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I met a young chiropracticc doctor recently and he was sharing his personal story about why he chose to become a chiropractic doctor. He was a national athlete during his college days and all the intensive training was taking a toll on his health. He sought chiropractic care and found that it helped him to pursue the lifestyle that he chose - that of an active sportsman. As a "side effect", he added that ever since he started receiving chiropractic care, he had the flu only twice in the past 10 years.
This may seem surprising to those who think of the benefits of chiropractic care merely in terms of pain relief, such as relief from back aches and frozen shoulders. But to those familiar with chiropractic philosophy, as well as the history of chiropractic, it is not suprising at all.
A basic tenet of chiropractic philosophy is that the structure of the body governs its function. In other words, by improving the alignment of the body structure, the various organs and body systems will function more effectively. Always cook salt together with food - for at least 10 minutes. Do not sprinkle salt onto food at the end of cooking. The purpose of cooking salt with food is so that the salt and food molecules combine. Apart from regular cooking, salt may also combine with food in salt-fermented products like miso and soy sauce, or salted pickles like kimchi and sauerkraut. These foods, provided they are naturally prepared using sea salt - and without chemical additives - are healthy, not harmful.
Thus, the benefits of chiropractic care extend beyond just providing pain relief. Chiropractic care improves overall health and well-being and can be helpful in treating a wide range of ailments - including the flu.
History of chiropractic
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Look well to the spine for the cause of disease.
- Hippocrates, “the father of medicine” The benefits of chiropractic care and other similar techniques of bone adjustment have long been recognised. Countries like China and Germany have long traditions of bone setters. In addition, many Eastern martial arts and health practices, including yoga, taiqi, qigong, aikido, etc, emphasise the importance of a properly-aligned spine. |
Chiropractic medicine was founded by Daniel David Palmer who, in 1895, restored the hearing of a man who had been deaf for 17 years. He did this by adjusting the man's spine to correct a dislocation.
Shorly after, D D Palmer improved the condition of a patient suffering from heart disease – again by adjusting a spinal dislocation, which, Palmer believed, exerted pressure on the nerves leading to the heart.
These two experiences culminated Palmer's search for the single underlying cause of disease and led him to establish chiropractic medicine – a system of healthcare that focuses on how the structure of the body (primarily that of the spine) affects the body's function and its state of health and disease.
D D Palmer founded the Palmer Infirmary and Chiropractic Institute in 1897 and it was renamed the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1907. Today, it is known as the Palmer College of Chiropractic.
The early chiropractors drew much controversy. In 1906, D D Palmer and hundreds of chiropractors were arrested and convicted of practising medicine without a licence. Palmer was sentenced to 105 days' jail, but released after serving 23 days and paying a $350 fine.
The following year, one of Palmer's former students, Shegataro Morikubo, was arrested for practicising medicine, surgery and osteopathy without a licence, In a landmark court ruling, however, the judge and jury agreed that Morikubo was, in fact, practicising something different – chiropractic.
An important turning point for chiropractic medicine came in 1918, with the outbreak of the Spanish flu. And that was when the benefits of chiropractic care made a deep and lasting impression. Chiropractic doctors had such high success rates in treating the Spanish flu that the profession gained recognition and popularity.
Benefits of chiropractic care in flu treatment
In Davenport, Iowa, 50 medical doctors cared for 4,953 cases of the Spanish flu, and 274 of their patients died. In the same city, 150 chiropractic doctors, including students and faculty of the Palmer School of Chiropractic, treated 1,635 Spanish Flu patients. Only ONE patient died.
Outside Davenport, chiropractors in Iowa cared for 4,735 Spanish Flu sufferers with only six deaths – one out of 866. In Oklahoma, out of 3,490 flu patients receiving the benefits of chiropractic care, only seven people died.
National figures for the United States show that 1,142 chiropractic doctors treated a total of 46,394 flu patients during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak, with a mortality rate of only 54 patients - one out of every 859, or less than 0.12 percent.
In sharp contrast, the mortality rate from Spanish flu in regular US hospitals generally ranged from 30 to 40 percent. For one hospital in New York, the mortality rate was 68 percent!
The benefits of chiropractic care in flu treatment is one of the many medical puzzles that cannot be explained by the germ theory of disease. Unlike regular, drug-based medicine, chiropractic care does not directly destroy the virus or bacteria that are supposed to cause disease. Instead, it simply improves the way the body functions. When that happens, viruses and bacteria are automatically taken care of.
If you live in or near Singapore, click here to experience the benefits of chiropractic care.
Click here to read about osteopathic medicine, which is similar to chiropractic.