DATA DOLPHIN RESEARCH PROJECT

Speaker:	Beth Smart
Affiliation:	Director of Dolphin Research, Director of Surgical Services, Florida Back Institute

Florida Back Institute
Data Foundation (Dolphin Assisted Therapy Assoc.)
The Dolphin and Marine Medical Research Foundation

GOAL: To prove or disprove that human interaction with dolphins may give patients limited or unlimited pain relief due to the increased release of plasma hormones.

METHOD: A control group of patients were selected based on an essentially negative surgical history, good health and no complaints of pain currently. Post-surgical patients were selected who all had some type of spinal fusion. Some had hardware implanted, one did not. All of these patients had a normal surgical course involving postoperative physical therapy and rehabilitation. They have all been relieved of their initial preoperative complaints but have chronic back pain currently, despite medication and physiatry intervention.

The plasma hormone levels being investigated are B-Endorphin Lipotropin, Serum Cortisol and Catecholamines. These are capable of being reproduced by pharmaceutical technology. The basis for this select group is based on past studies which demonstrate that these levels increase and decrease with certain physical activity. Other factors that may alter these levels include pain, sleep state or diet. All of these hormones combined provide certain levels of comfort, as well as assisting in life support.

The blood levels being checked are being drawn prior to the patient getting into the water, 15 minutes into the swim, immediately after the swim, and 1.5 hours after the first blood was drawn. This should demonstrate the point at which these levels increase, plateau, and decrease. This data is combined with subjective data from the participants along with flexion/extension measurements. These numbers are recorded for the purpose of relating data to physical and aquatic therapy effectiveness.

This entire study will be duplicated in water, without the dolphins, to further verify or discount this theory.