October 2004

Research is key to progress

by Bob Blanks, PhD

While many may argue details, most health professionals agree that the current public health crisis stems from at least four converging themes:

1. Americans have adopted a life of poor health behaviors regarding food choices, exercise and stressful lifestyles. We also live in an increasingly polluted environment that assaults health at many levels. These factors conspire to compromise primarily the person's immune, endocrine and nervous system functions ‑‑ and thus his or her overall health.

2. The nation has overwhelmingly allocated health resources towards disease care rather than prevention or wellness perspectives. With this strategy, we must wait until disease develops to intervene. This is in contrast to the alternative strategy of preventative and wellness care, where patients are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle, avoid risks and be proactive about their health.

3. Medical infrastructure (federal/state agencies, third‑party insurers and many corporations) reinforce the disease care cycle by reimbursing only "medically necessary (disease) care," and supporting sick leave policy rather than prevention and wellness strategies (e.g., on‑site company fitness facilities, vacation, etc.).

4. Acute biomedical care in the US is the best in the World. But, it is massively expensive, not designed nor intended for long term use, and all but fails if the underlying factors of health, lifestyle, environmental pollution, immune compromise and affordability are not addressed.

For more than a century, the chiropractic profession has pursued a health doctrine of vitalism (the body as a largely self‑correcting energetic system) and holism (care for the person vs. symptom relief) and is generally recognized as a stand‑alone health delivery system.

Practitioners following these original tenets diagnose and correct a condition called vertebral subluxation that can impact many aspects of health. They also advise their clients on healthy food choices, exercise and other health‑promoting strategies.

Several large epidemiologic studies demonstrate the cost‑effectiveness of chiropractic care, but major advancement in the field has been hampered by poor organization and lack of research infrastructure. Research in chiropractic is grossly under‑funded with regard to other health professions ‑‑ for example, medicine and dentistry ‑‑ and the focus of major funding in the field has been largely medical endpoints (e.g., musculoskeletal disorders, headaches, etc.) and not the spectrum of positive health outcomes experienced by the practitioners in their offices every day.

Until this information is brought together, the true health and wellness benefits of chiropractic and the ability to solve the major health problems facing America cannot be adequately addressed.

There have been significant attempts to bring forth and document the breadth of chiropractic outcomes, but these grassroots efforts have been stalled from lack of funding and organizational issues. Unfortunately, the evidence‑based documentation supporting chiropractic must be brought forth across multiple fronts, in carefully designed studies, and the results published in quality peer‑reviewed journals in order to advance the science of chiropractic.

Moreover, it is imperative to make these new research advancements available to the public, other health professions, and to legislators in order to promote practice building and to systematically advance the field through the initiation of favorable public health policy.

(Dr. Blanks is Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Florida Atlantic University and a past Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine. Prior to this he spent two years at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany and two years in the Department of Anatomy at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Blanks is on the Advisory Board of the International Spinal Health Institute, is a Board Member of the Council on Chiropractic Practice and is actively involved in chiropractic research.)

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