RESEARCH WFC launches free online one-stop-shop for chiropractic research The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) has launched an online, free service for the chiropractic profession and the public it serves. WFC’s Suggested Reading List online tool is a collection of research overviews on various topics relevant to chiropractic, designed for use by chiropractors, patients and advocates of the profession, the WFC said. “That is the vision for this WFC project,” said WFC president Dr. Greg Stewart, from Winnipeg. “The project is being led by Dr. Greg Kawchuk of the University of Alberta, chair of the WFC Research Council, who has brought together expert curators from within the Research Council and abroad. We owe them a great debt for the expertise and hard work that has produced this exciting new service.” The initial version of the Suggested Reading List can be found on the WFC website, with 10 key papers curated in each of 21 subject areas. These subject areas include cost- effectiveness of care, biomechanical and neurophysiological mechanisms of action, safety, pediatrics, wellness and many others. Each listed paper includes the published abstract and link to the original publication when available. Importantly, the site is searchable and visitors can leave suggestions for new topics and papers. “This is just the beginning of this project,” explained Kawchuk. “We are already working on round two which will add new topic areas such as nutrition and public health.” This project has been possible because of generous sponsorship from NCMIC and Standard Process, two of the WFC’s long-standing and most supportive partners. The WFC, whose members are 90 national associations of chiropractors worldwide including both the American Chiropractic Association and International Chiropractors Association in the U.S., is a non-government organization in official relations with the World Health Organization since 1997. Its next major Congress is in Athens, Greece May 13 to 16, 2015. RESEARCH Chiropractic helps boost muscle function, prevent fatigue: study New research into the effects of chiropractic care suggests it may have an important role to play in maximizing sporting performance and aid recovery from a range of conditions where muscle function has been compromised. The New Zealand College of Chiropractic’s Centre for Chiropractic Research recently published a study in the journal Experiment Brain Research which demonstrates that following a full spine chiropractic adjustment session there was an increase in the subjects’ ability to contract one of their leg muscles. The study shows an increase in muscle electrical activity readings of almost 60 per cent and a 16 per cent increase in absolute force measures. There was also a 45 per cent increase in the “drive” from the brain to the muscle (the degree to which the brain can activate that particular muscle) and a small, but significant, shift in the H reflex curve (a neurophysiological measure of spinal cord excitability). “This study is the first to indicate that chiropractic adjustments of the spine can actually induce significant changes in the net excitability for the low-threshold motor units,” Dr. Heidi Haavik, chiropractor and director of research at the NZCC said. “The results of the study also indicate that spinal adjustments can prevent fatigue, so we recommend chiropractic care to be a part of medical treatment for patients that have lost tonus of their muscles or are recovering from muscle degrading dysfunction such as with stroke or orthopedic operations.” Haavik added the results suggest that the improvements in maximum voluntary contractions following the chiropractic adjustment session are likely attributed to the increased descending drive (i.e. from the brain) and/or modulation in afferent input. “These results may also be of interest to sports performers and we have recommended a similar study be conducted in a sports population.” This work provides further evidence of the capacity of chiropractic care to address aspects of sensorimotor integration. The New Zealand College of Chiropractic’s Centre for Chiropractic Research is at the forefront of this groundbreaking neurophysiological research and is achieving these results faster due to the new Spinal Research Partnership Scheme. The study was funded by a recent grant partnership between Spinal Research (formerly Australian Spinal Research Foundation), The New Zealand Hamblin Trust and the New Zealand College of Chiropractic. The study involved collaboration between the Centre for Chiropractic Research and world-renowned neurophysiologist, Professor Kemal Türker, from the School of Medicine at Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey. PATIENT CARE LifeLabs launches arthritis blood test in Canada LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services has launched JOINTstat, a diagnostic blood test for rheumatoid arthritis. The JOINTstat blood test is the first test of its kind available in Canada that aids in the early detection and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. When caught and treated early, rheumatoid arthritis outcomes can be greatly improved. Through an agreement with Augurex Life Sciences Corp., developer of the JOINTstat test, JOINTstat is now offered exclusively by LifeLabs to patients and physicians across Canada. “LifeLabs is committed to building a healthier Canada through the delivery of innovative testing services to patients and health-care providers” said Jeff Sumner, senior vice-president of business development, clinical affairs and genetics at LifeLabs. “We are delighted to partner with Augurex to offer JOINTstat to Canadians. JOINTstat will help physicians diagnose and treat the many Canadians who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.” The JOINTstat test measures 14-3-3eta, a protein involved in joint damage that leads to debilitation in patients with RA, a disease that affects one out of every 100 Canadians. High levels of 14-3-3eta protein indicate that the patient should be referred to a rheumatologist. The development of 14-3-3eta is a true Canadian success story. The 14-3-3eta protein’s role in arthritis was a collaborative discovery by researchers Dr. Walter Maksymowych at the University of Alberta and Drs. Aziz Ghahary and Ruhangiz Kilani at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Vancouver General Hospital. JOINTstat has been evaluated in clinical studies in over 3,000 patients and has been available in the United States since late 2013. “When diagnosed early, rheumatoid arthritis can be better managed with drug therapies, resulting in better outcomes by limiting disease progression. Current diagnostic tests are limited in their ability to catch the disease early,” said Maksymowych, Medical Research Professor of Medicine and Rheumatologist at the University of Alberta and co-discoverer of 14-3-3eta. “With the availability of JOINTstat in Canada, physicians now have the opportunity to treat rheumatoid arthritis early, prior to the onset of significant joint damage. This represents an important milestone towards the goal of personalized medicine.” PREVENTION Excessive sitting linked to chronic diseases Sitting for a major part of the day may be deadly in the long run – even with a regimen of daily exercise, researchers say. In an analysis that pooled data from 41 international studies, Toronto researchers found the amount of time a person sits during the day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death, regardless of regular exercise. “More than one half of an average person’s day is spent being sedentary – sitting, watching television or working at a computer,” said Dr. David Alter, a senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, who helmed the analysis. “Our study finds that despite the health-enhancing benefits of physical activity, this alone may not be enough to reduce the risk for disease.” The paper, published January in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that prolonged sedentary behaviour was associated with a 15 to 20 per cent higher risk of death from any cause; a 15 to 20 per cent higher risk of heart disease, death from heart disease, cancer, death from cancer; and as much as a 90 per cent increased risk of developing diabetes, said Alter. And that was after adjusting for the effects of regular exercise. Alter, a cardiologist, said public health messaging has long focused on encouraging Canadians to get daily exercise to promote good health – working out to strengthen the heart and circulatory system and to help prevent various cancers, including breast and colon cancer. “We need to get sedentary behaviour on our radar and start talking about that, not just exercise,” Alter said. In his practice, he encourages patients to stand for periods of time each day, because being fully upright burns twice as many calories as does sitting. It also helps to strengthen bones and muscles through weight-bearing gravity. Dr. Mark Tremblay, director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, said the findings are consistent with a growing understanding that sedentary behaviour is a separate and distinct risk factor for major chronic diseases like heart disease and premature death. - Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press PEDIATRIC Children’s use of complementary health care rising Children, aged four to 17, are increasingly using a variety complementary and alternative health care, according to a new report by the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH, formerly NCCAM). A new report based on data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) found that while the overall use of complementary health approaches among children did not change significantly since the 2007 survey, there were significant increases in the use of yoga, fish oil and melatonin for children. The report, by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH; formerly NCCAM) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears in National Health Statistics Reports. In Canada, a similar trend has been observed. In a study published in January 2013 in the journal Pediatrics, researchers have found the use of complementary and alternative health care such as vitamins, homeopathy and chiropractic is common among children with chronic conditions. In fact, complementary health is high among pediatric cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology and respiratory patients, according to the study, which surveyed parents about the use of complementary and alternative medicines at specialty clinics in Edmonton and Ottawa. Massage therapy and chiropractic are the top two most common therapies parents used for their children, the study also said. The U.S. survey about use of complementary and alternative health among children is part of the questionnaire developed by NCCIH and the NCHS. The questionnaire is administered every five years as part of the NHIS, an annual study in which tens of thousands of Americans are interviewed about their health- and illness-related experiences. To identify trends in Americans’ use of certain practices, 2012 survey data were compared with a version of the survey fielded in 2007. The 2007 and 2012 survey results are based on combined data from 17,321 interviews with a knowledgeable adult about children aged 4 to 17 years. There was a statistically significant increase in the use of movement therapies – which included yoga, tai chi, and qi gong – between 2007 (2.5 per cent) and 2012 (3.2 per cent). Most of this increase can be attributed to the increased use of yoga – approximately 400,000 more children used yoga since 2007. Among children who used any complementary health approach, 44. 2 per cent used it to treat a specific health problem or condition in 2007 compared with 45.6 per cent in 2012. In 2012, acupuncture had the highest percentage reporting use for treating a condition (70. 1 per cent).