Effect of Seated Cervical Spinal Manipulation on Autonomic Nervous System Activity as Measured by Heart Rate Variability and Plasma Norepinephrine Levels: A randomized Pre- and Poststudy.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether seated cervical manipulation produced changes in autonomic nervous system activity, as measured by heart rate variability and plasma norepinephrine levels.

Methods: Ninety-five healthy young adults (ages 20-48 years) were recruited into a single-blinded physiological study, with 47 randomized to a seated cervical manipulation and 44 randomized to a sham procedure. Heart rate variability in the frequency domain, and plasma norepinephrine levels were measured prior to, immediately following, and 5 minutes following the intervention.

Mitigating Bias in the Measurement of Heart Rate Variability in Physiological Studies of Spinal Manipulation: A Comparison Between Authentic and Sham Manipulation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify sources and strategies for the mitigation of bias in studies of spinal manipulation and heart rate variability.

Methods: A small-scale study compared the effects of a single session of sham and authentic cervical manipulation on heart rate variability as measured by power spectrum analysis. The participants were a sample of 31 healthy young students from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, randomized into 2 study arms.

The research enterprise at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College.

Objectives: A bibliometric survey was conducted, using network and textual analysis tools, to assess the current state of the research enterprise at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and to augment planning processes.

Methods: Searches were conducted via several databases to identify publications attributable to the institution. Bibliometric data were summarized and post-processed using the programme VosViewer and analysis tools provided in the Web of Science.

Presumptive spondylogenic pruritus: a case study.

Objective: To describe a case of a patient with chronic pruritus of the upper back and arms who underwent complete resolution of his complaint following a short course of chiropractic care.

Case Presentation: A 36-year-old male suffering with chronic, severe pruritus affecting the upper back and both arms, presented for chiropractic treatment after pharmacological treatment and dietary restrictions failed to resolve his complaint. Physical examination revealed restrictions of thoracic and cervical intervertebral motion.

The passive voice and comprehensibility of biomedical texts: An experimental study with 2 cohorts of chiropractic students.

Objective:: Authors in the health sciences are encouraged to write in the active voice in the belief that this enhances comprehensibility. Hence, the purpose of this study was to compare objectively measured and subjectively perceived comprehensibility of texts in which one voice or the other was highly prevalent.

Methods:: Objectively rated comprehensibility was obtained by presenting 161 2nd-year chiropractic students with questions pertaining to 2 methods sections of biomedical articles, each presented in its original form with high prevalence of the passive voice, and in a manipulated form with all main verbs in the active voice.

The influence of cervical spinal cord compression and vertebral displacement on somatosympathetic reflexes in the rat.

Background Context: One theory within chiropractic proposes that vertebral subluxation in the upper cervical region induces spinal cord compression sufficient to alter spinal cord efferent output. We report on the feasibility of three different experimental approaches to test this theory.

Methods: A high threshold electrical-evoked somatosympathetic reflex was recorded in adrenal or renal nerves of 10 anaesthetized adult male rats before and after (1) graded pressure was applied directly to the C1/C2 spinal cord segment in eight rats by the use of either direct compression or inflation of an extradural balloon and (2) displacement, less than a dislocation applied posterior to anterior, to the C2 vertebra in two rats.

The language of integrative medicine.

Biomedical language, also known as biomedical English, is sufficiently different from general English to warrant treatment as a distinct language. Biomedical language has its own conventions of grammar, phraseology and discourse, as well as a lexicon which is complex and esoteric. Furthermore, each sub-discipline, such as integrative medicine, has a unique vocabulary which must be mastered in order to achieve fluency.

A diachronic study of the language of chiropractic.

This study investigates how the language of chiropractic has changed over time. A collection of material, published up until approximately 1950 and consisting of textbooks, monographs and lecture notes from Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, was analyzed to identify commonly occurring words and phrases. The results were compared to a corpus of recent articles from the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association.

Quantitative corpus-based analysis of the chiropractic literature - a pilot study.

In this pilot study, a collection of peer-reviewed articles from the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association was analyzed by computer to identify the more commonly occurring words and phrases. The results were compared to a reference collection of general English in order to identify the vocabulary which is distinctive of chiropractic. From texts with a combined word count in excess of 280,000, it was possible to identify almost 2,500 words which were over-represented in the chiropractic literature and therefore likely to hold special importance within this domain.

Cerebrospinal fluid pressure response to upper cervical vertebral motion and displacement in the anesthetized rat.

Objective: This study examined whether aligned or off-axis (subluxated) static and dynamic vertebral displacement within normal physiological ranges modulated cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSF) as is considered to occur by some chiropractic theories.

Methods: Cerebrospinal fluid pressure pressure was measured via a subarachnoid catheter implanted at the lumbar level in 12 anesthetized adult male Wistar rats. A computer-driven manipulator was used to impose 3 motion patterns on the C2 vertebra: (i) dynamic oscillatory displacement (24 degrees peak-to-peak 1.

Cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the anesthetized rat.

Objective: The primary aims of this study were to determine the major frequencies and powers of oscillations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure in the anesthetized rat, and determine whether the CSF pressure oscillations correlated with the major oscillation frequencies in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems as proposed by some chiropractic theories.

Methods: The cardiac and ventilatory cycles, and CSF pressure were simultaneously recorded during spontaneous and positive-pressure mechanical ventilation in the anesthetized rat. Power spectra were generated from the raw data to identify the major oscillation frequencies in cardiorespiratory and CSF data sets.

Spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization influence different axial sensory beds.

Manipulation and mobilization are two forms of manual therapy commonly employed in the management of musculoskeletal disorders. Spinal manipulation and mobilization are often distinguished from one another by reference to certain biomechanical parameters such as peak force, duration and magnitude of translation. However, as of yet, there is relatively little research which distinguishes between them in terms of neurological mechanisms or clinical effectiveness.