I honestly never thought I’d go through the 18-month process to put on another Adaptability Research Symposium after the last in 2018. But, there is just too much that has changed to not do this one last time. Science has made some great advancements, including the ability to mathematically peer into the coordinative capacity of the entire patient! This means we can determine if every body system may have better coordination and control after a specific Chiropractic adjustment!

It is just too big to ignore! The difference this time is that the venue is on Palmer campus in the home of every Chiropractor. Secondly, it will be a far smaller number of available seats. Yes, comfortable seats at actual tabletops as always, but far fewer attendees permitted. This means if you were at one of the last three (2014, 2016, or 2018), you better hurry, as it will be less than half the size allowed.

We want you to walk away knowing what science knows now that they had no idea of in 2018, how this relates to the adjusted patient, and how to bring this information into your practice and community! Big goals? Yes, but I am committed and READY!

Click the flyer below to get your seat guaranteed!

The three-year wait for this project to be designed and built is looking like reality. Few more steps…and hold strap in for the future of Chiropractic to move ahead in a big way!

For three years I have been gathering hundreds of research papers that will answer the question of fetal function in relationship to the mother’s coordinative capacity. Quite honestly every time a good product is developed to answer this question, one of the major research companies (e.g., Philips, GE, etc) buys the technology and locks the data so that it can’t be accessed for research purposes. They can only see the clinical side of the technology, ignoring the research needs. They envision only the cash flow they can create being hospital-driven.

Well, I got tired of waiting and took it upon myself to develop a new device that does more than previous models could possibly allow. This year I have spent hundreds of hours with trial and error concepts of microcircuitry that can fulfill the needs I see for our profession. There was much trial and error—in full disclosure, lots of “error.”

Once I knew what it had to be able to do, I set about designing the prototypes. At this time, I feel the current two designs should prove fruitful. Honestly, we will not KNOW until it is built and running. A great friend and brilliant Chiropractor I know well has stepped up to create these two prototypes from the parts list of over 100 microprocessors, resistors, capacitors, ferrite beads signal convertors, etc that I have designed into them and ordered.

Personally, my next step is to design software that will show live data streams on the computer screen of six separate ECGs. This step is as complete as it can be until it receives data from the prototypes. This little beauty looks like it will take off and fly. First BIG step is complete.

We are working to have it functional before the May 2-4 Adaptability Research Symposium. Only time will tell. It is a massive task, but we are both committed. If we have a completed prototype in time, we will bring data as well to answer questions long plaguing the profession.

You may want to be at the event in May. Get a seat reserved….soon.

See YOU there!

#100PercentChiropractic
#BOOM!

Just had a two minute conversation with a patient about nocturnal enuresis, and whether the monkey or the chauffeur is driving (you’ll get this if you were at the Adaptability Research Symposium previously), and she is referring two friends kids in and said both the mothers are out of ideas and nothing is making a difference.

Two things:

First, sorry for the run-on sentence.

Secondly, how hard was that? Pretty easy. Why are we not overwhelmed with organic manifestation of VS in our offices like the last generation? Simple, we stopped having the right conversations.

Dr. Barge used to say often, “You should never remove hope from a patient.”

What he meant is that when you remove their hope you leave them cloaked only in the tattered rags in fear. And as he also said, “Fear is the fuel that fires the furnace of disease.”

Be fearless…and permit the same within your patients.

#100PercentChiropractic

#EasyButton

#ChangingTrajectories

#FIRETHEMONKEY!

From asthma and nocturnal enuresis, to eating disorders, PTSD, and immune function, Chiropractic adjustments are reported to produce profound effects beyond musculoskeletal health.  Yet, these improvements often elude conventional research due to their complexity and individual variability.  Single-case research design (SCRD), as detailed in the referenced work, offers a powerful tool to study these phenomena.

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Why SCRD Excels in Complex Conditions

Unlike double-blind studies, which falter in capturing individualized responses, SCRD thrives on precision and adaptability.  It allows researchers to explore the nuanced relationship between Chiropractic adjustments and diverse health outcomes, such as improved respiratory function in asthma or reduced stress markers in PTSD.

Key strengths of SCRD for these conditions include:

1. Tailored Outcome Measures: Medically-diagnosed conditions like nocturnal enuresis, or even immune function improvement can be tracked using specific, patient-relevant metrics (e.g., nighttime episodes, immune cell counts).
2. Real-Time Adaptability: Researchers can adjust protocols dynamically based on ongoing observations, ensuring relevance to each individual.
3. Causality Through Repeated Measures: By comparing baseline and intervention phases, SCRD isolates the effects of specific Chiropractic adjustments on outcomes like stress hormone levels or inflammation markers.

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SCRD Applied to Asthma, PTSD, and Beyond

1. Asthma:
   • Hypothesis: Chiropractic adjustments improve autonomic control, increasing respiratory coordination.
   • Design: Monitor peak expiratory flow rate and frequency of inhaler use before, during, and after Chiropractic care.  Calendar of recent history of patient supplied data (e.g., inhaler use recent history, etc).
   • Outcome: Improved respiratory function directly correlates with adjustment periods.
2. PTSD:
   • Hypothesis: Adjustments alleviate neural stress responses, reducing PTSD severity.
   • Design: Use ECG-derived heart rate variability (HRV), impedance cardiography, pupillary light reflex metrics, and salivary cortisol levels as biomarkers during baseline and intervention phases.
   • Outcome: Clear patterns of reduced stress markers emerge with adjustments.
3. Nocturnal Enuresis:
   • Track episodes of enuresis using diary logs (including historical to memory of parents) and physiological measures (e.g., vagal tone), and pupillary light reflex.
4. Eating Disorders:
   • Track episodes of eating disorder actions and physiological measures (e.g., vagal tone), and pupillary light reflex, impedance cardiography.
5. Immune Function:
   • Monitor immune parameters (e.g., white blood cell counts, cytokine levels, lung bacterial analyses) and physiological measures (e.g., vagal tone), and pupillary light reflex alongside adjustment protocols to establish causal links.

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Addressing the Shortcomings of RCTs

The highly individualized nature of these conditions poses challenges for double-blind studies, including:

• Diverse Symptom Presentation: Conditions like PTSD manifest differently in each patient, complicating group-based analyses.
• Blinding Challenges: Chiropractic’s hands-on nature defies true blinding.
• Environmental Influences: Double-blind designs often fail to account for real-world variables impacting conditions like asthma.
• Repeatability:  RCTs are very weak in repeatability by other research teams, or even the same research teams, as elimination of variables is a Utopian goal.

SCRD overcomes these hurdles by prioritizing individual responses, making it a superior choice for Chiropractic research.

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Statistical Rigor in SCRD

Far from anecdotal, SCRD’s repeated measurements provide robust statistical reliability.   Time-series analysis, combined with visual data interpretation, yields powerful insights.  Aggregating data across multiple single-case studies further strengthens generalizability, offering a pathway to broader scientific recognition.

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Pioneering Chiropractic Research

By leveraging SCRD, Chiropractic researchers can rigorously explore and validate the wide-ranging benefits of adjustments.  This methodology not only aligns with the profession’s individualized care philosophy but also empowers the field to produce compelling, high-quality evidence.

Further reading:
Cooper, H. E., Coutanche, M. N., McMullen, L. M., Panter, A. T., Rindskopf, D. E., & Sher, K. J. (2023). APA handbook of research methods in psychology: Research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and biological, Vol. 2.

Chiropractic care has long been grounded in the philosophy of addressing vertebral subluxations to optimize nerve system function.  Despite compelling clinical observations linking specific adjustments to improved autonomic regulation, mainstream scientific methodologies like double-blind studies often fall short in capturing these effects.  Single-case research design (SCRD), as advocated in the referenced text (below), offers an ideal solution.  This methodology aligns seamlessly with Chiropractic research, delivering robust cause-and-effect evidence tailored to individual variability.

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The Strength of Single-Case Research Design

SCRD provides a framework for isolating and measuring the impact of specific interventions, making it ideal for studying Chiropractic adjustments. Unlike double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which often dilute individual nuances in group averages, SCRD focuses on the detailed analysis of one subject over time. This approach is especially suited for Chiropractic research, where patient outcomes frequently involve unique nervous system responses.

The referenced authors highlight several advantages of SCRD that apply directly to Chiropractic studies:

1. Precise Control Over Variables: In SCRD, researchers can systematically change the independent variable—in this case, a specific Chiropractic adjustment—and observe its direct effects on autonomic function.
2. Flexibility in Outcome Measures: Autonomic dysfunction often manifests through heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, or other measurable physiological markers.  SCRD allows for continuous, individualized tracking of these metrics.
3. Robust Internal Validity: Through repeated baseline and intervention phases (e.g., ABAB or repetitive AAAA…B designs), SCRD establishes strong causal links between the intervention and observed changes, ruling out alternative explanations.

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Applying SCRD to Autonomic Dysfunction Research

Autonomic dysfunction encompasses a spectrum of disorders, including dysregulation of heart rate, digestion, and hormonal balance.  Chiropractic adjustments targeting vertebral subluxations are clinically seen to restore neurologic communication, positively influencing autonomic function.  Here’s how SCRD can be applied:

1. Phase Design:
   • Baseline (A): Record autonomic markers like HRV or skin conductance without any adjustments.
   • Intervention (B): Administer specific Chiropractic adjustments and continue tracking autonomic markers.
   • Reversal (A): Cease adjustments and monitor whether autonomic markers return to baseline.
   • Reintroduction (B): Resume adjustments to confirm reproducibility of effects.

• The problem here, of course being that a return to pre-intervention depends upon the intervention not being able to cause a lasting change in coordinative control.  Medical research of drugs depends upon this model quite often.  They give a BP medication, BP decreases, they take it away, it returns upward.  This can be repeated ad infinitum, as the drug is not making a coordinative change, as an adjustment has shown to create.
• As such, it is imperative to gather multiple baseline (A) data points to show the change is indisputably related to the interventions, and not chance. We CAN do this far easier than you may think!

2. Data Analysis:
   SCRD’s emphasis on visual and statistical analysis of time-series data ensures that patterns of improvement are directly tied to Chiropractic intervention.  Techniques such as effect size calculations and trend analysis enhance the reliability of findings.

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The Pitfalls of Double-Blind Studies

While RCTs are often viewed as the gold standard, they pose significant challenges for Chiropractic research:

• Blinding Difficulties: Chiropractic adjustments involve hands-on techniques, making true blinding virtually impossible.  Researchers in Chiropractic have long struggled with how to perform a “sham adjustment.”  It has been seen to be an impossible task to overcome this flaw.
• Group Averaging: By pooling diverse patient responses, RCTs risk obscuring the specific effects of adjustments, especially for conditions with individualized outcomes like autonomic dysfunction.  Individuality is a hallmark of Chiropractic theory and practice.  It is ignored largely in the RCT.

SCRD sidesteps these limitations by focusing on the individual, ensuring that Chiropractic interventions are evaluated in the context of real-world practice.

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Statistical Strength of SCRD

Contrary to misconceptions, SCRD offers formidable statistical power.  By repeatedly measuring outcomes within the same individual, it achieves high sensitivity to detect changes.  Moreover, modern statistical methods, such as time-series analysis and meta-analytic techniques for aggregating single-case data, enable generalizable insights across studies.

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A Model for Chiropractic Research Excellence

SCRD not only aligns with Chiropractic philosophy but also elevates its scientific credibility.  By adopting this methodology, researchers can showcase the profound effects of specific adjustments on autonomic dysfunction, setting a gold standard for evidence-based practice in the field.

“Only by following out the injunction of our great predecessor [William Harvey] to search out and study the secrets of Nature by way of experiment, can we hope to attain to a comprehension of ‘the wisdom of the body and the understanding of the heart,’ and thereby to the mastery of disease and pain, which will enable us to relieve the burden of mankind.”—Ernest H Starling, MD

From his lecture, “The Wisdom of the Body” delivered before the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1923.

It is from this lecture that Cannon got the name for his book some years later.

He would be satisfied to see the work appreciated by those members of this group. Sadly, most of the research world has not heeded his words and believes they can understand the human body by merely studying its “parts.”

No analysis of a dead body can explain the function of a living one. Any attempt to ignore the intelligence within the body, will foretell the lack of intelligence of the observer.

Keep smiling!

Just looking over some new data and this one “has issues”. It is just plain….bad data. Sadly, almost none of the equipment out there can even let you SEE the data before it ends up in published research. It is vital to check each and every beat VISUALLY if anyone is going to publish research.

These are pics of each beat cut apart and laid side by side. Should look like a smooth-sided 3-dimensional PQRST beat that is wide….like the second pic.

First one if BAD data, second is GOOD data. The difference is obvious.

Sadly, the second was the post-adjustment using the same electrodes still hooked to the person. How does this happen? Well, it is an obvious problem with at least one electrode. Changed them out and got a good post-adjustment data set. Being able to see it live only cost a few minutes of time to correct the problem.

Chiropractic research deserves to be done at the highest levels!

Keep smiling!

#100PercentChiropractic

So, the National Institute of Health (NIH) just awarded a grant of $6.7 million to the Feinstein Institute in Massachusetts to map the detailed wiring of the right and left vagus nerves.

They will be looking at 30 dead bodies in dissection in phase 1, then looking at the cross-section of the vagus nerves at various point, as if it is merely about wiring. They want to map which fascicles of the cross-section go to each organ or tissue supplied as if it is the Interstate Highway System.

Does the highway system adapt or “move”? Nope. But, the vagus nerves are ever-changing. The IL-6 receptors on the terminal bulbs are used as tentacles to locate foreign proteins and particles. They do not make permanent connections. It does move as required by what researchers call “biological intelligence” and we refer to as Innate Intelligence.

Want to map a dead body? Have at it. Try to extrapolate this to a living one? Epic failure is in your future.

What they hope to do is to find the concrete pathways to various organs so that they may “scream at it” using vagal nerve stimulators (VNS). To imagine that the vagus nerve is like a cowbell….and “we just need more cowbell”…is to miss the intellectuality of the RESPONSE. Yes, response….NOT “reflex”.

Consider this. A person suffering with an eating disorder has a HIGHER heart rate variability than a person not suffering in a like way. So, is “more incoherent cowbell” the answer? Chaotic signaling IS their problem, not their answer. How about realizing that we have intellectual communication through those neural pathways to control and coordinate, and not just white noise?

I would never begrudge anyone from trying to use VNS as an option for whatever incoordination they may be dealing with, but we need to be realistic in our realization of such outside-in limitations.

If the NIH can cancel that check and make it out to our profession we could do research that would melt their minds with $6.7 million, if we could get focus in our own research ranks to meet the need.

Keep smiling!

Interesting new research. We all know the importance of neuroplatisity concerning brain function. The vast majority of adaptability research is being done by psychophysiologists. At least 90% of research published is from their field.

More recently, “mindfulness” as an intervention is all the rage. We even see it being pushed in Chiropractic circles. Well, brand new research has shown, using advanced imaging techniques, that “mindfulness” failed to show ANY neuroplastic positive effects in the brains of subjects.

Now, I can say without a doubt, that Chiropractic specific adjustment of the VS has blown away the level if changes found in mindfulness research, as relates to adaptability and complexity data. What I find in pre post adjustment changes, smokes anything reported by the mindfulness proponents. Our data is way more impressive.

So, stop looking outside of OUR UNIQUE ROLE to offer the best way to optimize coordination of the patient’s physiology. You are second banana to NO OTHER intervention.

#100PercentChiropractic

Kral, T. R., Davis, K., Korponay, C., Hirshberg, M. J., Hoel, R., Tello, L. Y., … & Davidson, R. J. (2022). Absence of structural brain changes from mindfulness-based stress reduction: Two combined randomized controlled trials. Science Advances, 8(20), eabk3316.