The Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies, the clinical research division at Northwestern Health Sciences University, recently submitted five grant proposals that would fund potential studies. Three were submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and two to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The three proposals to the HRSA are titled "Chiropractic and Exercise for Spinal Dysfunction in Seniors," "Chiropractic and Exercise for Low Back Pain in Adolescents" and "Chiropractic, Exercise and Stress Management for Tension Headache."
The proposals submitted to the NIH are in collaboration with the University of Minnesota; one will investigate the effects of different therapies on spinal motion, while the other will look at functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)of the brain to see if there are brain changes in patients suffering from low back pain, according to Roni Evans, DC, MS, Northwestern's dean of research.
According to Dr. Evans, all patients, whether they see a complementary and alternative medicine practitioner or a medical doctor, deserve to be cared for with diagnostic and treatment approaches that have been shown to be effective. "Research is important to natural health care in the same way that it is essential for allopathic approaches," she said. "It provides the underlying evidence that clinicians can use to make good choices regarding the care they provide."
"We have received approximately 60 percent of the grants we've applied for ... [which] is very high," added Dr. Evans.
"It is part of our mission as an educational institution to promote natural approaches to health through education, research, clinical services and community involvement. Research is part of our core value as an institution," said Mark Zeigler, DC, president of Northwestern. Dr. Zeigler noted that Northwestern has received more than $10 million in federal funding for research on campus in the past decade.
Source: Northwestern Health Sciences University
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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