Parents throwing their money away seeking this kind of care

To The Daily Sun,

It is unconscionable and cowardly that Dr. Moneysmith and his partner, Dr. Mills, continue to put out ads with misleading, nonsense information. Unconscionable because just like their ad in which they reference a study (which does not exist) which proposes that chiropractic manipulations can increase your immune system, they now have an ad which states that 90 percent of children reported improvement in their asthma, following 60 days of chiropractic care.

They reference the Journal of Vertebral subluxation research, from a study from 1997. There are no studies that show any objective improvement in children with asthma treated with chiropractic care, period; the study they reference included. If there was some significant benefit wouldn't the chiropractic community jump on it and do studies proving their point?

By objective improvement this means improvement in air flow with demonstrable changes on spirometer testing. Maybe they missed the New England Journal of Medicine article from 1998 vol. 339. 1010-1020 which showed no change in spirometric measurements following chiropractic manipulation in patients with asthma. The New England Journal of Medicine is one of the most highly regarded medical journals in the world. But my bias is showing. So what does the chiropractic literature say about asthma?

Did they miss this article from the chiropractic literature, from the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association 2010, March 54 (1) 24-32. Entitled "Chiropractic care for patients with asthma, A systematic review of the literature." Their conclusion: "Results of the eight retrieved studies indicated that chiropractic care showed improvement in subjective measures, and to a lesser degree objective measures, none of which were statistically significant". ...chiropractor care should be used as an adjunct not a replacement to traditional medical therapy."

Or how about another article from Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18:13? "To date there is insufficient evidence to evaluate the efficacy of Chiropractic care for paediatric and adolescent ADHD."

A review on line at www.chiro.org research/ABSTRACTS/Chiropractic care for patients with asthma 9/2010 found "no statistical significances were obtained with chiropractic care during the treatment of children with asthma."

As a parent you are just throwing your money away if you seek this kind of care. More importantly you, just like their false claims regarding vaccines, are putting your child at risk . This I find deplorable, that these "doctors" without any clinical evidence continue to print this nonsense. If chiropractors want to claim these benefits they should then do good research to prove them. Chiropractic research is missing in action.

Finally from www.chiroaccess.com/news/claims "subluxation causing disease prohibited in Great Britain," 12/2010, they go on to state that "the chiropractic vertebral subluxation complex is a historical concept but it remains a theoretical model. It is not supported by any clinical evidence that would allow claims to be made that it is the cause of disease or health concerns." If it is not the cause of disease, how can treating a theoretical subluxation treat any disease. Dr Moneysmith, you continue to refuse to address these concerns. Please Dr Moneysmith explain your position?

Finally believing that chiropractic manipulation can treat any medical disease is akin to believing that professional wrestling is a sport. Believing it does not make it so. And when it comes to treating our children we should deal with scientific evidence, not make-believe.

Mirno Pasquali, PA-C

Laconia