The therapeutic efficacy of spinal adjustive procedures in the management of asthma

Abstract

Asthma, one of the most frustrating medical conditions known to man, has been a thorn in the side of physicians world wide. A condition that seems to consist of all exceptions and no rules has resulted in endless debates regarding the correct treatment protocol for its management, which at present only seem to subdue the patient's symptomatology rather than eliminate them. The ever increasing number of asthmatic sufferers and the increasing number of deaths related to asthma are both reflections of the inadequacy of present treatment protocols and therefore demonstrate the need for their revision. It is thus the aim of this study to ascertain the therapeutic efficacy of spinal adjustive procedures a n the management of asthma. Patients were obtained for this study by consecutive sampling, whereby any patients presenting to the Chiropractic Clinic at Technikon Natal, as a response to the newspaper adverts and pamphlets placed ln the greater Durban area, were considered for the study. Of these patients, only those who conformed to the specified delimitations and diagnostic criteria were accepted. The study was divided into 3 distinct periods. The first, called the baseline study, required the entire sample of 30 patients to undergo subjective and objective tests, whilst receiving no chiropractic treatment, in order to establish the patients' astrunatic condition. The second period, called the initial treatment period, required the entire sample to undergo further subjective and objective testing while receiving chiropractic treatment, which comprised soft tissue therapy and adjustments of fixations in the CO-C2 and T2-T7 areas.