September 2007

Tilting at more than just windmills

by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg

When I talk about the need to compile valid, scientific research that will convince the world of the need for chiropractic, and finally silence our critics, some people feel I'm being idealistic ‑‑ and unrealistic. Hoping to put chiropractic on an equal footing with medicine is an "impossible dream," they say. Battling our enemies by conducting research is simply "tilting at windmills."

Well, they're wrong and we're proving it!

Right now, more than 170 doctors of chiropractic around the US and Canada are engaged in a massive research project that has been approved by an independent Institutional Review Board (IRB). Backed by an International Scientific Advisory Panel made up of PhDs, MDs and DCs, Research & Clinical Science (RCS) is doing the kind of research we need to position chiropractic as a wellness discipline.

And, it's just gotten a huge boost by partnering with Quixote, one of the most popular and respected office software companies serving our profession.

The type of work Quixote does is a perfect match for RCS since it will give the research company the ability to collect and correlate more data than ever before.

Quixote combines groundbreaking technologies, exploiting the latest dot‑net interactive software to achieve RCS's goal of collecting critical objective data. This, combined with the subjective findings, makes the RCS study the most comprehensive research project ever launched.

Even its name ‑‑ Quixote ‑‑ is ideal for a company that will help make the "impossible dream" of chiropractic research a reality.

So far, RCS has done an incredible job of collecting subjective data from research volunteers, who take a lengthy "Self‑Reported Quality of Life" (SRQOL) study. They answer questions about their emotional, physical and mental health. The answers from people who are receiving chiropractic care ‑‑ such as current patients who volunteer as research subjects ‑‑ are compared to those who have never received care.

We're trying to determine whether being under chiropractic care affects any of the four key elements of wellbeing ‑‑ physical state, mental/emotional state, life enjoyment and stress evaluation ‑‑ as well as overall quality of life.

Preliminary data has shown that chiropractic care has a significant positive effect on all elements (life enjoyment ratings were 10% higher in chiropractic patients; physical symptoms, 15%; mental‑emotional state, 21%; and stress, 34%. Overall health indicators were 20% higher for patients than non‑patients.)

Yet, as exciting as these results are, we need to take the research to the next level and capture objective as well as subjective data.

Quixote offers the most sophisticated, web‑based software system available in the profession, one that functions in the "dot.net environment." That means the office system is connected to Quixote via the Internet so that the software can be updated frequently without the office staff doing a single thing. It all goes on in the background through the online connection.

Despite the uninterrupted connectivity, the system remains in full compliance with HIPAA regulations and carefully safeguards the privacy of all patient and office data.

Once incorporated into the RCS program, the Quixote system will be able to capture the research doctors' objective findings as they provide the free volunteer examination. If a volunteer is also a patient, all pertinent diagnostic and care records will be seamlessly captured for correlation with subjective data.

The results will be a massive project allowing researchers to pinpoint specific effects of subluxations and the documentable benefits of chiropractic adjustments.

For example, let's take a hypothetical (but very plausible) situation. Let's say 2000 volunteers come to their local RCS clinical investigators and note on their health history and SRQOL that they have been diagnosed with type II diabetes and are taking insulin.

Of those 2000 volunteers, 1000 decide to receive chiropractic care as patients. After receiving 24 adjustments, these 1000 volunteers again take the SRQOL and are re‑evaluated. They report that they have been able to discontinue their insulin and that their blood sugar levels have stabilized.

What if 870 of those 1000 patients were found to have subluxations at T9 and T6 and, after a course of 12 adjustments, 790 of the patients were re‑evaluated by their MDs and found to have stabilized blood and urine sugar levels and no longer required insulin?

Wouldn't this kind of research result convince millions of people with diabetes and pre‑diabetes to try chiropractic care?

Of course I'm not saying the research should attempt to prove that subluxations cause diabetes or that chiropractic adjustments cure it. I'm simply saying that this research would demonstrate that vertebral subluxations have a negative impact on the body's normal functioning in such a way that the body is unable to maintain a normal blood sugar level and that correcting those subluxations allow the body to function properly.

Thanks to its alliance with Quixote, RCS will be able to collect the kind of objective data required in order to do the kind of research that we need.

With this research, we can stop limiting ourselves to back pain relief! We can begin helping everyone from infants to elders. And, yes, we can silence those critics who keep saying we're 'unscientific.'"

Idealistic? Probably. Unrealistic? No! As long as there are doctors of chiropractic who are willing to join RCS and help compile the data we need, no goal is unrealistic.

We can do this! The question is, will we?

Or perhaps the real question is, will you?

For more information about the RCS program, contact RCS at 800‑909‑1354 or 480‑303‑1694 or visit www.rcsprogram.com.  For information on Quixote, call 619‑299‑2930 or visit www.ppt4drs.com.