In the past year, both the World Champion Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies organizations have worked with chiropractors to get their players in top condition to perform through an entire year. Major League ball clubs play a 162 game schedule that includes coast to coast travel. A typical season starts in late February with a Spring Training schedule and finishes in early October. A playoff or World Series bound team is still playing in late October.

Michael Weinman, D.C., works with the Boston Red Sox and often is busy with players for three to four hours before home games. “When the body’s joints, muscles and nerves are well-conditioned, a player performs at the top of his game and is able to stave off nagging injuries. Chiropractic adjustments enhance physical health and promote top performance,” he said.

The most common problems for baseball players include rotator cuff injuries; neck, mid-back and lower back conditions; and hamstring pulls. The hamstring problems tend to be incurred by a player in a standing position having to quickly burst into action at top speed to make a play. Dr. Weinman says that much of his work involves adjusting joints to keep them mobile, reduce a play­er’s inflammations and to break up adhesions.

Dr. Weinman and a team of trainers and massage and physical therapists must be having a positive effect on this team. Last October, the Boston Red Sox became World Series champions for 2007 when they defeated the Colorado Rockies in 4 straight games!

The Philadelphia Phillies organization will have chiropractors available to their players for the 2008 season at all home and road games. The team has put a network of chiropractors together in all of the cities the team will visit this year. The request for Chiropractic came first from pitcher Cole Hamels who believes in the benefits of Chiropractic. He thinks that one of the reasons he was forced to miss games while on the disabled list in 2007 had to do with no chiropractor being made available to help with an elbow strain.

Hamels said he was most pleased that the team was putting in the effort to make chiroprac­tors available to them when they travel. Many other players on the team will likely make use of the services to stay healthy and play their best. “Ever since I’ve used one (a chiropractor) it’s done wonders for me. It’s great that they (team management) are going out of their way to get a network going.” Hamels thinks that with Chiropractic services fully available, that he could reach the magic number of becoming a 20 game winner this season.

Source: The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. “Play Ball! Chiropractic Adjustments Keep Boston Red Sox Organization Physically Fit Throughout the Baseball Season.” Press Release. May 2007. http://www.f4cp.com/press_releases/BostonRedSoxandChiropractic.htm and Kid Chiropractic. “Baseball Pitcher Cole Hamels Gets His Team to Provide a Chiropractor.” April 2008. http://www.kidchiropractic.com/

“By stimulating the nervous system, we can improve the function of the whole body,” said Dr. Heidi Haavik-Taylor. “This is something that chiropractors and their patients have known for years, and now we have some scientific evidence to prove it.”

Dr. Haavik-Taylor has been researching the effects of Chiropractic on the nervous system for the past 7 years. Her study included the use of an electroencephalograph (EEG) to measure brain waves before an adjustment and how these waves were altered afterwards. Her work was conducted at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic where she is director of research. Her findings were published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.

The research involved 12 subjects who were documented as having reoccurring neck pain. All of the adjustments involved manipulations of dysfunctional cervical joints. Using a series of EEG evaluations, researchers were able to show that signals are carried by the nervous system to the brain and change the way muscles are con­trolled. “This is the first time that anyone has used EEGs to prove that there are def­inite changes to the way the brain processes information after Chiropractic care.”

Dr. Haavik-Taylor summed up the action in very simple terms. “The process is like rebooting a computer. The signals that these adjustments send to the brain via the nervous system reset muscle behavior patterns.”

People who have enjoyed successful Chiropractic adjustments can certainly relate to the findings of this research. Is it any wonder that people frequently notice imme­diate changes in the way they feel or the way a particular part of their body is func­tioning after an adjustment – and in many cases, notice it immediately? If body sys­tems do indeed reboot along the lines of a computer, changes can happen quickly with marvelous results.

Even the president of the New Zealand Chiropractors Association, Dr. James Burt, was favorably impressed. “Dr. Haavik-Taylor’s work is ground-breaking on an international level by proving that Chiropractic adjustments do alter and benefit the nervous system.”

Source: The New Zealand Chiropractors Association. Media Release. “New Science Behind Chiropractic Care.” November 2007.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0711/S00116.htm

Mr. Harkey, age 38, has been legally blind in his left eye for the last 12 years. “I woke up one day and didn’t have vision in one eye,” he said. Well, fortunately for him, as fast as his sight disappeared, it returned. Dr. Tim Stackis was the chiropractor who delivered the adjustment that is being heralded as a miracle in Iowa.

Gina Connolly, Mr. Harkey’s fiancee, helped him onto the path of considering Chiropractic care. She brought him to a new-patient class delivered by Dr. Stackis. “I was skeptical about Chiropractic,” he said before attending the class and agreeing to his life-changing adjustment. Fortunately, that all changed on January 3 when Mr. Harkey got his sight back.

Here are Mr. Harkey’s recollections of the events of this memorable day at Dr. Stackis’

office: “My blind eye starting watering after I left there and it watered for 45 minutes straight. It started making my good eye water. I went to wipe my right eye and I could see out my left again,” he said. “While I wiped my right eye, I could see out of my left.” When this occurred, he said to a friend of his, “Oh my God, I can see!” Apparently the friend didn’t know he was referring to his blind eye. “You always could,” the friend said. “No, out of my left eye,” said Mr. Harkey.

The adjustment Dr. Stackis performed was aimed at correcting a subluxation (a partial dislo­cation of a vertebra) in Mr. Harkey’s neck area. Chiropractic adjustments bring relief to all sorts of conditions, but the results of this treatment, in particular, pleased the doctor. “I’ve heard of cases of people regaining their sight, but I’ve never experienced something like Doug’s magni­tude. Miracles can happen and some of those miracles are pretty big,” said Dr. Stackis.

As for the aim of the procedure, Dr. Stackis had this to say about the adjustment to the sub­luxation in the neck: “That subluxation interferes with the messages and energy the brain sends down to the rest of the body. Your nerve system controls and regulates every function of your body.”

Mr. Harkey is happy to have his vision back, and so is his fiancee. Seeing out of only one eye has detrimental effects on depth perception. One thing his fiancee is not going to miss is him bumping into things or stepping on her feet, she said. The couple plans to wed this year, and Mr. Harkey should be seeing clearly at the wedding. His eye doctor said that with corrective lenses his vision will again be very normal…thanks to his chiropractor and his single adjustment.

Source: Kid Chiropractic. “Blind Man Suddenly Sees Again After Visit to Chiropractor.” February 2008. http://www.kidchiropractic.com

Cerebral Palsy gets its name from the complete or partial muscle paralysis experienced by vic­tims of the condition, often resulting in uncontrollable body movements. Generally, it is associated with some degree of brain damage that can, but does not always occur, prior to or during birth.

For this study, four children whose cerebral palsy condition was considered secondary to birth trauma were evaluated and treated by a Chiropractor. In each case, examination evidence of verte­bral subluxations (partial dislocations of the vertebrae) was present.

The first was the case of an 8-year-old girl whose condition included seizures as well. She suf­fered from leg and arm tremors, visual problems and poor posture. Over a 9-week period she received 22 Chiropractic adjustments with very positive results. First off, her parents reported that she could walk without anyone’s help and sit better. She had improved left arm and hand move­ments especially when feeding herself. Her walk was steadier and she gained the ability to walk up stairs on her own. Finally, her parents reported she had increased energy and an improved emo­tional state.

The changes in a 7-year-old boy were equally striking. His parents reported that he had little energy as an infant, did not crawl until he was 11 months old and did not walk until he was nearly 5 years old. At 7 years old he had numerous additional problems that included seizures, pain in the extremities, and difficulty concentrating in school.

After the initiation of Chiropractic care, his parents reported that he became more stable while standing and walking, had greater mobility and better balance of the upper part of his body. Additionally, he was able to walk longer distances before he got tired. His abilities in school improved and his sleeping problems resolved. The parents also reported improvements in his appetite, communication skills, and emotional state.

The other two children in the study also showed similar improvements. They experienced posi­tive changes in their coordination and their gait; had better sleeping patterns; and improved appetite. Changes in their posture and mental attitude were also noted.

The study authors noted that these improvements were in direct correlation with the reduction of subluxations during their Chiropractic care. “These reports are consistent with widespread anec­dotal reports of similar types of improvements and are consistent with other cases reported in the literature,” they said. Given these results they urged additional investigations into the effects of subluxation analysis and correction in children suffering from cerebral palsy.

Sources: Chiropractic Research http://www.chiropracticresearch.org and the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research https://www.jvsr.com/abstracts/index.asp?id=267 June 2006.

Much has been written over the last few years about a harmful culprit in the body known as “free radicals.” These are commonly known to be undesirable as they are unstable mole­cules that can combine with healthy cells and cause damage. The condition is known as oxidative stress and can cause problems to the body’s DNA, the building blocks of life itself.

A study to determine the effects of Chiropractic on this process was conducted at the University of Lund in Sweden. The joint study involving chiropractors and university researchers was aimed at learning if Chiropractic care could influence the basic physiologi­cal processes that affect oxidative stress and DNA repair.

What they found was that Chiropractic helps the physiology of the body and aids in DNA repair. Here is how they did it. Researchers took measurements of a primary antioxi­dant (free radical fighter) in the body known as serum thiols in each of the subjects of the study. Three groups were considered. The first was 21 persons who had a variety of health issues or pain and had undergone short term Chiropractic adjustments. A second group of 25 had received long-term adjustments and a third group of 30 had not received any care.

Results showed that the antioxidant levels were the highest and consequently the most positive in the group with 52-312 weeks of Chiropractic care. Long-term care of two years or more was shown to re-establish a normal physiological state independent of age, sex or nutritional supplement intake. Antioxidant levels were the lowest in persons with active disease as well as patients with initial musculoskeletal complaints.

“Going through life, we experience physical, chemical, and emotional stress,” said researcher Dr. Christopher Kent. “These stresses affect the function of the nervous system. We hypothesized that these disturbances in nerve function could affect oxidative stress and DNA repair on a cellular level.”

“Oxidative stress results in DNA damage and inhibits DNA repair. DNA repair is the mechanism which fixes the damage caused by environmental impact. Chiropractic care appears to improve the ability of the body to adapt to stress,” he concluded.

Source: Chiropractic Research 2005 http://www.chiropracticresearch.org Chiropractic Care Helps Body Physiology and DNA Repair, and the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research 2005 https://www.jvsr.com/abstracts/index.asp?id=243

A recent issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) tells the story of an 8-year-old boy who was troubled with bowel movement problems since birth. Before he paid a visit to a chiropractor, his condition was such that he’d only have a bowel movement at 7 to 10 day intervals. In fact, at times this even approached 2 weeks and these movements were reportedly quite painful for the boy.

The boy was by all other indications quite healthy. Medical treatment, in an attempt to solve the problem, had included laxatives, high fluid intake and a high fiber diet. All of these produced no positive or desired effect on his condition.

Chiropractic examination revealed that the boy had a subluxation (a partial dislocation) in the sacral region (lowest portion) of the back. Care began immediately with adjustments given to correct the subluxation. This continued with 2 visits per week for 4 weeks.

The result of just 1 visit to the chiropractor was a dramatic improvement in the boy’s con­dition. His mother was very pleased to report that the boy had a bowel movement on the first day of his visit and again just 2 days later. She also reported over the course of the 4 weeks of ensuing treatment that the condition continued to improve.

Interesting statistics pointed out by the study show that 3 percent of childhood doctor vis­its are for constipation issues. The figure rises to nearly 30 percent of all visits to pediatric gastroenterologists. Treatments generally include dietary management, biofeedback and laxa­tives. Statistically, according to the study, between 30 percent and as high as 50 percent of children do not respond to these treatments and continue to have long-term problems.

The results of Chiropractic treatment with this boy and improvements in his life were immediate, continuing and long term. Follow up 1 month after treatment revealed consistent normal bowel functions. Several months later, another follow up revealed the same positive results. Finally, a phone call to the boy, now 13 years after treatment, reported normal bowel function. In fact, he said that his bowel function was nearly “clock-like” with daily move­ments.

How’s that for producing life-changing improvements? Short-term Chiropractic interven­tion brought about very positive, long-term results.

Source: Chiropractic Research. January 2007. http://www.chiropracticresearch.org/NEWS_Chronic_childhood_constipation_helped_with_chiropractic.htm

The first study took place in England with results reported in the scientific medical journal Spine. This national survey took a look at the outcomes of 19,722 Chiropractic patients who had received some form of neck adjustment. The researchers reviewed a total of 50,276 neck adjustments to see if there were any serious side effects from Chiropractic care. They defined serious effects to be those that resulted in the need to be referred to a hospital, or any that caused a worsening of symptoms immediately after treatment, or any that resulted in persistent or significant disability or incapacity.

The researchers arrived at very positive results. “There were no reports of serious adverse events,” they said. Overall, they found cervical neck adjustments to be a safe procedure in the UK when administered by trained and registered Chiropractors.

In the U.S., a study published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research showed that Chiropractic adjustments had a profound effect on reducing Stage 1 hyper­tension. (Stage 1 is the first level of elevated blood pressure that causes health concerns.) The goal of the research was to determine if non-surgical procedures to properly align the Atlas (top) vertebra in the neck produced changes in blood pressure and heart rate.

This study compared two groups of subjects who had a history of Stage 1 hyperten­sion with no apparent cause or disease creating this condition. One group of patients received Chiropractic adjustment and the other received “sham intervention” similar to an authentic procedure.

Both groups were examined before and after the procedures, with blood pressure read showed that both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings were significantly reduced for the group who received an actual adjustment to their Atlas vertebra. “This pilot study shows that correction of misalignment of the Atlas vertebra lowers and sus­tains reductions in blood pressure for at least 8 weeks in people with Stage 1 hyperten­sion.”

Source: “Research Shows Chiropractic Helps Stage One Hypertension” and “Medical Study Demonstrates Chiropractic Safety for Neck Adjustments”, Kid Chiropractic, November 2007, www.kidchiropractic.com

What makes table tennis a sport where competitors can benefit from Chiropractic is the enormous amount of body rotation and twisting involved in the game. The speed of the ball in competitive matches often nears 100 miles per hour, and it takes an enormous amount of rotation around the body core to create such velocity.

In addition, the game requires fast mental and physical reactions, speedy acceleration as well as dives and lunges to retrieve wildly spinning balls. All of this combines to put a great deal of stress on the body. Players have noted benefits from Chiropractic adjustments prior to and following intense matches.

Recently, some of the top players in the United States had an opportunity to experience the benefits of Chiropractic at the US National Championships held in Las Vegas, NV. Several chiropractors set up shop to provide assistance to players and to introduce them to the benefits Chiropractic could have on their overall performance.

Biljana “Biba” Golic, a former US Collegiate Women’s Champ, was one of the top ath­letes who experienced Chiropractic for the very first time. After just one adjustment she said she felt an increase in her energy level, her muscle tightness was dramatically improved and so was her overall performance. This brought her back for more adjust­ments during the course of the tournament.

Dr. Rae Kelly was one of the chiropractors who enjoyed working with the athletes and had this to say: “The amount of forceful body or truck twisting associated with this level of play is truly amazing. Repetitive twisting produces significant repetitive rotational injuries. Many players came back to us before their matches for repeat treatments because it helped reduce their pain, increase their range of motion and improve their overall per­formance.”

Teodor Gheorge is a 15-time Romanian Champ and is now the executive director of USA Table Tennis. “Players discovered that increasing the energy level and curing the pain could be accomplished within 5 to 10 minutes of Chiropractic care,” he said. “It is like magic in a real world.”

Source: The World Chiropractic Alliance 2007 http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcy2007/feb/a.htm

Fibromyalgia is a disorder that is characterized by chronic aches and tenderness in the muscles, fatigue and sleep problems. Pain usually occurs in the neck, shoulders, back, hands and pelvis. While there is no permanent damage to the joints or muscles associated with it, the pain it brings can be quite intense and difficult to live with. It is estimated that between 3 to 6 million people in the United States suffer from it each year. Statistics show that more women than men are affected, typically starting in early-to-middle adulthood.

It is interesting to note from the FDA commentary on Lyrica that while some test patients experi­enced a lessening of pain, not all experienced relief from the product. According to Steven Galson, M.D., the director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, “Consumers should understand that some patients did not experience benefit in clinical trials. We still have more progress to make for treatment of this disorder.”

Also interesting is that it was approved even though the maker of the drug, Pfizer Inc., and the FDA were not able to provide detailed information of just how it works. According to the FDA, “Individuals with Fibromyalgia have been shown to experience pain differently from other people. Studies have shown that such patients have decreased pain after taking Lyrica, but the mechanism by which Lyrica produces such an effect is unknown.”

Finally, the FDA included the following warning to people using Lyrica: “The most common side effects of Lyrica include mild-to-moderate dizziness and sleepiness. Blurred vision, weight gain, dry mouth, and swelling of the hands and feet also were reported in clinical trials. The side effects appeared to be dose-related. Lyrica can impair motor function and cause problems with concentration and atten­tion. FDA advises that patients talk to their doctor or other healthcare professional about whether use of Lyrica may impair their ability to drive.”

Also interesting is that the FDA made no mention of possible alternative methods for treating Fibromyalgia symptoms. These would include a healthy diet, adequate rest, exercise, stretching of affect­ed areas, physical therapy, Chiropractic adjustments or Acupuncture treatments. It’s also noteworthy that this drug was originally targeted toward handling nerve pain associated with diabetes. When its approval was declined, it was retargeted toward Fibromyalgia pain and thus received FDA approval.

Persons suffering from the symptoms of Fibromyalgia should be thoroughly examined by a chiro­practor and/or an acupuncturist given healthy treatment options. This should be done long before consid­ering a drug that showed marginal test results and requires a slew of FDA warnings to consumers.

Source: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, June 2007. http://www.fda.govibbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01656.html and http://www.fda.goviconsumer/updates/fibromyalgia062107.html

A study recently conducted and reported in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics shows that persons who received “maintenance” Chiropractic care after com­pleting their initial care continued to experience a reduction in their disability.

Thirty volunteers who had been suffering from long-term non-specific back problems were divided into two study groups. The first group received intensive Chiropractic care consist­ing of 12 visits in one month. Following this, they were put on a reduced schedule of one visit every three weeks for the next nine months. The second group received the initial inten­sive treatment, but did not receive any follow-up care for the next nine months.

Members of both groups were evaluated and monitored for both pain and disability levels. Results showed that members of both groups experienced a similar reduction of pain and disability after their 30 days of Chiropractic care.

After a nine month period, both groups were evaluated again. Findings showed two things. One, both groups continued to experience a reduction of pain. Two, while both groups had reduced pain, only the group members who had nine months of Chiropractic “maintenance adjustments” experienced a continued reduction in their disability. Those who did not receive “maintenance adjustments” returned to similar levels of disability they were experiencing prior to their initial adjustments.

The study incorporated an accepted measurement tool for disability known as “The Oswestry Disability Index.” This questionnaire addresses 10 different aspects of a person’s physical function capacities. Only the persons who received their regular “maintenance adjustments” were able to maintain the functional improvements received during the initial care, according to the Index.

“Intensive spinal manipulation is effective for the treatment of chronic low back pain,” said the researchers. “This experiment suggests that maintenance spinal manipulations after intensive manipulative care may be beneficial to patients to maintain subjective post-inten­sive treatment disability levels.”

Source: http://www.chiropracticresearch.org Maintenance Chiropractic Care Shown to be Beneficial in Study, 2004.

Each of the participants in the study had moderate to severe acute low back pain, moderate to severe radiating pain in one leg and MRI evidence of disc protrusion in the spinal segments considered associated with the pain. Researcher’s collected detailed information regarding the pain history of each participant, range of motion in the affected areas and data regarding each person’s overall quality of life.

Subjects in the active treatment group received soft tissue manipulation followed by Chiropractic adjustment with the purpose to restore movement to the area consisting of two vertebrae, a disc and surrounding structures.

Those subjects in the simulated treatment group received soft muscle pressing that was similar to manipulation but without the specific patterns of rapid thrusts to the area administered.

During the treatment period, patients in both groups were asked to keep a diary to track the number of days they were in pain, the number and type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) they took, and the number of drug prescriptions involved.

Results at the end of this 6-month period showed a significant difference in the number of pain-free subjects. The active treatment group was 55% free of radiating pain compared to only 20% in the simulation group.

Additionally, 28% of the active group was free of local pain compared to 6% in the simulation group. Another benefit of the treatment was the reduced use of pain medications in the active treatment group.

Researchers concluded that the patients receiving active Chiropractic manipulations enjoyed significantly greater relief of local and radiating acute low back pain, spent fewer days with moderate-to-severe pain and consumed fewer drugs for the control of pain.

SOURCE: Dynamic Chiropractic Online. http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/24/06/19.html