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Well, I had known this osteopath friend for over 20 years. I had, on several occasions, sought his professional services for various aches and pain and have mostly been very satisfied with the results of his treatment. But until he made that remark, I never thought that osteopathic medicine might be helpful against the flu.
I decided to give it a try. My osteopath friend performed some manipulations on my back as well as on my chest, Immediately after the treatment, I felt better. I was breathing more deeply and I felt more energetic, less tired. I was impressed. I was supposed to go back for another treatment after the weekend, but by then I had almost totally recovered. I felt it was not necessary to bother my friend for another treatment.
Osteopathic medicine, like chiropractic medicine, is most commonly sought for body aches and pain, or for spinal problems like scoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine). That keeps my osteopath friend busy enough and I guess that is why he seldom talks about the flu.
Being well-acquainted with my osteopath friend, I was familiar with the basic philosophy of osteopathic medicine - that structure governs function. It means that the structure of the body affects the functioning of the various organs and body systems. I knew this. Yet I did not put two and two together to come to the conclusion that osteopathic treatment would also help the immune system and thus help infectious diseases like the flu. 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.
Osteopathic medicine during the Spanish flu
When I got home from my osteopathic treatment that day - this was back in 2004 when East Asia had just gone through the SARS epidemic and was worrying about the avian flu - I decided to do some research on osteopathic medicine and the flu. I was surprised. This was what I found:|
The mortality rate in US medical hospitals fell between 30 percent and 40 percent, with the exception of a rate of 68 percent in medical hospitals in New York City.
… the American School of Osteopathy, now the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine of A. T. Still University of Health Sciences, in Kirksville, MO, contacted all their alumni. This effort culminated in 2,445 osteopaths responding in treating 110,122 patients with influenza, with a resulting mortality of 0.25 percent. One of the few osteopathic medical hospitals, 400-bed Massachusettes Osteopathic Hospital, in Boston, also reported a mortality of 0.25 percent for that period. |
History of osteopathic medicine
A look at the history of osteopathic medicine shows that its founder, Andrew Taylor Still (1828 - 1917), was not primarily concerned with aches and pains. On the one hand, he was very skilled at treating bone fractures and had acquired a reputation as a "lightning bone setter".
On the other hand, he also successfully treated many cases of infectious diseases like diptheria, without the use of drugs. He was highly successful, yet his methods could not be explained and his success was at times said to be the "work of the devil". At best, Andrew Taylor Still was viewed as a medical heretic, a grave robber, and a “crazy crank” because of his unorthodox views, long hours of solitary study and casual dress.
In 1873. Andrew Taylor Still was ill with a lung infection for three months and he nearly died. After his recovery and the birth of another child, he decided to leave his family and set up a practice in Kirksville, Missouri. There he saved many lives during an epidemic of infectious diarrhea, totally without the use of drugs.
Despite his success, he was shunned by most until he cured a prominent Presbyterian minister’s crippled daughter. Soon, he became famous and attracted patients from across America, especially hopeless cases who had been given up upon by their doctors.
In 1874, Andrew Taylor Still founded a new medical science which he called Osteopathy. And on November 1, 1892 the American School of Osteopathy was opened.
Initially, he and others doubted whether osteopathic medicine could be taught. His first class of eleven students consisted of former patients, family friends and five of his children. Interestingly, he admitted women students and later even remarked that women made beter osteopaths than men.
After one year, Still felt that his experiment at teaching osteopathy was a failure. He issued certificates but asked his students to return for another year of instruction, but some did not return. In 1893, however, two of his sons accepted an invitation to practice in Minnesota and they saved many lives during an epidemic of black diphtheria, thus confirming that osteopathic medicine can, indeed, be taught.
Today, there are scores of osteopathic colleges around the world and thousands of practising osteopaths. The majority treat aches and pains, because that is what their patients want. But from its earliest days, osteopathy had proven successful in the treatment of infectious diseases.
If you live in or near Singapore, click here to benefit from osteopathic medicine.
Click here to read about chiropractic medicine, which is similar to osteopathy.