Benefits of chiropractic care

Some possible benefits of chiropractic care include...

* Increased energy level
* Clear, peaceful and efficient mind
* Better quality of sleep
* Better coordination, accuracy and stamina resulting in improved mental and physical performance
* Stronger immune system
* "Joie de vivre"

Warning: When the functions improve it may be like feeling ten years younger, but during the first few weeks of care, one has to be careful at not overdoing and use the 70% rule: if one feels he/she can do 100% of a task, it is wise to limit the activity to 70%. Also one may think he/she is completely cured and suspends care... actually symptoms are the last to manifest and the first to leave, and referring to symptoms to evaluate health is now obsolete thinking as we know that vertebral subluxations are stubborn in nature and inevitably recur: a person could be pain free for a while even though the state of subluxation has returned; inevitably, sooner or later, symptoms will return too, this time stronger and new symptoms may show up as well... so the sensible thing to do, along with abiding to a healthy life style, is to keep correcting the vertebral subluxations until the spine is stable enough to allow graduating to maintenance care.

RCS reports on preliminary data - Subjects show 20% overall improvement

Chandler, Ariz. -- RCS (Research & Clinical Science) has released information on data compiled on more than 500 volunteer subjects by RCS Authorized Clinical Investigators around the world.

According to RCS President Robert Blanks, PhD, a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Florida Atlantic University and Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine, the report provides a "snapshot" of data that "helps illustrate the advantage of the research approaches taken."

To obtain data on several critical health and wellness areas, RCS employs a customized version of a widely used "Quality of Life" questionnaire and translates the scores obtained into a composite score termed the "Vitality Wellness Index (VWI)."

For the preliminary report, scores from two research groups were used; chiropractic patients who have been under chiropractic care were compared to those of research volunteers who had never received chiropractic adjustments.

Over a three-month period (May 21, 2006 to Aug. 30, 2006) a total of 787 research subjects took the on-line quality of life survey and completed other sociodemographic assessments.

Of these, 523 were patients undergoing care in 63 participating offices and 264 were research volunteers who had never had chiropractic care. The age, sex, marital status and other sociodemographics on the two populations were comparable.

Careful analysis of the data revealed that VWI scores were significantly higher for patients than non-patients, by an average of 20%. Dr. Blanks noted that the results were quite revealing. "Of the 523 patients examined, 67% achieved difference scores corresponding to a small effect size; 57% a moderate effect size; and 43% of the overall group achieved a large clinical effect corresponding to a change of four-fifth of a standard deviation from baseline control levels."

The statistical term “effect size” is a standard measure of the clinical meaningfulness of the observed differences between groups. Even a small “effect size” is meaningful statistically, and this occurred in two-thirds (67%) of the patients undergoing care re. to controls. Even more importantly, about half of all patients (43-57%) reported changes with moderate or large effect sizes, “which is quite impressive” states Dr. Blanks.

The VWI also looks into specific components of overall wellness: life enjoyment, physical symptoms, mental-emotional state and stress.

Of the four measured factors, "life enjoyment" showed the smallest increase (10%) for those under care. The scores for physical symptoms (physical state) improved 15%; mental-emotional state improved 21%; and stress indicators improved by an overwhelming 34% with care.

Scores for 523 individuals undergoing chiropractic care compared with 264 individuals who had never received chiropractic care, after three months.

Overall Vitality Wellness Score 20% Higher

Life Enjoyment 10% Higher

Physical State 15% Higher

Mental / Emotional State 21% Higher

Stress Indicators 34% Higher

"Although preliminary, these results are very encouraging," Dr. Blanks explained. "The researchers at RCS are confident that this large-scale, statistically controlled, epidemiological study will provide the first important evidence for the clinical meaningfulness of vertebral subluxation."

More importantly, he noted, the proposed research program, which relies heavily on patient self-reported outcomes (questionnaires) and standard chiropractic indicators, makes it unnecessary to address specific diseases or conditions to test the causal link between subluxation-correction and health. This allows the practitioner, as trained in the chiropractic colleges, to continue a responsible clinical approach, i.e., the detection, analyses and correction of subluxation, and not be forced to diagnose and treat diseases.

RCS is a private sector research program whose mission is to educate, train and equip chiropractors with the latest objective health outcomes assessment tools and procedures, and link participants through the largest population, web-based health outcomes project in the history of the profession.

The RCS program is the largest ongoing, population-based, longitudinal cohort of chiropractic patients ever studied, analyzed and submitted to scientific, evidence-based, peer-reviewed research journals. The research seeks to validate the profession and position chiropractic as a scientific, evidence-based wellness practice.