Feb 24, 2008 12:01 am US/Eastern
Health: Risk of Chiropractic Treatment
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Britt Harwe hasn't
eaten a meal in 15 years. She survives on nutritional drinks poured
directly into her stomach through a feeding tube.
"If I try to swallow,
it goes into my lungs, I aspirate," said Britt.
She says it's the
result of suffering a stroke during a visit to her chiropractor.
"I
slumped over to the left and he helped me straighten out and I couldn't really
focus. I couldn't talk," said Britt. The chiropractor had just
finished adjusting her neck.
"I felt like the ocean
sound in my head, rushing noise, terrified," said Britt. Doctors would
later discover that an artery in her neck was crushed causing a stroke.
"I've got a 7 inch scar
from the back of my head," said Janet Levy, who had an emergency brain surgery
after a similar experience with her chiropractor.
"After that I was
paralyzed for months," said Janet.
Chiropractors say the
risk of an injury from a neck adjustment is so small that you have a better
chance of getting hit by lightning.
Dr. Scott Darragh, the
head of a state chiropractors association, believes neck adjustments are safe,
and says when a patient has a stroke there may have been a pre-existing
condition or they could have injured their neck before going to a chiropractor.
"You could have a
cerebral vascular accident on route one trying to look for oncoming traffic
because you rotated the head," said Dr. Darragh.
Dr. Lee Schwamm is a
stroke specialist. He agrees, it's rare, but he says it does
happen.
"I personally have seen
many patients who had an episode of treatment of their neck with spinal
manipulation and who a day or two later had the sudden onset of stroke-like
symptoms," said Dr. Schwamm.
Britt and Janet both
say they were never told of their risk.
"That's what's so
frustrating. This did not need to happen. I was perfectly healthy,
26 years old," said Britt.
But one study says
there's no link between chiropractic treatment and stroke.
Study Information
Chiropractor Information
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