Plener Joshua, Csiernik Ben, Bejarano Geronimo, Hjertstrand Jesper, Goodall Benjamin
Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, 6100 Leslie St., Toronto, ON, M2H 3J1, Canada.
Palmer College of Chiropractic, Florida Campus, 4777 City Center Pkwy, Port Orange, FL, 32129, USA.
Chiropr Man Therap. 2020 May 13;28(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s12998-020-00318-5.
The 2019 coronavirus pandemic is a current global health crisis. Many chiropractic institutions, associations, and researchers have stepped up at a time of need. However, a subset of the chiropractic profession has claimed that spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is clinically effective in improving one's immunity, despite the lack of supporting scientific evidence. These unsubstantiated claims contradict official public health policy reflecting poorly on the profession. The aim of this commentary is to provide our perspective on the claims regarding SMT and clinically relevant immunity enhancement, drawing attention to the damaging ramifications these claims might have on our profession's reputation.
The World Federation of Chiropractic released a rapid review demonstrating the lack of clinically relevant evidence regarding SMT and immunity enhancement. The current claims contradicting this review carry significant potential risk to patients. Furthermore, as a result of these misleading claims, significant media attention and public critiques of the profession are being made. We believe inaction by regulatory bodies will lead to confusion among the public and other healthcare providers, unfortunately damaging the profession's reputation. The resulting effect on the reputation of the profession is greatly concerning to us, as students.
It is our hope that all regulatory bodies will protect the public by taking appropriate action against chiropractors making unfounded claims contradicting public health policy. We believe it is the responsibility of all stakeholders in the chiropractic profession to ensure this is carried out and the standard of care is raised. We call on current chiropractors to ensure a viable profession exists moving forward.
2019年冠状病毒大流行是当前的全球健康危机。许多脊椎按摩疗法机构、协会和研究人员在需要之时挺身而出。然而，脊椎按摩疗法行业的一部分人声称，尽管缺乏科学依据支持，但脊椎推拿疗法（SMT）在提高人体免疫力方面具有临床疗效。这些毫无根据的说法与官方公共卫生政策相矛盾，给该行业带来了不良影响。本评论的目的是就有关SMT和临床相关免疫增强的说法发表我们的看法，提请注意这些说法可能对我们行业声誉造成的破坏性影响。
世界脊椎按摩疗法联合会发布了一项快速综述，表明缺乏关于SMT和免疫增强的临床相关证据。当前与该综述相矛盾的说法给患者带来了重大潜在风险。此外，由于这些误导性说法，该行业受到了媒体的大量关注和公众的批评。我们认为监管机构的不作为将导致公众和其他医疗服务提供者的困惑，不幸的是会损害该行业的声誉。这种对行业声誉的影响让作为学生的我们深感担忧。
我们希望所有监管机构采取适当行动，对那些提出与公共卫生政策相矛盾的毫无根据说法的脊椎按摩治疗师进行处罚，从而保护公众。我们认为脊椎按摩疗法行业的所有利益相关者都有责任确保此事得以落实并提高医疗服务标准。我们呼吁现任脊椎按摩治疗师确保该行业能够持续发展。
