Opioid epidemic leads to growing shift toward natural care
Monday, February 12, 2018
The opioid epidemic, discussed during the State of the Union last month, remains a top
concern in America. As doctors continue to limit opioid
prescriptions, natural medicine is being recognized as a worthy
alternative by the mainstream medical community.
Since the epidemic came to light in 2016, several health care
and government officials have highlighted chiropractic medicine,
acupuncture and massage therapy as powerful and effective
treatments for chronic pain.
"These modalities have been part of National University's focus
on conservative, evidence-based care for many years," said
Joseph Stiefel, MS, EdD, DC, president of National University
of Health Sciences (NUHS). "As more Americans discover the risks
involved with opioid medication, natural medicine is quickly
becoming a first line of treatment."
Other forms of natural medicine are gaining recognition as well.
"Hydrotherapy, a modality within
naturopathic medicine that uses hot and cold water treatments, is
an equally effective tool for pain relief," said Theodore Johnson,
Jr., DC, DABCI, NUHS dean of clinics. "Thanks to recent efforts,
these treatments could become widely accessible and covered by
insurance in the near future."
National University continues to follow efforts to combat the
opioid epidemic. Here's a list of some of the major institutions
that have rallied around complementary and alternative medicine as
a potential solution.
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version of infographic
The American College of Physicians
This national organization, made up of about 152,000 internists,
internal medicine subspecialists, medical students, residents, and
fellows, updated its guidelines for low back pain in
February 2017. The organization now
recommends non-pharmaceutical therapies first such as
acupuncture, spinal manipulation, massage or heat therapy before
resorting to opioids.
The Journal of the American Medical
Association
An April 2017 study on low back pain published in this major
medical journal finds that
spinal manipulative therapy was associated with statistically
significant benefits in both pain and function with minimal side
effects.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine
These nonprofit institutions are considered the nation's premier
source of independent, expert advice, which help to shape policy
and inform public opinion. The Academies'
July 2017 report addressing the opioid epidemic, names
acupuncture, spinal manipulation, massage, etc., as powerful tools
for pain relief and suggests expanding insurance coverage to
include these approaches.
The Joint Commission
In August 2017, this nonprofit, which accredits nearly 21,000
health care organizations and programs, released
guidelines that call on hospitals to provide complementary
and alternative medicine treatments or educate patients about
them.
State Attorney Generals
State attorney generals advocate on behalf of citizens for all
civil matters in each state. In September 2017, 35 attorney
generals signed a letter urging America's Health Insurance Plans,
which represents over 1,000 health insurance companies, to
encourage revising coverage policies to prioritize
non-opioid pain management options like chiropractic care,
acupuncture, massage therapy and physical therapy over opioid
prescriptions for the treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain.
The National Institutes of Health
This government agency that provides the largest source of funding
for medical research in the world, awarded a $14 million grant in
October 2017 to study spinal manipulation as a non-drug approach
to chronic back pain. The study is one of the largest ever
funded by the National Institutes of Health for back pain.
The White House
In November 2017, the White House released a
report on combating the opioid epidemic naming acupuncture and
chiropractic as pain strategies proven to reduce the use of opioids
and discusses current health insurance barriers.
