Introduction to Asthma
This once rare disorder has exploded in frequency and is now the most common chronic disease of children. It causes more time to be lost from school than any other paediatric disorder. Asthma was almost never a fatal disease, but now it’s attributed to causing up to 5,000 deaths a year in the USA.
Asthma can be life threatening, and drugs (sprays) must always be carried by patients. However it can be managed, and reduced significantly; and here alternative treatment methods have proven to be very effective.
How many types of Asthma
There are four different types of Asthma.
- Exercise induced Asthma (caused by running, or sports etc)
- Emotional Asthma (caused by stress or emotional situations)
- Bronchial Asthma ( these develop after infections, bacterial or viral)
- Allergy Asthma (caused by substances,-pollens, dust, household chemicals etc)
Why Chiropractic is effective?
The lungs and respiratory organs are supported by the spinal nerves from the lower neck and upper dorsal region. These nerves feed into the lungs and regulate breathing. Nerve impulses travel back and forth at a 1000+ impulses a second. So with this level of traffic, if the lung is in distress, the bronchial tissue will soon struggle and begin to go into spasm.
This is where the chiropractic approach has proved to be effective. And all the four types of Asthma respond well. Subluxations are joint restrictions. When these occur in the spine,-giving back aches, soreness, or jammed feeling- they 'crimp' the nerves. This in turn will restrict the nerve traffic to the lungs, and so difficult breathing occurs.
Below is the "Chiropractic Approach"
- including some explanations
- case studies (single reports)
- and research papers
The Chiropractic Approach.
By attending to these joint restrictions, subluxations, a chiropractic adjustment (treatment) will improve the nerve flow to the lungs... helping to reduce the asthma attack. A lot of research has been done in this area over the years backing this up.
Research Studies
Firstly 3 case studies... then below some larger trials.
Case study: eight-year-old female with chronic asthma. Peet JB. Chiropractic Paediatrics, 1997; 3(2) 9-12.
This case study was of a 8 year old female child with asthma. She had been diagnosed 3 years before having Chiropractic care. At commencement of Chiropractic treatment her medication was Beclovent ™ and Albuterol ™ one to three times per day.
Within 2 ½ weeks she had received eight treatments, her mothers comment was she had not used her inhaler for 2 days, her wheezing had stopped and she could run without gasping. At the time of the publication of this article, the child has been free of asthmatic attacks for four months without medication.
Asthma and chiropractic. Garde R. Chiropractic Paediatrics. Vol 1 No.3 December, 1994. From the abstract: Case study of a 6-year-old boy who had been an Asthmatic for three years. His prescribed medication at the initial visit was aerosol inhalers (Beclovent ™ and Ventolin ™) and he was using them three times a day. Chiropractic adjustments were commenced and these were to the cervical, thoracic and lumbar areas. Significant improvement began to be seen. He could now run during soccer games and was rarely using his inhaler. He was sleeping more soundly and “Hardly ever has bouts with mucous clogged nasal passages,” according to the parents. Nasal inhalant use stopped.
Larger trials
Chiropractic management of 47 asthma cases. Amalu WC. Today’s Chiropractic Vol. 29 No. 6 November/December 2000
This was a study of Forty-seven patients with asthma. They ranged from mildly persistent to severe. The improvement was significant with chiropractic care. At a 2 year follow up period the improvement had been maintained.
The treatment regime was 3 visits a week for the first 4 to 8 weeks. The patient ages were from 7 to 42, and they were seen between 14 to 44 times. All 47 of the patients showed significant improvements- from 87 to 100 percent
An impairment rating analysis of asthmatic children under chiropractic care. Graham, RL and Pistolese RA. Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1997. 1-8.
In this study eighty-one children under chiropractic care took part in this self-reported asthma related impairment study. The children were assessed before treatment and two months after chiropractic care using an asthma impairment questionnaire.
Improvement was reported for 90.1% of subjects 60 days after chiropractic care in comparison to their pre-chiropractic scores. In addition, 30.9% of the children voluntarily decreased their dosage of medication by an average of 66.5% while under chiropractic care.
Twenty-four of the patients who reported asthma attacks 30 days prior to the study had significantly decreased attacks by an average of 44.9%.
Six different chiropractic techniques were used by the different chiropractors who participated in this study.
Chiropractic helps Asthma
“There are possibly millions of asthmatic children who are destined to a life dependent upon medication; these children may never have the chance to see if chiropractic spinal adjustments can help their asthma and provide them with a better quality of life.” Peter Fysh, D.C. Call our Office for more information. Chiropractic regularly helps thousands of patients. We would be happy to talk with you.
NOTE: Another drugless method of treating Asthma is the 'Buteyko method'
(this site gives a simple explanation of this technique), The Buteyko technique was developed by a Russian Respiratory Physician Dr Buteyko. Type into Google Buteyko Australia and find a local class. This is a really valuable adjunct for Asthma suffers. It is to be highly recommended.
DISCLAIMER This information is provided for Educational Purposes Only and has NOT been designed to diagnose, treat or cure any health conditions. Please consult a qualified Health Care Professional to diagnose your health conditions and avoid self-diagnosis.
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