Your response to the woman who was taking her child to the chiropractor was rather closed-minded. I know that my quality of living has been drastically improved by receiving Chiropractic and Medical care at the same time.

I really don’t recall which member of the Diabetes Team wrote the answer you are referring to, but I will answer your question from my perspective as a physician, and as the editor of this section of Children with Diabetes.

To start off, “alternative” medical theories (also called “complementary” medical care), including chiropractic, have no place as the primary treatment for diabetes. This must be emphasized, even if it might seem obvious, as unfortunately there are still people who believe this, and who discontinue standard medical recommendations in favor of alternative care.

The role of using alternative medical therapy as an ancillary process to help with the management of diabetes, in addition to the standard advice (insulin, meal planning, exercise, stress management), is much less clearly defined. Nowadays, many physicians are taking the approach that if alternative care methods are used with the knowledge of the patient’s diabetes team, while continuing on the standard management programs, then alternative therapy will be unlikely to be of any great harm, and indeed may prove beneficial in some way (although it’s hard to determine the role of the placebo effect in making folks feel better).

This seems to be the consensus of most of the responses that the health professionals on the Diabetes Team have written. We’re not being closed-minded; we’re just being very, very cautious that our readers understand that alternative methods are not appropriate as the only care to be given.

WWQ

[Editor’s comment: The question referenced could be one about a chiropractor who claimed to be able to cure Type 1 diabetes.

JSH]