In an article from Reuters Health Information, printed in the Journal of the AMA is a report of a survey that showed many children with asthma were seeking what the article termed, “complementary medicine” for their problem. Dr. Sheldon Spier, of Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, surveyed the parents of 117 pediatric asthma patients. Thirty percent reported using complementary medicine to help manage their children’s asthma symptoms, most commonly herbal medications, chiropractic, homeopathy, and vitamin C supplementation. One of the common reasons given for the usage was, the non-medical practitioners were perceived as “treating the whole patient.”
The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association lists several studies on their web site (www.icpa4kids.org ) discussing the benefits of chiropractic for children with asthma. The following are some of those excerpts: “76.5% of patients with bronchial asthma said they benefited from chiropractic treatment. Peak flow rate and vital capacity increased after the third treatment. Significantly lower quality of life impairment rating scores were reported for 90.1% of children after 60 days of chiropractic care. During this same time period the average number of asthma attacks decreased an average of 44.9%, and asthma medication usage was decreased an average of 66.5%. Among parents of asthmatic children who had received chiropractic treatment, 92% considered this treatment beneficial.”
