ICA Chiropractor of the Year Dr. Deed Harrison has Research Published in a Nature Journal: Scientific Reports

By Beth Clay

Falls Church, Virginia (July 29, 2021) The International Chiropractors Association (ICA) congratulates Dr. Deed Harrison, ICA’s most recent Chiropractor of the Year for publishing the findings of a placebo controlled, randomized controlled trial study in the prestigious Nature Scientific Reports. The paper entitled “Demonstration of central conduction time and neuroplastic changes after cervical lordosis rehabilitation in asymptomatic subjects: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial”[1] was published this week and is available through Open Access at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-94548-z.pdf

The research team was led by Professor Ibrahim M. Moustafa and included Professors Aliaa A. Diab and Fatma Hegazy, and Dr. Deed E. Harrison. Their research focused on disorders of the cervical spine, which are known to be among the greatest contributors to spine pain, disability, and work loss worldwide. As these experts noted, “there are wide variations in assessment methods and treatment approaches for patients presenting with cervical spine disorders.  Problematically, most treatments for neck disorders have limited efficacy and this is particularly evident after long-term, post-therapeutic follow-up.” The team noted the general agreement on the need for conservative treatment approaches for cervical spine abnormalities and determined to conduct research needed to fill the evidence gaps.  The researchers observed that “Cervical spine alignment has been shown to be significantly related to patient outcomes and conducted a placebo-controlled, randomized controlled trial at Cairo University utilizing the Denneroll cervical orthodic for cervical traction (used frequently by doctors of chiropractic with post graduate training in Chiropractic Applied Sciences and Chiropractic Biophysics.) 

The research team identified a reduced cervical lordosis and anterior head translation is associated with differences in neural activity at several regions (cortical and subcortical) of the somatosensory system.  Restoration of the cervical sagittal alignment, in terms of increased cervical lordosis and reduced anterior head translation, has a direct influence on the central conduction time.  Clinical interventions directed at improving central processing through restoring the normal sagittal alignment could be added to clinical interventions targeting specific spinal disorders. Importantly, this study adds to the literature supporting subluxation detection and correction using Xray mensuration analysis.

The prestigious Scientific Reports is a Nature journal and is the 6th most cited research journal worldwide.  Dr. Hegazy is affiliated with the University of Sharjah, Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates; and Dr. Diab is affiliated with Cairo University, in Giza, Egypt. Dr. Moustafa has affiliations with both the University of Sharjah and Cairo University.

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1.         Moustafa, I.M., Diab, A.A., Hegazy, F., Harrison, D.E., Demonstration of central conduction time and neuroplastic changes after cervical lordosis rehabilitation in asymptomatic subjects: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Scientific Reports, 2021. 11(1): p. 15379.

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