NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The American Chiropractic Association is reacting strongly to a study presented last week that found a link between chiropractic neck manipulation and stroke in young people.

The study, presented at the American Stroke Association's 27th International Stroke Conference in San Antonio, Texas, was of 158 people younger than 45 years of age who suffered from cervical artery dissection, in which the inside wall of a neck artery is torn. The condition often leads to stroke.

In the study, nearly a quarter of the 158 patients had undergone neck manipulation before the stroke, establishing a link between the two events. An American Chiropractic Association official, however, said the study conclusions were not valid.

"I don't see any criteria (in the study) that shows that chiropractic treatment was thecause of stroke," Dr. William Lauretti, a chiropractor in private practice in Bethesda and the Maryland delegate to the American Chiropractic Association, told Reuters Health.

Lauretti called the statistics cited in the Canadian study "outrageous," echoing a statement by the chiropractic association that called the Canadian study "junk science."

He said an analysis published last year that found no difference in the number of vertebrobasilar strokes--those involving the arteries affected by cervical artery dissection--in young people who underwent chiropractic manipulation in the week before the event and those who did not.

Neck manipulation is usually carried out for neck pain.

Asked for his reaction, the University of Toronto's Dr. John W. Norris, lead author of the study in question, told Reuters Health that "there is no doubt that chiropractic treatment can improve symptoms" but he adds that "I don't believe in high velocity manipulation of the neck."

Norris said that a petition, signed by 60 neurologists to date, is being circulated to ban the practice of chiropractic neck manipulation.

Lauretti says he has been practicing for 12 years and has performed 12,000 to 15,000 cases of neck manipulation with no adverse effects.

Reference Source 89

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