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American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: 30 Million Americans Go to Chiropractors Each Year
Aired May 13, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is said that 30 million Americans every year go to see a chiropractor. So today, we are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta about this new study suggesting that neck and spine adjustments can increase the risk of stroke in certain patients. Sanjay is back with us at the CNN Center.
What gives here, doctor? Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Bill.
Yes, a very controversial issue, a very popular issue, as you mentioned, Bill. Thirty million people, 10 percent of the population, getting their spine manipulated for neck and back pain, one of the most common ailments.
Doctors have long believed anecdotally that, in fact, these manipulations may be linked to a stroke, actually causing a tear and then a clot formation in the blood vessel that leads to the brain.
Let me show you what I'm talking about here. I have a model of the neck, of the spine here. And what basically happens in a situation like this -- let's see if we can take a look at this -- the blood vessels that come up and down the back of the spine here, the side of the spine, when the spine is actually manipulated, some doctors have believed, some researchers have believed that that blood vessel can actually get a tear in it. That can cause a clot, and that clot can go to the brain, possibly causing a stroke.
Now, this has been anecdotal evidence. There is a study now in "The Journal of Neurology" actually looking into this a little bit more clearly.
One of the researchers from "The Journal of Neurology" had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WADE SMITH, UNIV. CALIF., SAN FRANCISCO: Anybody who extends their neck far back and turns it to one side can actually compress or even completely close off one of the vertebral arteries. So, the thought is that a very rapid movement of the neck might actually not just compress the artery, but also stretch it or tear it, producing this injury.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GUPTA: Now, what they found was that about 57 percent of these people who experienced head and neck pain and subsequently had a stroke had visited a chiropractor within the last several days. Now, the way that study was done was sort of looking at it backwards. If they had a stroke, how likely were they to have actually also seen a chiropractor? That's the way they did the study. That's not the best way to do a study, and obviously, as I mentioned at the top, Bill, already starting to stir up some controversy.
Here's what someone from the Chiropractic Association had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM LAURETTI, AMERICAN CHIROPRACTIC ASSOCIATION: The forces to the artery during a chiropractor treatment were actually less than the forces during normal range of motion testing. For example, turning your head from side to side, backward and forward and so forth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Right. So, there you have the two differing viewpoints, Bill. But this is going to be sort of a hot issue for a while. Again, anecdotally for a long time doctors have believed, could there be a relationship between neck manipulation, spinal manipulations and stroke? This may provide some evidence. It's not the best study. And obviously, you've already seen the Chiropractic Association, the Spinal Manipulation Associations coming to its defense -- Bill.
HEMMER: But now that the research is out there and the study is out there, and so, too, is the information, how do you know beforehand, if at all, that you might be at risk prior to your visit?
GUPTA: That's right. This is where it gets a little bit tricky, because the same sort of pain that you might have from a blood clot or a tear in the blood vessel may be the pain that takes you to the chiropractor in the first place.
Here's some sort of guidelines. If you've ever had any problems with your vision, if you've had problems with numbness on one side of your body no matter how transient, if you've ever had weakness, those could be signs of a stroke. You should probably get that checked out by someone who specializes in stroke before you go to the chiropractor.
Also, after a chiropractic manipulation, if your neck pain increases in any way, or if you have some sort of new neck pain that you didn't have before, that also should warrant a trip to someone who specializes in stroke.
There is a relationship there. How strong that relationship will probably still remain to be seen. But those are some guidelines -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, and also if you're going to go to chiropractor, make sure their license is on the wall and you know it going in, right?
GUPTA: That's right, Bill. I mean, some people swear by chiropractors, and it's important to make sure you have a good one if that's what you're going to do.
HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Sanjay. Good to see you in our house call today.
GUPTA: All right. Take care.
HEMMER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta with that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Each Year>
Aired May 13, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is said that 30 million Americans every year go to see a chiropractor. So today, we are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta about this new study suggesting that neck and spine adjustments can increase the risk of stroke in certain patients. Sanjay is back with us at the CNN Center.
What gives here, doctor? Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Bill.
Yes, a very controversial issue, a very popular issue, as you mentioned, Bill. Thirty million people, 10 percent of the population, getting their spine manipulated for neck and back pain, one of the most common ailments.
Doctors have long believed anecdotally that, in fact, these manipulations may be linked to a stroke, actually causing a tear and then a clot formation in the blood vessel that leads to the brain.
Let me show you what I'm talking about here. I have a model of the neck, of the spine here. And what basically happens in a situation like this -- let's see if we can take a look at this -- the blood vessels that come up and down the back of the spine here, the side of the spine, when the spine is actually manipulated, some doctors have believed, some researchers have believed that that blood vessel can actually get a tear in it. That can cause a clot, and that clot can go to the brain, possibly causing a stroke.
Now, this has been anecdotal evidence. There is a study now in "The Journal of Neurology" actually looking into this a little bit more clearly.
One of the researchers from "The Journal of Neurology" had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WADE SMITH, UNIV. CALIF., SAN FRANCISCO: Anybody who extends their neck far back and turns it to one side can actually compress or even completely close off one of the vertebral arteries. So, the thought is that a very rapid movement of the neck might actually not just compress the artery, but also stretch it or tear it, producing this injury.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GUPTA: Now, what they found was that about 57 percent of these people who experienced head and neck pain and subsequently had a stroke had visited a chiropractor within the last several days. Now, the way that study was done was sort of looking at it backwards. If they had a stroke, how likely were they to have actually also seen a chiropractor? That's the way they did the study. That's not the best way to do a study, and obviously, as I mentioned at the top, Bill, already starting to stir up some controversy.
Here's what someone from the Chiropractic Association had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM LAURETTI, AMERICAN CHIROPRACTIC ASSOCIATION: The forces to the artery during a chiropractor treatment were actually less than the forces during normal range of motion testing. For example, turning your head from side to side, backward and forward and so forth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Right. So, there you have the two differing viewpoints, Bill. But this is going to be sort of a hot issue for a while. Again, anecdotally for a long time doctors have believed, could there be a relationship between neck manipulation, spinal manipulations and stroke? This may provide some evidence. It's not the best study. And obviously, you've already seen the Chiropractic Association, the Spinal Manipulation Associations coming to its defense -- Bill.
HEMMER: But now that the research is out there and the study is out there, and so, too, is the information, how do you know beforehand, if at all, that you might be at risk prior to your visit?
GUPTA: That's right. This is where it gets a little bit tricky, because the same sort of pain that you might have from a blood clot or a tear in the blood vessel may be the pain that takes you to the chiropractor in the first place.
Here's some sort of guidelines. If you've ever had any problems with your vision, if you've had problems with numbness on one side of your body no matter how transient, if you've ever had weakness, those could be signs of a stroke. You should probably get that checked out by someone who specializes in stroke before you go to the chiropractor.
Also, after a chiropractic manipulation, if your neck pain increases in any way, or if you have some sort of new neck pain that you didn't have before, that also should warrant a trip to someone who specializes in stroke.
There is a relationship there. How strong that relationship will probably still remain to be seen. But those are some guidelines -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, and also if you're going to go to chiropractor, make sure their license is on the wall and you know it going in, right?
GUPTA: That's right, Bill. I mean, some people swear by chiropractors, and it's important to make sure you have a good one if that's what you're going to do.
HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Sanjay. Good to see you in our house call today.
GUPTA: All right. Take care.
HEMMER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta with that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Each Year>
