Chiropractic to Participate in Oxford University Symposium

By Editorial Staff

Twenty-two representatives from 14 health care disciplines are scheduled to attend a symposium September 3-5 at Oxford University in England, for the purpose of presenting the most recent findings on prevention, assessment, and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders.

The symposium is being held to help develop "universally agreed upon diagnostic standards and terminology that is free from the idiosyncrasies of single discipline thinking," according to Alan Breen, D.C., symposium Planning Committee member, and research director for the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC). Dr. Breen contributed to the important British Medical Journal study that found chiropractic treatment more effective than hospital outpatient care, mainly for patients with chronic or severe back pain.

Among the presenters will be Leon Chaitow, an osteopath whose textbooks Soft Tissue Manipulation and Palpatory Literacy are widely used both in the U.S. and England. Dr. Robert Salter, an orthopedic surgeon who developed Continuous Passive Motion (CPM), will also speak at the symposium. CPM is a noninvasive technique that reportedly stimulates healing of muscle tissue, joint cartilage, ligament and tendons. CPM devices are now being used in 10,000 hospitals in more than 40 countries.

The Physical Medicine Research Foundation (PMRF), an international charitable organization based in Vancouver, Canada, is hosting the event.

Said Marc White, executive director of the PMRF, "A meeting of multi-disciplinary minds is crucial in achieving Dr. Breen's appeal for a universal diagnostic language and better health care."

Editor's note: Allan Earle provided the quotes and most of the information for this article.