-month study, patients in a residential drug-addiction program were divided into three groups. The first group received standard care including group therapy, psychotherapy and medical care.

The second group received that same care but also were given chiropractic adjustments, using the Torque Release technique delivered via the integrator adjusting device.

A third group received the standard care plus a placebo treatment in which the integrator was fired but did not deliver any force.

Just 56% of the standard-care-only group finished the entire treatment program, compared with 75% of the placebo group. However, all of the participants in the chiropractic group completed the program. This 100% retention rate has never been accomplished by any other methodology, Holder says.

In addition, the chiropractic group also made far fewer visits to a nurse's station and showed significant decreases in anxiety. Only 9% of those receiving the chiropractic adjustments made one or more visits to the nurse's station while on the program, compared to 56% of the placebo group and 48% of the usual care group.

The study clearly showed a strong association between chiropractic care and increased retention of patients in an addiction treatment program. The study was funded in part by the Florida Chiropractic Society and given full support by its president Ian Grassam, D.C.

Currently, retention is a major hurdle in treating chemical addictions. Holder noted that addicts who finish a 28- to 30-day program have a much better chance of overcoming their addiction and staying clean. However, nationally, only 72% of all participants manage to complete such a program.

"Too many people who could be helped by these programs are dropping out too soon," Holder explained. "If we could get them to stay in the program, we can begin to see real progress in our battle against addictions."

Researchers attributed the success rate to a "major change...in the anxiety levels -- they went down much more dramatically in the active (chiropractic) group," stated Dr. Robert C. Duncan, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Miami School of Medicine. "In these kinds of treatment facilities, if you make an effort that's successful to reduce anxiety, you can keep people around longer."

Holder also noted that "This is the first research study to establish that subluxation correction improves state of well-being and allows for greater expression of human potential.

Since the research project was conducted in Florida, where Holder is based, the Molecular Psychiatry report has received widespread media attention. A major article in the March 29, 2001 Miami Herald discussed the breakthrough study and Holder's work with addicted patients.

Speaking with reporters, however, Holder was careful to emphasize the true nature of chiropractic as a means of correcting vertebral subluxations.

"Chiropractic does not treat addiction -- it does not treat any disease," Holder told Miami Herald reporter Christine Morris. "We're allowing those things that treat addiction to be embraced more thoroughly."

The Herald article was subsequently placed on the wire service and picked up by newspapers around the country. In addition, U.S.A. Today and several national television news reporters have interviewed Holder.

The Torque Release Technique and Integrator were created specifically for this research study.

In designing the study, Holder had to find a way to ensure consistency and reproducibility in the application of delivering the chiropractic adjustment and to measure its outcome.

To accomplish this, it was necessary to adjust by instrument rather than by hand. Other adjusting instruments tested were not found to be reproducible since they are held by hand against the patient's skin and fired by hand. According to the Holder Research Institute, if the pressure against the tip of any adjusting instrument varies even a fraction of an ounce, the dynamic forces, frequency (Hz), and kinetic energy characteristics may vary as much as 300 percent.

To guarantee reproducibility, the researchers needed an instrument with an automatic trip sensor mechanism. This would assure that the instrument would fire when an exact predetermined pressure was reached when placed against the skin of the patient and at specific line of drive desired.

Further, this allowed for a more stable line of drive, often difficult to achieve in instruments that have to be squeezed to fire.

Since the purpose of the study was to determine the outcome of traditional chiropractic, an instrument had to be developed that delivered what the hands were intended to.

Conventional adjusting instruments provide only axial force. However, the hands provide, at the option of the chiropractor, two more dimensions: recoil and torque (right or left), as in the most traditional application of the adjustment, toggle recoil. Torque allows for a line of drive that remains more stable with deeper penetration and recoil allows for greater thrust outcome with less force.

In 1995, the Integrator became the first chiropractic device to be granted a 510K medical device designation by the Food & Drug Administration. The approval specified that the Integrator was for the correction of vertebral subluxation.

Parker College of Chiropractic and the Holder Research Institute co-sponsor Torque Release Technique Seminars that are offered throughout the United States and Canada. Over the past five years, approximately 3,000 chiropractors have been trained in the Torque Release technique and the use of the Integrator.

Future use of chiropractic as a means of increasing retention in addiction programs promises to open new opportunities to D.C.s around the world.

More than 50 million people are affected by addictive or compulsive disorders of some kind and the need for subluxation correction exists in all treatment programs.

This year, the American College of Addictionology and Compulsive Disorders (ACACD) entered its 10th year of offering board certification in addictions and compulsive disorders to chiropractors and other health care professionals. The program leads to a C.Ad. (Certified Addictionologist) credential.