Chiropractic care in asthma and allergy

Area of Science:

• Integrative Medicine
• Respiratory Health
• Allergy Management

Background:

• Chiropractic care, particularly spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), is sometimes explored for managing chronic conditions.
• Asthma and allergy are complex conditions with various treatment modalities.
• The existing evidence base for SMT in asthma and allergy management requires critical evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current evidence regarding the efficacy of chiropractic care for asthma.
• To assess the evidence for chiropractic care in managing allergy.
• To provide an overview of the state of research on spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for these conditions.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE (1966-2002) and chiropractic/osteopathic sources.
• Included keywords such as asthma, allergy, manual therapy, and chiropractic.
• Selected clinical controlled studies and systematic reviews focusing on SMT and asthma; no trials on SMT and allergy were found.

Main Results:

• Much of the reported success of chiropractic for asthma relies on anecdotal reports and uncontrolled case studies.
• Three randomized controlled trials indicated subjective improvements (quality of life, symptoms) but lacked statistical significance compared to controls.
• No significant changes were observed in objective lung function measures in the reviewed studies.

Conclusions:

• There is insufficient evidence to recommend chiropractic SMT as a primary treatment for asthma or allergy.
• Subjective improvements noted in some patients may justify a trial of chiropractic care in specific asthma cases.
• Further high-quality, collaborative research is essential to determine the potential role of SMT in asthma and allergy care.