June 2006

Introducing ...

A member of the International Scientific Advisory Panel

When David Jackson, DC; Matthew McCoy, DC; and Robert Blanks, PhD founded Research & Clinical Science (RCS), they realized that the credibility and validity of the program would rely in great part on the quality of researchers chosen to analyze the data collected by chiropractors around the world.

They sought out a world‑class group of respected scientists with unimpeachable credentials and proven expertise in health care research. The result of their efforts was the RCS International Scientific Advisory Panel, a multi‑disciplinary group charged with overseeing the collection of, and analyzing, data compiled on hundreds of thousands of volunteers and chiropractic patients across the globe.

Each month during this special series, The Chiropractic Journal profiles one member of this prestigious panel.

Christopher Kent, DC, FCCI, Esq.

This month's featured member of the RCS International Scientific Advisory Board in one of the senior ranking scholars in the chiropractic profession.

Christopher Kent, DC, is probably known to most members of profession. A graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, he completed his BA and MA in psychology from California Coast University. He has been a member of the chiropractic profession for 33 years, practicing part‑time in Davenport, and then full‑time in Florida and as a specialist in diagnostic imaging in New Jersey. During his clinical career he has studied and applied a variety of traditional and low‑force techniques.

Kent is widely recognized as an accomplished researcher, published author, successful businessman and public speaker, and tireless advocate for regulatory issues involving chiropractic and subluxation over the past 20 years.

Finally, to add to his list of accomplishments, Kent recently completed his law degree from the British‑American University, passed the bar exam, and is now licensed to practice law in California and to serve as an attorney of the United States District Court, Southern District of California.

It is difficult to imagine conducting a research program of the magnitude proposed by RCS without the guidance from an individual of Kent's caliber. Those who listen to his monthly "On Purpose" tapes, with business partner Patrick Gentempo, DC, know of Christopher's encyclopedic knowledge of the chiropractic and related scientific literature.

His leadership role in establishing evidence‑based clinical practice guidelines for subluxation‑centered chiropractic is also well‑known to members of the profession.

As president of the Council of Chiropractic Practice (CCP), he skillfully guided the organization through two successful revisions of the evidence‑based clinical practice guidelines using a peer‑review process.

The first edition of the "CCP Clinical Practice Guidelines for Vertebral Subluxation in Chiropractic Practice," published in 1998, was followed by a revised edition in 2003. It remains the only clinical practice guidelines for vertebral subluxation recognized by the National Guideline Clearinghouse (www.guideline.gov).

The CCP guidelines have now been distributed to the Health Ministers of 191 Nations, and are the only official recognized evidence‑based guidelines for the field of chiropractic.

Kent's research interests in subluxation‑centered chiropractic began at Palmer College, where he joined the research and teaching faculty immediately upon completing his DC.

His first studies examined the physiological changes that occurred with the adjustment, which eventually developed into his involvement in the development and manufacturing of surface EMG and other types of clinical instrumentation for the chiropractic profession.

Even the concept of the heart rate variability monitor currently manufactured by Chiropractic Leadership Alliance (founded and owned jointly Kent and Gentempo) began during his early days in the research department at Palmer.

Admittedly, the early instruments for measurement of autonomic function and heart rate variability were very crude. However, years of refinements and extensive use in research and clinical setting has vastly improved the clinical capabilities of modern instrumentation.

Kent recalls his first participation in a major research symposium, in 1975 at a conference offered by the National Institutes of Health‑sponsored Center for Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINCDS).

The national focus was then ‑‑ as it continues to be ‑‑ on musculoskeletal conditions. With his research and other activities, he hopes to reestablish a world view of chiropractic that is balanced, supporting wellness, subluxation and quality of life.

Since these early days he has gone on to publish five books and book chapters, 21 peer‑reviewed research articles, and more than 100 other (non‑peer‑reviewed) professional publications in periodicals such as The Chiropractic Journal, International Review of Chiropractic, Today's Chiropractic, Chiropractic Products, American Journal of Clinical Chiropractic, American Chiropractor, Journal of Chiropractic Research and Clinical Investigation, Florida Chiropractic Society Review, Chiropractic, Digest of Chiropractic Economics, Proceedings of the Pacific Consortium for Chiropractic Research, Industrial Hygiene News, and the Journal of the International Academy of Nutritional Consultants.

The research topics have primarily focused on objective measures of the subluxation including EMG, thermography, algometry, range of motion, and analyses of spinopathomechanics using a variety of imaging techniques.

In addition his publications, Kent promotes scholarship in the profession as a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (1996 ‑‑ present), Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics (1996‑1999) and, the Chiropractic Research Journal (1990‑present). He has held his position of the International Scientific Advisory Panel member for RCS since spring 2005.

Kent is a Diplomate and Fellow of the College Chiropractic Imaging of the International Chiropractors Association (FCCI). This specialty training required 500 hours of integrated training writing papers, seminars, supervised reading of images.

Additionally he completed certificate‑visiting fellowships in low‑field MR imaging (Toshiba/UCSF, 1990‑91) and MRI imaging (Peninsula Imaging Center/ Los Gatos MRI center, 1989) and was awarded Diplomate status in the Academy of Chiropractic Radiology in 1986.

In the mid‑nineties, he was involved in establishing one of the first open MRI facilities (Paterson NJ) in the country. Modern imaging techniques remain an important assessment tool when used in combination with clinical findings and other outcome measures.

Together with Gentempo, Kent developed FDA‑registered equipment that many view as revolutionizing assessment of chiropractic patients and parameters of the vertebral subluxation complex including surface EMG, thermography, range of motion, and algometry.

The latest addition is equipment for measurement of heart rate (R‑R interval) variability that has become the gold‑standard in other fields of science for non‑invasive assessment of parasympathetic and sympathetic tone. The equipment provides objective criteria to assess three components (dysautonomia, dysponesia, dyskinesia) of the subluxation that may occur in combination in patients.

This type of measurement has provided an important boost to the scientific rationale for the subluxation complex and evidence‑basis for subluxation‑centered chiropractic in general.

The biomedical literature lists hundreds of peer‑reviewed studies utilizing the sEMG/Thermography technology, including original scientific articles published by Kent and his collaborators.

Kent has been called upon to testify at state chiropractic board actions, but most of his chiropractic health policy work is conducted in Washington DC. In his capacity as a member of the Board of Directors for the World Chiropractic Alliance, he has lobbied congress on numerous occasions seeking approval for chiropractic access for public employees and inclusion of subluxation care.

He has also held a number of important chiropractic leadership roles nationally and internationally. He was the first chiropractor elected to chair the United Nation's NGO (non‑governmental organization) Health Committee (2001‑2002) and member of the Executive Board NGO Health Committee in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

In 1999, Dr. Kent was appointed representative of the WCA to the United Nations (the WCA is an NGO affiliated with the UN's Department of Public Information). He also served as treasurer and chair (2001‑2002) of the NGO health committee, the first chiropractor to be so elected.

In this capacity he was responsible for assisting in the organization of the chiropractic presentation at the International Conference of NGOs in Seoul Korea. A second major accomplishment was the first chiropractic event at the UN headquarters entitled "Woman's Health and Quality of Life."

"My hope for the future is that chiropractors become the premiere providers of wellness ‑‑ with practices focused on lifestyle, subluxation and quality of life," Kent explained. "Virtually everyone should consult a chiropractor to facilitate the full expression of their life potential."

The problem, he acknowledges, is bringing data of this type together and publishing the results in a wide variety of peer‑reviewed journals. "Only in this way can we grow the evidence‑base for chiropractic," he states. "It's a tragedy that for more than 100 years, clinical data from millions of patients have passed through our offices and colleges without being analyzed."

Kent hopes that his involvement as a member of the RCS International Scientific Advisory Board will help bring together clinical and other outcomes data into a coherent body so chiropractors and researchers in other fields can have access to this valuable information and assist with the scientific evidence‑based rationale supporting chiropractic and the subluxation.

The proposed RCS study of a large cohort of individuals undergoing care, much like the Framingham study of cardiovascular disease, will allow the researchers to evaluate the long‑term clinical, wellness and quality of life benefits of chiropractic care.

RCS is honored to have such a distinguished representative of the chiropractic profession to help guide the design of the RCS research studies, and to assist with data analysis, interpretation and publication in peer‑reviewed journals.

The RCS research program is comprehensive and admittedly aggressive because, by necessity, it involves such a large number of patients to control for all the study variables. The potential for success is extremely high, and the field of subluxation‑centered chiropractic will need these results to advance the wellness chiropractic agenda.