To the Editor:
 
While we appreciate your efforts to educate readers on the benefits of alternative treatment options, your February 2008 article, “What’s the difference between an osteopath and a chiropractor,” offered a one-sided and inaccurate look at chiropractic.
 
Doctors of chiropractic—not osteopaths—are the only health care professionals in the United States extensively trained in manipulation techniques and are the true masters in performing the art of spinal manipulation—a form of treatment performed 94 percent of the time in this country by doctors of chiropractic, according to the Rand Corporation.
 
Often referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians, doctors of chiropractic practice a drug-free, nonsurgical approach to health care. In addition to spinal manipulation, they frequently recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.
 
Educational requirements for doctors of chiropractic (DC) are among the most stringent of any of the health care professions. The typical applicant at a chiropractic college has already acquired nearly four years of pre-professional undergraduate college education, including courses in biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, psychology and related lab work. Once accepted into a chiropractic college, the requirements become even more demanding — four to five academic years of professional study are standard.
 
In total, the chiropractic curriculum includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical experience. This extensive education prepares doctors of chiropractic to diagnose health care problems, treat the problems when they are within their scope of practice and refer patients to other health care practitioners when appropriate.
 
Following graduation, doctors of chiropractic must pass national board examinations and become state-licensed. Additionally, a large number of doctors continue their education and specialize in areas such as internal disorders, neurology, nutrition, occupational health, orthopedics, radiology, and sports injuries.
 
While chiropractic care is used most often to effectively treat musculoskeletal complaints such as back pain, neck pain and sciatica, evidence from many types of experimental studies (basic and clinical, comprised of randomized controlled trials, cohort and case studies) provides a promising basis with which to consider chiropractic management for conditions such as otitis media, asthma and colic. 
 
And when it comes to headaches, chiropractic spinal manipulation is an excellent treatment option. A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.
 
In recent years, the federal government has recognized the effectiveness and cost-savings potential of chiropractic care by providing new benefits for veterans, military personnel and Medicare patients. Just a few other notable examples of chiropractic integration include the chiropractic department at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., the successful Complementary and Alternative Medicine Center at the National Institutes of Health, and the doctors of chiropractic who work as consultants to the Office of the Attending Physician at the U.S. Capitol Building.
 
In closing, we are very disappointed that you asked a doctor of osteopathy to comment on the qualifications of and treatment options offered by doctors of chiropractic. Please consider the information contained in this letter as you advise your readers about health care treatment options.
 
I thank you for emphasizing alternative options, such as chiropractic, and hope you will consider the American Chiropractic Association as an information resource for future stories.
 
Sincerely,
 
Glenn Manceaux, DC
President, American Chiropractic Association