Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine mostly concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine.[1][2] Some proponents, especially those in the field’s early history, have claimed that such disorders affect general health via the nervous system,[2] through vertebral subluxation, claims which are not based on scientific evidence. The main chiropractic treatment technique involves manual therapy, especially spinal manipulation therapy (SMT), manipulations of other joints and soft tissues.[3] Its foundation is at odds with mainstream medicine, and chiropractic is sustained by pseudoscientific ideas such as subluxation and “innate intelligence” that reject science.[4][5][6][7][8] Chiropractors are not medical doctors.[9]
Numerous controlled clinical studies of treatments used by chiropractors have been conducted, with conflicting results.[4] Systematic reviews of this research have not found evidence that chiropractic manipulation is effective, with the possible exception of treatment for back pain.[4] A critical evaluation found that collectively, spinal manipulation was ineffective at treating any condition.[10] Spinal manipulation may be cost-effective for sub-acute or chronic low back pain but the results for acute low back pain were insufficient.[11] The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of maintenance chiropractic care are unknown.[12] There is not sufficient data to establish the safety of chiropractic manipulations.[13] It is frequently associated with mild to moderate adverse effects, with serious or fatal complications in rare cases.[14] There is controversy regarding the degree of risk of vertebral artery dissection, which can lead to stroke and death, from cervical manipulation.[15] Several deaths have been associated with this technique[14] and it has been suggested that the relationship is causative,[16][17] a claim which is disputed by many chiropractors.[17]
Chiropractic is well established in the United States, Canada, and Australia.[18] It overlaps with other manual-therapy professions such as osteopathy and physical therapy.[19] Most who seek chiropractic care do so for low back pain.[20] Back and neck pain are considered the specialties of chiropractic, but many chiropractors treat ailments other than musculoskeletal issues.[4] Many chiropractors describe themselves as primary careproviders,[4][21] but the chiropractic clinical training does not support the requirements to be considered primary care providers,[2] so their role on primary care is limited and disputed.[2][21] Chiropractic has two main groups: “straights”, now the minority, emphasize vitalism, “innate intelligence”, and consider vertebral subluxations to be the cause of all disease; “mixers”, the majority, are more open to mainstream views and conventional medical techniques, such as exercise, massage, and ice therapy.[22]
D. D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s,[23] after saying he received it from “the other world”,[24] and his son B. J. Palmer helped to expand it in the early 20th century.[23] Throughout its history, chiropractic has been controversial.[25][26] Despite the overwhelming evidence that vaccination is an effective public health intervention, among chiropractors there are significant disagreements over the subject,[27] which has led to negative impacts on both public vaccination and mainstream acceptance of chiropractic.[28] The American Medical Association called chiropractic an “unscientific cult” in 1966[29] and boycotted it until losing an antitrust case in 1987.[21] Chiropractic has had a strong political base and sustained demand for services; in recent decades, it has gained more legitimacy and greater acceptance among conventional physicians and health plans in the United States.[21]
Norman
Norman /ˈnɔːrmən/ is a city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Oklahoma City in its metropolitan area. The population was 110,925 at the 2010 census.[1] Norman’s estimated population of 120,284 in 2015 makes it the third-largest city in Oklahoma, and the city serves as the county seat of Cleveland County.
Norman was settled during the Land Run of 1889, which opened the former Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory to American pioneer settlement. The city was named in honor of Abner Norman, the area’s initial land surveyor, and was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891. Economically the city has prominent higher education and related research industries, as it is the home to the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state, with approximately 30,000 students enrolled. The university is well known for its sporting events by teams under the banner of the nickname “Sooners,” with over 80,000 people routinely attending football games. The university is home to several museums, including the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, which contains the largest collection of French Impressionist art ever given to an American university, as well as the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
The National Weather Center, located in Norman, houses a unique collection of university, state, federal, and private sector organizations that work together to improve the understanding of events related to the Earth’s atmosphere. Norman lies within Tornado Alley, a geographic region where tornadic activity is particularly frequent and intense. The Oklahoma City metropolitan area, including Norman, is the most tornado-prone area in the world. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC), a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is located at the NWC. SPC forecasts severe storm and tornado outbreaks nationwide. Additionally, research is conducted at the co-located National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), which includes field research and operates various experimental weather radars.
In 2008, CNN‘s Money Magazine ranked Norman as the sixth best small city within the United States to live in.