Online Medical Journals?

[berkeley]

Google scholar is another good shot: scholar.google.com

[wolfak]

Okay, so I am one of those in the middle of this problem. I'm a graduate student in pharmacy, and have had courses in complementary and alternative medicine (aka CAM). Additionally, I am a regular chiropractic patient - I get monthly adjustments and it has greatly helped with a neck injury I sustained from an unfortunate endo.

I definitely agree with the suggestions of PubMed, accessing your nearest university library, Google Scholar, etc. I might also suggest that if your nearest university has a medical school you talk to them and see if they have a CAM practitioner to give you a helpful evaluation of the literature. Perhaps it could make a nice project for a student as well.

As far as choosing chiropractors, it sometimes comes down to luck. You might want to look around for one who specializes in NUCA [neck and upper cervical (neck, not cervix) a-something] treatments. I'm surmising your friend assumes your child's affliction is related to the upper spinal cord.

Best of luck in your information quest!

[kelownagirl]

Okay, so I am one of those in the middle of this problem. I'm a graduate student in pharmacy, and have had courses in complementary and alternative medicine (aka CAM). Additionally, I am a regular chiropractic patient - I get monthly adjustments and it has greatly helped with a neck injury I sustained from an unfortunate endo.

I definitely agree with the suggestions of PubMed, accessing your nearest university library, Google Scholar, etc. I might also suggest that if your nearest university has a medical school you talk to them and see if they have a CAM practitioner to give you a helpful evaluation of the literature. Perhaps it could make a nice project for a student as well.

As far as choosing chiropractors, it sometimes comes down to luck. You might want to look around for one who specializes in NUCA [neck and upper cervical (neck, not cervix) a-something] treatments. I'm surmising your friend assumes your child's affliction is related to the upper spinal cord.

Best of luck in your information quest!

Thanks for info from both sides. I support chiropractics for mechanical problems, and possibly even other medical issues as well, but I start to question its use for other seemingly unrelated problems. That being said, if I could find some good research that shows some relevancy, (and I did find one study by the way), I might buy into it. So far, I have found very little support though.

The young lady in question tends to get all wound up about stuff and comes armed with lots of 'data' that is often biased and/or is simply "testimonial". She's still young and doesn't know how to evaluate the things that she reads or hears. (Not to suggest that I know everything either... )

[NbyNW]

I don't know anything about chiropractics and even less about ADHD . . . but in terms of practitioners there's also osteopathy. I think osteopaths and chiropracters have very different training and are licensed/regulated differently.

I go to an osteopath for alignment issues related to a back injury, and I know my doc has a number of patients who are kids and dealing with some chronic issue . . . I guess the theory is that osteopathic treatment might help the body's natural healing mechanisms? I've never really asked about it.

Just another type of doc you might want to look into . . .

[Crankin]

I hate to sound like the voice of doom, but I believe this is just another way to take parents' money. There are no substantiated studies that using chiropractic treatments cure ADD. It's like the optometrists who say "vision training" cures learning disabilities. I am a huge believer in complementary medicine, but no way on this one. I have a lot of experience with ADD; both of my kids have it and I was a special needs teacher for half of my teaching career. So far, we haven't found the magic bullet for ADD, but, I hope your friend does not spend money on this.

[bmccasland]

I had a Chiropractor (the stereotypical Quack-o-practer) tell me he could cure my vertigo, which is the result of head trauma with neural damage, if I came in for treatment 3x / week for several weeks, then 2x / week...... Yeah right. He manipulated me into one of the worst ever migraines I ever had. Took a different Chiropractor to fix the dammage. Chiro #2, also would periodically work on my microscope neck (hours sitting at a 'scope), with me leaving his office feeling much better. Stuck with #2 until I moved away. #1 advertised heavily, #2 never advertised.

Osteopaths - I used to work in an Osteopathic hospital - it's a 4 year medical school, with internships, residencies, etc. just like traditional Medical school. Graduates are DO not MD. They are licensed as full fledged doctors. Some states have them as MD on the license. They tend to look at the body as a whole, and more keen on alternative medicine techniques.

[kelownagirl]

I hate to sound like the voice of doom, but I believe this is just another way to take parents' money. There are no substantiated studies that using chiropractic treatments cure ADD. It's like the optometrists who say "vision training" cures learning disabilities. I am a huge believer in complementary medicine, but no way on this one. I have a lot of experience with ADD; both of my kids have it and I was a special needs teacher for half of my teaching career. So far, we haven't found the magic bullet for ADD, but, I hope your friend does not spend money on this.

She wants me to spend my money on it. LOL...

[NbyNW]

Crankin' said it very well . . . complementary medicine. There's so much not known about the effectiveness of these treatments. And if they are effective, what the actual mechanism is that is working.

I will be the first to admit that I have no idea why I feel better after I go to my osteopath. Could be placebo effect. Could be that he really did something that is relieving strain off of support muscles that I otherwise don't have voluntary control/access to. I have no way of knowing.

But I also get massages, and go to Pilates classes, and do my at-home PT exercises, and I think all of these things together probably do something for me.

And of course, with kids & ADHD, we're talking about a completely different animal.