• Engel R

• Association of Chiropractic Colleges / congresses

METHODS: This study was reviewed and approved by the Macquarie University Ethics Review Committee. 20 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 40 were allocated into four groups of five subjects: Group 1 (exercise only) received a pre-determined treadmill exercise program; Group 2 (spinal manipulation only) received spinal manipulations of the cervical and thoracic spines; Group 3 (spinal manipulation & exercise) received spinal manipulations of the cervical and thoracic spines followed by the pre-determined treadmill exercise program; and Group 4 acted as the control group. FVC, FEV-1 and FET measurements were taken for each subject before and after intervention. Each subject in Groups 1, 2 and 3 undertook six exercise sessions and /or six spinal manipulation sessions over a four week period.

RESULTS: Subjects who received only the exercise program showed a decrease in FVC readings of 0.305 litres (-7.57%). Subjects who received only spinal manipulation showed an increase in FVC of 0.318 litres (+7.69%). Subjects who received both spinal manipulation and the exercise program showed an overall increase of 0.578 litres (+14.35%) which consisted of an increase of 0.327 litres (+8.12%) immediately after spinal manipulation followed by an additional increase of 0.251 litres (+6.23%) at the completion of the exercise program. Subjects in the control group showed an increase in their FVC of 0.045 litres (+1.52%).

DISCUSSION: The increase in FVC across both groups of subjects who received spinal manipulation is consistent with previous studies. The decrease in FVC readings for subjects in the exercise only group may be explained by the effect of exercise-induced respiratory resistance. The results of the group who received both spinal manipulation and the exercise program appear to show a reversal of the exercise-induced respiratory resistance seen immediately after exercise. This has potential importance when designing future management programs for COPD subjects that include an exercise component as spinal manipulation prior to exercise may permit additional tolerance within the respiratory system to allow for the COPD subject to undertake a more extensive exercise program than was previously possible.

CONCLUSION: This study showed beneficial effect of spinal manipulation as well as the additional benefit of combining spinal manipulation with exercise on respiratory function.

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher.