Contrary to popular belief, chiropractors were originally licensed as doctors in various states because of their ability to effectively combat illness and disease, NOT neck pain, back pain, or headaches. Literature shows that chiropractors primarily treated diseases, such as flu and polio up until the 1950s. The immune system is controlled by the nervous system through connections with the endocrine and autonomic nervous system. Chiropractic care improves the function of the nervous system by improving movement in the spine and restoring communication between the systems in the body. During the Great Spanish Flu, chiropractic showed instrumental results helping patients combat the flu. This pandemic killed an estimated one-third of the world’s population between 1918 and 1919. The Texas Chiropractic Association highlighted statistics from that era, which illustrate the effectiveness that chiropractic has on optimizing function of the immune system:
- In Davenport, Iowa, 50 medical doctors treated 4,953 cases, with 274 deaths. In the same city, 150 chiropractors including students and faculty of the Palmer School of Chiropractic, treated 1,635 cases with only 1 death.
- In the state of Iowa, medical doctors treated 93,590 patients, with 6,116 deaths – a loss of one patient out of every 15. In the same state, excluding Davenport, 4,735 patients were treated by chiropractors with a loss of only 6 cases – a loss of one patient out of every 789.
- National figures show that 1,142 chiropractors treated 46,394 patients for influenza during 1918, with a loss of 54 patients – one out of every 886.
- Reports show that in New York City, during the influenza epidemic of 1918, out of every 10,000 cases medically treated, 950 died; and in every 10,000 pneumonia cases medically treated 6,400 died. These figures are exact, for in that city these are reportable diseases.
- Reports show that in New York City, during the influenza epidemic of 1918, out of every 10,000 cases medically treated, 950 died; and in every 10,000 pneumonia cases medically treated 6,400 died. These figures are exact, for in that city these are reportable diseases.
- In the same epidemic, under drugless methods, only 25 patients died of influenza out of every 10,000 cases; and only 100 patients died of pneumonia out of every 10,000 cases.
- The same epidemic report showed that chiropractors treated 3,490 cases of influenza with only 7 deaths.
One of the most important studies was performed by Ronald Pero, Ph.D., chief of cancer prevention research at New York’s Preventive Medicine Institute and professor of medicine at New York University. The study showed the positive effect chiropractic care can have on the immune system and on general health overall. Dr. Pero studied the immune systems of people under chiropractic care and compared it to those in the general population, those with cancer, and those with other serious diseases. The initial 3 year study consisted of 107 individuals who had been under chiropractic care for 5 years or longer. The study found that the patients under chiropractic care had a 200% greater immune competence than those who had not received chiropractic care, and they also had a 400% greater immune competence than those people with cancer and other serious diseases. Dr. Pero stated, “The immune system superiority of those under chiropractic care did not appear to diminish with age. When applied in a clinical framework, I have never seen a group other than this chiropractic group to experience a 200% increase over the normal patients. This is why it is so dramatically important. We have never seen such a positive improvement in a group.”
Getting under regular chiropractic care can help boost your immune system, restore imbalances in your nervous system, improve movement in your spine, and also help alleviate your aches and pains.
http://www.danmurphydc.com/Rhodes_Flu.pdf
Pero R. “Medical Researcher Excited By CBSRF Project Results.” The Chiropractic Journal, August 1989; 32.