December 2002

FCER Research Shows Spinal Manipulation Helps Asthma Sufferers

Des Moines, IA – Patients afflicted with asthma may benefit from spinal manipulation in terms of symptoms, immunological capacity, and endocrine effects. An investigative team, headed by Ray Hayek, Ph.D., has been conducting a trial at 16 treatment centers in Australia, involving 420 patients with an average age of 46.

The trials were conducted to find out what effects spinal manipulation has on symptoms, depression and anxiety, general health status and the levels of immunity as reflected by the concentrations of both an immunoglobulin (IgA) and an immunosuppressant (cortisol). This investigation draws from several references in the scientific literature, which suggest that different forms of manual therapy (including massage) improve the symptomatology and lower cortisol levels in asthma patients

Hayek reported that only the patient group that underwent spinal manipulation (by any of four commonly used manipulative treatment protocols) displayed significant improvement in asthma symptoms and depression and anxiety scores.

Simply experiencing structured interviews at the treatment centers or being monitored at home did not yield these improvements. In addition, patients actually undergoing spinal manipulation displayed dramatic increases of IgA and decreases of cortisol through the post-treatment period, suggesting that there were physiological consequences to their manipulative treatments reflecting increased immunological capacities, which would be expected to ward off subsequent asthmatic attacks.

These biochemical changes not only suggest that the effects of spinal manipulation are more far-reaching than commonly believed, but that they may be more long-term as well. The gain in immunological capacity achieved with the simultaneous loss of the immunosuppressant cortisol and the increase of the immunoglobulin IgA following spinal manipulation would be expected to reduce the incidence and severity of pathogenic invasion of the airways. There would be less of a risk under these circumstances of compounding the symptoms of asthma.

This study followed contacts that the director of research at the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) was able to make with the Australian research community in 1995, taking into consideration the expertise of the investigative team as well as the fact that Australia's 2 million asthma sufferers have given the Island Continent the dubious distinction of being the asthma capital of the world. It has been carried out with the support of research grants exceeding a quarter of a million dollars from both FCER and the National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC).

This research represents one of approximately 50 projects administered by FCER since 1990 in the effort to document both the theory and practice of chiropractic to increase its effective integration into healthcare systems worldwide. The conference at which these results were presented is an international forum, which FCER has sponsored at different locations worldwide for the past 14 years.

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