Chiropractic: A Safe, Natural Way of Optimizing One’s Health Since 1895
Chiropractic was discovered by a man named Daniel David Palmer on September 18, 1895 . Since that time, Chiropractic has grown to be the third largest health care profession (behind medicine and dentistry) with more than 60,000 practicing Doctors of Chiropractic seeing more than 30 million people a year. However, Chiropractic can be said to be the largest health care profession dedicated to the promotion of health, not merely providing “sick care”. Because Chiropractors deal with the nervous system, which controls every part of the body, the positive impact on one’s health following a Chiropractic adjustment is extremely broad. Below are some of examples illustrating the safety and efficacy of Chiropractic care. Remember, the Doctor of Chiropractic did not “cure” the problems listed below, he/she had relieved the nerve interference that caused the problem in the first place.
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In 1996, Ronald Pero, Ph.D., Chief of cancer prevention research at New York’s Preventative Medicine Institute and professor of medicine in Environmental Health at New York University . began developing scientifically valid ways to estimate individual susceptibility to various chronic diseases. A research project at the University of Lund, in Lund, Sweden showed that Chiropractic patients had 200 percent greater immune-competence than people who had not received Chiropractic. Pero concluded, “Chiropractic may optimize whatever genetic abilities you have”, so that you can fully resist disease. “I’m very excited to see that without chemical intervention,” stated Pero.
94% of colic cases cleared up within 14 days of commencing of Chiropractic care in a study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. The results occurred shortly after the care had been initialed and showed both a reduction of the daily length of the colic periods and a reduction of the number of colic periods per day. (JMPT Vol 12, Num 4, Aug. 1989 pp. 281-287)
A study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 1995 on long-term treatment of low-back pain stated, “Chiropractic almost certainly confers worthwhile, long-term benefits in comparison with hospital outpatient management.”
In 1994, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), published “Acute Low Back Problems in Adults” as part of its clinical practice guidelines. The panel, a multidisciplinary group of health care experts, developed recommendations on the treatment of acute low-back pain based on clinical evidence and extensive searches of the existing scientific literature. The findings concluded that spinal manipulation [Chiropractic adjustments] was “safe and effective,” and recommended it as an initial form of therapy for acute low-back pain sufferers.
More recently, a panel of 25 multidisciplinary experts concluded that spinal manipulations resulted in almost immediate improvement for cervicogenic headaches, or those that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication. The report, titled “Evidence Report: Behavioral and Physical Treatments for Tension-type and Cervicogenic Headache,” was based on a literature review of several headache treatment options. It was authored by Douglas C. McCrory, M.D., MHSc; Donald B. Pcnzicn, Ph.D., and Rebecca N. Gray, D.PhiI.
A significant study published in Spine found that “compared to those who sought care [for low back pain] from medical doctors, those who sought care from chiropractors were more likely to feel that treatment was helpful, more likely to be satisfied with their care, and less likely to seek care from another provider for that same episode of pain.”
•…patients suffering from back and/or neck complaints experience chiropractic care as an effective means of resolving or ameliorating pain and functional impairments, thus reinforcing previous results showing the benefits of chiropractic treatment for back and neck pain.” - Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Verhoefet al. (1997)
“Elderly chiropractic users were less likely to have been hospitalized, less likely to have used a nursing home, more likely to report a better health status, more likely to exercise vigorously, and more likely to be mobile in the community. In addition, they were less likely to use prescription drugs.” - Topics in Clinical Chiropractic
All 50 States, Puerto Rico , the District of Columbia , and the Virgin Islands have statutes recognizing and regulating the practice of Chiropractic as an independent health service. Chiropractic is officially recognized, acknowledged or regulated in nine provinces of Canada, Switzerland, West Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Bolivia, the Scandinavian countries, France, Italy, the UK, South Africa, Rhodesia, Japan, Venezuela and Peru.
Chiropractic health care is provided for in such federal programs as Medicare, the Government Employees Hospital Association Benefit Plan, The Mail-Handlers Benefit Plan, and the Postmasters Benefit Plan. Also, Chiropractic benefits arc provided for in health insurance policies of virtually every major insurance carrier as well as State Workers’ Compensation.
U.A. Lyle, M.D., stated, “I believe Chiropractic to be the most scientific method of removing the real cause of dis-ease, thereby allowing nature to resume normal action, which effects the recovery of the patient from bodily ailments.” And F.C. Rutherford, M.D. stated, “Chiropractors are obtaining results that I could not have obtained with medicine and surgery.”
Dr. John McMillan Mennel, professor at five medical schools and noted author, testified that two of the Chiropractic colleges that he is familiar with were equal in academic excellence to the best medical schools in the nation. He also noted that a new medical resident in a hospital normally has no more than 4 hours training on the musculoskeletal system and may actually have no training at all in some cases. Chiropractors study for 7 years- including 4,485 hours of professional school to obtain a Doctorate of Chiropractic. During that time they are required to pass 4 sets of National Boards and most states have their own requirements prior to licensure. See Chiropractic Education.
