Global Burden of Disease and Chiropractic

Did you know that the leading cause of disability from 1990 to 2015 was Low back pain and neck pain in the vast majority of countries globally ?¹

This information comes from the latest iteration of the Bill and Melinda Gates funded “Global burden of disease study” published in the Lancet (One of the most prestigious medical journals) in October 2016.

This is a visual representation of the data ¹:

Now this is a busy photo to interpret but clearly Lower back pain and neck pain remain in the top spot over a 25 year period with no change in its position amongst the 30 leading causes of disability globally. It is also important to recognise that as well as lower back pain and neck pain, Migraine ranks highly as does Other musculoskeletal  disorders and Osteoarthritis.

Now the reason we have specifically targeted the aforementioned conditions is because this is predominately what we treat and manage on a daily basis for patients in the Geelong and the surrounding region.

As Chiropractors our primary focus is the diagnosis and management of spinal (Neck and lower back) complaints as well as other musculoskeletal complaints of the body. It is the primary reason the public seek the services of Chiropractors. ²

Of interest is an extract from the above study states ” A key component of healthy ageing is to maintain mobility and a key public health intervention recommended for improving health outcomes for all chronic diseases is physical activity. Painful musculoskeletal disorders increase with age and are a great threat to mobility, compromising health more broadly”.  Now this is something that really resonates with us as Chiropractors , we commonly use spinal manipulation and mobilisation combined with exercise therapy and lifestyle advice in order to keep our patients spine mobile and pain free as well as encouraging them to be physically active. Now if we can achieve the goal of good spinal mobility, controlling pain levels and keeping the public active then it would be reasonably if not feasible to be able to heavily influence a number of other factors that heavily contribute to disability globally  such as depressive disorders, Diabetes, Falls (Including Fall prevention), drug use and medication use to name a few. This is something that we are very passionate about and often discuss with our patients in length on a daily basis.

So the next time the back is giving you trouble just remember your certainly not alone as its the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Don’t allow your neck and lower back pain to become a burden!

Should you wish to discuss your spinal health or how chiropractic care can help your specific needs, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Dr Matthew Gooch (Chiropractor)

^{1 Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015}

^{2 Who consults Chiropractors in Victoria, Australia? Reasons for attending, general health and lifestyle habits of Chiropractic patients. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2016 24:28}