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The British Study
"In
1990, the British Medical Journal published a study called "Low Back
Pain of Mechanical Origin: Randomized Comparison of Chiropractic and Hospital
Outpatient Treatment," by an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Thomas Meade. Meade’s
research compared chiropractic manipulation with standard hospital outpatient
treatment for lower back pain. The medical treatment consisted of wearing
a corset and attending physical therapy sessions. Over 700 patients were involved
in the study.
Dr. Meade concluded: "For patients with low-back pain in whom manipulation is not contraindicated, chiropractic almost certainly confers worthwhile, long-term benefit in comparison to hospital outpatient management." In a later interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Dr. Meade said, "Our trial showed that chiropractic is a very effective treatment, more effective than conventional hospital out-patient treatment for low-back pain [emphasis added], particularly in patients who had back pain in the past and who [developed] severe problems. So, in other words, it is most effective in precisely the group of patients that you would like to be able to treat . . . One of the unexpected findings was that the treatment difference in the benefit of chiropractic over hospital treatment actually persists for the whole of that three-year period [of the study] . . . it looks as though the treatment that the chiropractors give does something that results in a very long-term benefit.
The great significance of the Meade study is that it is the first randomized study to demonstrate long-term benefits from chiropractic care. One baseless, but persistent, criticism of chiropractic has been that while it may offer short-term relief, it is of no lasting value. The Canadian and British studies, taken together, should by any reasonable standard be sufficient to lay this old falsehood to rest. Nonetheless, the criticism continues to appear in print, and needs to be answered forthrightly whenever it rears its head.
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