For the Grace of God

Father, thank You for making me alive in Christ! I declare that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, and because He died for me, I can live the abundant life here on earth. Help me stay focused on You this day & live with the enthusiasm that comes from knowing You in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Friday, July 20, 2012

We want "Quality", and this is not qualia...

qualia \KWAH-lee-uh\, noun:

1. A quality, as bitterness, regarded as an independent object.
2. A sense-datum or feeling having a distinctive quality.

Qualia

First published Wed Aug 20, 1997; substantive revision Tue Jul 31, 2007

Feelings and experiences vary widely. For example, I run my fingers over sandpaper, smell a skunk, feel a sharp pain in my finger, seem to see bright purple, become extremely angry. In each of these cases, I am the subject of a mental state with a very distinctive subjective character. There is something it is like for me to undergo each state, some phenomenology that it has. Philosophers often use the term ‘qualia’ (singular ‘quale’) to refer to the introspectively accessible, phenomenal aspects of our mental lives. In this standard, broad sense of the term, it is difficult to deny that there are qualia. Disagreement typically centers on which mental states have qualia, whether qualia are intrinsic qualities of their bearers, and how qualia relate to the physical world both inside and outside the head. The status of qualia is hotly debated in philosophy largely because it is central to a proper understanding of the nature of consciousness. Qualia are at the very heart of the mind-body problem.

Chiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health.[1] It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).[2] Although chiropractors have many attributes of primary care providers, chiropractic has more of the attributes of a medical specialty like dentistry or podiatry.[3]

The main chiropractic treatment technique involves manual therapy, including manipulation of the spine, other joints, and soft tissues; treatment also includes exercises and health and lifestyle counseling.[4] Traditional chiropractic assumes that a vertebral subluxation interferes with the body's innate intelligence,[5] a vitalistic notion ridiculed by the scientific and healthcare communities.[6] A large number of chiropractors want to separate themselves from the traditional vitalistic concept of innate intelligence.[7]

D.D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s, and his son B.J. Palmer helped to expand it in the early 20th century.[8] It has two main groups: "straights", now the minority, emphasize vitalism, innate intelligence and spinal adjustments, and consider vertebral subluxations to be the cause of all disease; "mixers", the majority, are more open to mainstream views and conventional medical techniques, such as exercise, massage, and ice therapy.[7]

Chiropractic is well established in the U.S., Canada and Australia[9] and is the "third largest of the doctored health professions (behind only medicine and dentistry)".[10] It overlaps with other manual-therapy professions, including massage therapy, osteopathy, and physical therapy.[11] Most who seek chiropractic care do so for low back pain.[12]

Throughout its history, chiropractic has been controversial.[13][14] For most of its existence it has battled with mainstream medicine, sustained by pseudoscientific ideas such as subluxation and innate intelligence[15] that are not based on solid science.[16] Despite the consensus of public health professionals regarding the benefits of vaccination, among chiropractors there are significant disagreements over the subject,[17] which has led to negative impacts on both public vaccination and mainstream acceptance of chiropractic.[18] The American Medical Association called chiropractic an "unscientific cult"[19] and boycotted it until losing an antitrust case in 1987.[20] Chiropractic has developed a strong political base and sustained demand for services; in recent decades, it has gained more legitimacy and greater acceptance among medical physicians and health plans in the U.S.,[20] and the principles of evidence-based medicine have been used to review research studies and generate practice guidelines.[21]

Many studies of treatments used by chiropractors have been conducted, often with conflicting results.[16][22] Manual therapies commonly used by chiropractors are effective for the treatment of low back pain,[23][24] and might also be effective for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation with radiculopathy,[25][26] neck pain,[27] some forms of headache,[28][29] and some extremity joint conditions.[30][31] The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of maintenance chiropractic care are unknown.[32]

Chiropractic care is generally safe when employed skillfully and appropriately.[1] Spinal manipulation is frequently associated with mild to moderate adverse effects, with serious or fatal complications in rare cases.[33][34] A systematic review found that the risk of death from manipulations to the neck outweighs the benefits.[35]

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