Asthmatic Children In Canada Use Non-Medical Care

An article from Reuters Health Information, printed in the Journal of the AMA, reports a survey that showed many children with asthma were seeking complementary medicine.

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. The most common reason given for turning to complementary treatment was that the non-medical practitioners were perceived as treating the whole patient.

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association lists several studies on its web site discussing the benefits of chiropractic for children with asthma. Some excerpts:

76.5% of patients with bronchial asthma said they benefited from chiropractic treatment. Peak oxygen 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.

Interested in more research on asthma? Check out some of these articles …

Chiropractic Helps Infant with Serious Lung Condition

Effectiveness of Chiropractic in Correcting Asthma

Link Made Between Asthma and Subluxations