Chiropractic and Strokes: Give Me The Facts!
Recent reports in the media attempt to misconstrue the risks related to chiropractic care and strokes. So what is the real story?
Remember, there are risks with anything we do. The risk of dying from some form of cancer is 3 in 10. The annual risk of being injured in a car accident is 1 in 75. The risk of dying from smoking cigarettes before the age of 35 is 1 in 600. The risk of dying as a result of a bicycle accident is 1 in 88,000. Everything we do has an element of risk involved.
Now let’s look at risk factors involved with common medical procedures. Serious gastrointestinal events (big words for severe stomach bleeding) from NSAIDs (i.e. Tylenol, Advil and ibuprofen) happen 1 in every 1,000 people who take them and it is estimated that 1,400 Canadians die each year from complications attributed to use of NSAIDs. The odds of having a serious neurological complication (a stroke) from cervical spine or neck surgery are 1 in 64 people and deaths occur 1 in every 144 people as reported in the journal
Spine in 1996.
What are the risks with getting your neck adjusted or “manipulated” and a resultant stroke? A conservative estimate from the RAND Report in 1996, which means the worst possible case, says that the chances are 1 in 1,000,000. A second estimate was given after three authors reviewed all reports from 1925 to 1993 on the issue of safety. They reported it was as low as 185 in “several hundred million.”
One study conducted by Jaskoviac at the National College of Chiropractic reported that
not a single case of stroke occurred in approximately five million cervical “manipulations” from 1965 to 1980. There are better odds to win the Lotto 6/49!
Another factor to consider is how such incidences are reported. There are circumstances where cases of strokes are attributed to chiropractic care where the “operator” is not a chiropractor at all. Terret, who researched the issue and released his findings in 1996 in the
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, observed that “manipulations” performed by a Kung Fu practitioner, medical doctors, physiotherapists and a wife were incorrectly attributed to chiropractors.
If you compare your risk of having a stroke from going about your daily routine to the chance while getting your neck adjusted, the answer is startling. The risk of stroke in the general population is .00057% and the risk following a manipulation is .00025%. Simply, if you are a chiropractic patient, the risk of dying from a stroke is at least half that of the rest of the population. It could be concluded by looking strictly at the numbers that being under chiropractic care actually prevents strokes. You don’t hear that mentioned in the media.
Although unfortunate and tragic events can occur, getting adjusted by your chiropractor is safe and beneficial to your health and well-being. Get your spine and nervous system checked today for a healthier tomorrow! Complete references for the information used in this article are available.
