Pediatric

A documented case study appeared in the scientific periodical, the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health on August 11, 2011 showing chiropractic helping an 8-year-old boy suffering from headaches. The study authors begin by noting that about 75% of children report a notable headache by age 15.

The authors report that cervical (neck) subluxations, and the resulting changes in cervical curves have been shown to be a factor in headaches. Past studies show that people with necks that do not have their normal forward curvature and have become straight or reversed are particularly prone to headaches.

In this study, the 8-year-old boy was brought to the chiropractor with complaints of headaches, muscle aches, fatigue, allergies, and digestive problems. The boy’s headaches were described as sharp and throbbing, and were made worse with noise, but improved when he was lying down. The boy’s headaches were mainly in the front of his head and would last the entire day, sometimes even waking him at night.

Over the previous year, the boy’s health continued to decline, and he became less able to engage in normal activities that he had previously enjoyed. In response, his parents had taken him to a pediatric neurologist-headache specialist, an allergist, a nutritionist, and a psychologist. Recommendations and medications from the medical health practitioners gave little or no relief to the boy.

A chiropractic examination and x-rays were performed, and revealed subluxations with cervical curve changes in the neck area. Chiropractic care was initiated with the child initially being seen three times per week and gradually reduced in frequency.

As a result of the chiropractic care, the child’s headaches were alleviated and post x-rays showed an improvement of the neck curvature. The boy was involved in an auto accident later in his care. Fortunately, his headaches did not return, and he suffered no ill effects from the incident.

In the discussion area of the study, the authors conclude by stating, “It seems that evidence points to the cervical spine and its alignment as a critical factor in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cervicogenic headache in the pediatric population.”

A story initially appearing in the November 11, 2007 issue of the Baltimore Sun, titled, “Untested medicine” exposed the fact that, as author Stephanie Desmon stated in her article, “Most drugs given to children have never been tested for them, forcing physicians to sometimes use a best guess in determining dosing, efficacy and even safety.”

The article notes that children are not small adults and that their bodies’ process medications differently than do adults. Sometimes the medication goes into action faster and sometimes slower. The article also noted that some medications for adults are actually poisons for children. Dr. Joseph M. Wiley, chief of pediatrics at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore commented in the article how difficult it is to prescribe medication for children that has only been tested on adults, “If you extrapolate from an adult dose to a pediatric dose, you may be right … you may be wrong.”

Attempts to correct this problem have been made by laws being passed, however, the article notes that according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, that as of this year only about one-third of the drugs prescribed for children have been studied and labeled for pediatric use.

When studies were done it was found that the effects of drugs on children were much different than that on adults. Dr. Dianne Murphy, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s office of pediatric therapeutics, stated, “We found out that you can’t predict how kids are going to handle things.”

The article explained that once a medication has been approved for use in adults, it can then be legally prescribed to anyone at any age. The practice of prescribing drugs to groups it was not approved for is common and is known as “off-label” prescribing.

A study that confirmed this off-label use was published in the March 7, 2007 issue of the scientific journal the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. In that study, referenced in the Baltimore Sun article they stated in their conclusions, “Most patients hospitalized at tertiary care pediatric institutions receive at least 1 medication outside the terms of the Food and Drug Administration product license. Substantial variation in the frequency of off-label use was observed across diagnostic categories and drug classes. Despite the frequent off-label use of drugs, using an administrative database, we cannot determine which of these treatments are unsafe or ineffective and which treatments result in substantial benefit to the patient.”

A good source of information on Chiropractic and children is the website of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Their web address is www.icpa4kids.com. This site contains articles, information and research on health related issues concerning children. Their mission statement reads, “The mission of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association is to bring the life saving benefits of chiropractic care to all children.”

Their website contains information for the general public about the benefits of chiropractic care. In one section, entitled, “Why chiropractic for children”, the ICPA discusses such issues as “Why should children have chiropractic care” and “Is chiropractic safe for my child”. The articles on this site are well referenced and thorough.

In addition to articles and information about chiropractic for infants and children the ICPA website also contains a vast resource of information on subjects that relate to child health and well being in general. Subjects such as ADHD, Asthma, Child safety, Scoliosis, Speech disorders, and many other topics are presented in articles and research in language that is easily understood. Additionally their website contains links to other health related sites on such subjects as natural child birth and vaccinations.

Two other sections that are well laid out and informative are the sections on family wellness and research. Each of these sections has large numbers of pages of pediatric health related information. If you are making critical decisions about the health and well being of your children or family, you should consider the website of the ICPA for valuable information.