Steroids for asthma and better alternatives through chiropractic

Today I had read in the NJ Star ledger about the problems with the current inhalers such as advair (see below)
"GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) shares are down about 1.5% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned against long-term use of its asthma treatments, Advair and Serevent. Advair is the British pharmaceutical firm's best-selling product, but could now suffer a serious blow following regulators' call for further study of potential health risks. Advair had total sales of 1.366 billion euros ($1.859 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2009, of which more than half -- 704 million euros ($958 million) -- came out of the U.S.

The new label warning isn't limited to Glaxo's meds; Novartis's (NVS) Foradil and AstraZeneca's (AZN) Symbicort are affected as well. The four widely used asthma treatments belong to a class of drugs known as long-acting beta agonists (LABAs), which open airways. Other steroid-based meds control inflammation. The new label warns that LABAs "should never be used alone in the treatment of asthma in children or adults," and should be used only for the "shortest duration of time required to achieve control of asthma symptoms," then discontinued. These medicines can actually worsen asthma symptoms, the FDA said, "leading to hospitalization in both children and adults and death in some patients with asthma." 

One of the methods that has helped many asthma sufferers is chiropractic care.  The reason I believe it is helpful is that the chiropractic adjustment normalizes the bodys neurological response and also makes rib movement improve with the adjustment.  In order to properly breathe, the ribs must expand.  Rib misalignments and muscular tightness from many attacks can be relieved by chiropractic intervention.  The side effects are only some soreness after the adjustment which will typically dissapate quickly.  Seeing a chiropractor is much safer and does not cause more attacks of asthma as these drugs do.  Most medical providers should consider this as an alternative to the classic urge to recommend steroids for inhalation treatment.  The other benefit is that since the musculoskeletal system is part of a system , so as this improves functionally, so do other body functions and mechanisms as well.  For instance, it is not unusual for stomach problems to also improve from those same spinal treatments.

The more we hear about drugs and their side effects, the more I recommend people see a chiropractor and make this a larger part of their wellness strategy.