Evidenced-based Medicine and OMM

[Live4Life]

As someone who will be applying to osteopathic medical schools this year, I am interested in having a better understanding of the "science" behind OMM since I consider it to be an integral part of my studies sinice we will be tested on it by the COMLEX. I have searched Pubmed, but to be honest the information is rather lacking in any scientific basis. Can anyone point me in the direction of any well constructed studies that back up the use of OMM? While I wholeheartedly agree with the DO philosophy, if I can't find any studies that prove the benefits of OMM, I think its time for more research to be completed or for it to be dropped from the licensing exam. Anyone have any links to studies?

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[RySerr21]

As someone who will be applying to osteopathic medical schools this year, I am interested in having a better understanding of the "science" behind OMM since I consider it to be an integral part of my studies sinice we will be tested on it by the COMLEX. I have searched Pubmed, but to be honest the information is rather lacking in any scientific basis. Can anyone point me in the direction of any well constructed studies that back up the use of OMM? While I wholeheartedly agree with the DO philosophy, if I can't find any studies that prove the benefits of OMM, I think its time for more research to be completed or for it to be dropped from the licensing exam. Anyone have any links to studies?

well im glad to hear that after your 30 sec pubmed search you've concluded it should be dropped from the licensing exam.

i found this artilce in less than 10 sec of searching....literally. maybe put a little more effort if you really care to find something. im sure there are hundreds more.

http://www.jaoa.org/cgi/reprint/105/1/7

 

[RySerr21]

o hey.... another 10 sec search and look what i found...imagine that.

http://www.jaoa.org/cgi/content/full/105/10/475

EDIT: all this is ment to show is that 1) yes there are studies that show the positive effect of OMM and 2) they are pretty current so you can probably assume that there are even more going on right now. you just have to put a little more effort than you did.

 

[DrMidlife]

What's with all the snark? Pissed off pre-osteos should look back at their own posting histories and see how WE ALL CAME HERE THE SAME WAY, knowing nothing and needing some help. Everybody says "help me believe that DO isn't quackery" when they start looking at DO. Do we honestly need to act threatened and call "troll" every single time?

Regardless, the pre-osteo forum is not as helpful as the osteo forum on research findings. I quite lazily rely on Brian (bth7) to post highly relevant evidence whenever this topic comes up. For example: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6571610&postcount=229

There's no one silver bullet paper that summarizes "the evidence," and the body of evidence is still underwhelming. Schools like TCOM and MSUCOM have the largest research budgets; one way to see what they're spending it on is to look either at their faculty pages, or to search Pubmed for those school names. MD-side research on manipulation, HVLA and lymphatic flush is published at almost as fast a rate as DO-side research.

You will find peer-reviewed studies on OMM-related therapies, across immunology and physiology etc. with credibility-inducing words like "Ca++" and "cytokine" in the title. But as you found, it takes some work.

Best of luck to you.

 

[MJB]

Everybody says "help me believe that DO isn't quackery" when they start looking at DO.

I'd have to disagree with that statement.

To the OP, I suggest doing more research as well as grabbing a copy of "The DO's" and reading it.

 

[Live4Life]

First of all, I wasn't saying that OMM is quackery, nor was I bashing osteopathic medicine. I was simply looking for some studies that provide proof to the claims made in regards to the benefits of OMM.

 

[RySerr21]

First of all, I wasn't saying that OMM is quackery, nor was I bashing osteopathic medicine. I was simply looking for some studies that provide proof to the claims made in regards to the benefits of OMM.

i never said you declared it was quackery nor did i claim you were bashing osteopathic medicine. i just find it funny that you supposedly did a thorough search of pub med and when you couldnt find anything declared that more research needed to be done or that it should not be taught all together. my main point was that you could have searched a little harder (it really took me 5 sec to find those studies) or you could have simply asked if anyone knew of any studies. chances are, if it is being incorporated into western medicine then it has been heavily scrutinized and evaluated. my apologies if my repsonse came off a little harsh.