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January 2005, Vol. 15, No. 1

Table of Contents

ACA's New CCGPP Guidelines • An Opinion of Shortcomings CBP® • ASHN: Chiropractic Enemy • CBP® Fosters International Research Collaboration • CBP® Research Corner • Contraction/Expansion Mentally • COX Inhibitors and the FDA • Counter Point • Do You Practice CBP®? • Don's Opinion • European Spine Accepts CBP® Clinical Control Trial • Regarding the Use of Body Weighting • SAC Reaffirms Life University's Accreditation • Spine Accepts CBP® Research • The Diminishing Return Triangle • Traction Details • Validity of PosturePrint™

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CBP® Non-Profit Fosters International Multi-Disciplinary Chiropractic Research Collaboration

2004 Australian Research Collaboration of (from left) Tony Keller, Ph.D., Jodi Mears, Robert Gunzburg, M.D., Ph.D., Chris Colloca, D.C., Rob Moore, Ph.D., and Deed Harrison, D.C. shown with the biomechanical testing apparatus at the Institute for Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide, Australia in December, 2004.

               An attempt to understand the mechanisms of chiropractic adjustments has assembled an international multidisciplinary group of spine researchers from the fields of bioengineering, chiropractic, orthopaedics, and pathology with a grant from CBP® Non-profit Inc. The research utilizes a validated degeneration sheep model developed at the Institute for Medical and Veterinary Science (IMVS) in Adelaide, Australia to investigate the effects of chiropractic adjustments on vertebral movement, spinal nerve root and neuromuscular responses. In addition, the research includes study of other biomechanical variables such as the dynamic stiffness of the spine and the subsequent effects of spinal degeneration on spinal function.

              “We are incredibly fortunate to have put together this research team and to have the opportunity to conduct chiropractic research at such a prestigious medical institution,” said principal investigator, Dr. Chris Colloca, a chiropractor practicing in Phoenix, AZ. He added, “This kind of opportunity for chiropractic doesn’t come along very often.” Dr. Colloca along with co-principal investigator, Tony Keller, Ph.D. (Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Vermont) have been working on this line of research together in human subjects for the better part of the past decade in a group effort with orthopaedic spine surgeon, Robert Gunzburg, M.D., Ph.D. at his surgical facility in Antwerp, Belgium. Dr. Gunzburg has an esteemed reputation in the scientific community, having published numerous scientific papers and textbooks in addition to his current post as Associate Editor of the European Spine Journal.

              “In previous work, we have found a temporal relationship between the spinal thrust, the resulting bone movement, nerve and muscle responses, which we believe to be due to stimulation of joint and muscle receptors,” states Dr. Keller referring to his collaborative Belgian research that won 1st Prize at the World Federation of Chiropractic Congress in 2003 (Colloca, Keller, & Gunzburg, 2004). “We needed to incorporate an animal model that would permit us to deliver different force magnitudes and frequencies to better understand what inputs to the spine were best at creating bone movement and neurophysiological responses,” said Keller.

              Dr. Gunzburg assisted in identifying the ideal animal model for the research team as being a sheep model that he was familiar with from his previous study in Adelaide, Australia, where he did a spine fellowship under Professor Dr. Robert Fraser, a current Deputy Editor for the journal Spine. During his time in Adelaide, Dr. Gunzburg also met Robert Moore, Ph.D., a pathologist who now heads the Adelaide Center for Spinal Research at the IMVS. Dr. Moore’s work has also won awards including the prestigious ISSLS Prize. “Using the sheep model we are able to study differences between normal and degenerated discs,” said Dr. Moore. While in the past, the sheep model has been mainly used to study histological and biochemical changes in response to degeneration (Moore, Crotti, Osti, Fraser, & Vernon-Roberts, 1999; Osti, Vernon-Roberts, & Fraser, 1990), the current collaboration will allow additional biomechanical and neurophysiological comparisons of the normal and degenerated spines.

              Completing the research team in the group effort is Dr. Deed Harrison, of CBP® Non-profit, Inc. Dr. Deed Harrison traveled together with Drs. Colloca, Keller, and Gunzburg to Adelaide, Australia in April and December of 2004 to conduct the research. “We collected over a gigabite of data during our two trips, and now comes the hard part of analyzing these data,” stated Dr. Harrison.

              This research was made possible through the fundraising efforts of CBP® Non-profit, Inc., whose major source of funding came from the generous donations from its membership. Other philanthropists including Dr. William Harris, through his Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Education (FACE), has recently donated over $100,000 and Dr. Mark Radermacher of Total Practice Management International has recently donated over $10,000 towards this and other projects through CBP® Non-profit, Inc. For over two decades, CBP® Non-profit, Inc. has financially supported chiropractic research that has cumulated in over seventy publications in a variety of quality scientific journals.

Reference List

              Colloca, C. J., Keller, T. S., & Gunzburg, R. (2004). Biomechanical and neurophysiological responses to spinal manipulation in patients with lumbar radiculopathy. J Manipulative Physiol Ther., 27, 1-15.

              Moore, R. J., Crotti, T. N., Osti, O. L., Fraser, R. D., & Vernon-Roberts, B. (1999). Osteoarthrosis of the facet joints resulting from anular rim lesions in sheep lumbar discs. Spine, 24, 519-525.

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