Chiropractic is a healthcare profession that emphasizes the inherent regenerative capacity of the human body to heal on its own without the use of drugs or surgery. Chiropractic is based on the relationship between formation (centered on the spine) and function (coordinated by the nervous system), and how that relationship affects the conservation and restoration of a health) body. Chiropractic is defined commonly as a form of "alternative" medicine that deals with the function of diagnosing, curing, and preventing diseases related to the neuromusculoskclctal system. It is based on the belief that a so-called innate intelligence is in the human body, being the energy generated that makes the same body recover from illness and disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chiropractic treatment attaches particular importance to manual techniques, such as manipulation or adjustment of the joints, and is especially focused on subluxations. Chiropractic is based on the principle that the body has the ability to heal itself without interruption or grips, if the nervous system is working properly. Chiropractors use the word "subluxation" to refer to this interference or impingement in the nervous system. A subluxation usually can occur from poor positioning of the vertebrae, but also can occur in other joints that arc out of normal position. According to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, the definition of chiropractic is: "Chiropractic is a discipline in the area of health that focuses on the innate recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgeries. Chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. In addition, Doctors ofChiropractic recognize the value and responsibility of working in cooperation with other health professionals when this is the best interest of the patient". History and Origin Spinal manipulation as a therapeutic measure lias been used since time immemorial to alleviate or resolve various processes: their origins were lost in the haze of time. The relationship of health to the spine was known from the time of the ancient Egyptians. Three hundred fifty years before Christ. Hippocrates advised his disciples to study the human spine for the cause of main diseases, and two of his books were devoted to this art of correction. Chiropractic as we know it today actually does have a precise birthdate of September 18. 1895. The chiropractic profession was born in Davenport. Iowa, with its creation credited to Daniel David Palmer, now known as the father of chiropractic. He successfully performed the first treatment by adjusting the displaced vertebrae of Harvey Lillard. a deaf patient. The patients hearing ability was recovered immediately. The success of this treatment set off a chain of investigations in the US that led to the birth of chiropractic. Dr. Palmer treated Lillard for three days and initially thought he had discovered a cure for deafness. After many failures in this regard, but with resounding success in other dysfunctions and diseases, he concluded that the spine had a vital role in the function of the whole organism. What Dr. Palmer discovered was not just a treatment, but also a new fundamental principle. Long before science discovered and recognized that bodih functions arc internal and innately controlled by the brain and the nervous system. Palmer built the foundation of a whole philosophy based on this principle, science, and art. Dr. Palmer was not the first to set a subluxatcd vertebra, but he was the first to systematize the settings and the first to give it a name. He said that he learned the art of manipulation from Dr. Jim Atkinson, also of Davenport. Iowa. Dr. Atkinson also seemed to be aware of the use of spinal manipulation by the ancient Greeks. Palmer later began to investigate the relationship of the spine, the nervous system, and its effect on all body functions. His son. B. J. Palmer, greatly expanded this knowledge. D. D. Palmer founded the Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1897. which was the first of 50 universities that exist in the world today, mostly in the US. England. Australia. France. Denmark. Brazil. Mexico, etc. Palmer's observations led him to conclude that there is an innate intelligence and spinal cord, usually in the human body, which controls functions. Subsequently, in 1921. Dr. Henry Winsorof Havcrford. Pennsylvania, conducted an investigation. Through the observation of dissected human cadavers, he studied whether there was a relationship between minimum displacement vertebrae of the spine (subluxations vertebral) and any injured or sick internal organs connected by nerves to these vertebrae. Since then, chiropractic has developed parallel to allopathic medicine to become the third primary care health profession (after medicine and dentistry)- m order of importance and number of patients. The significant growth in the US and Canada, and subsequently elsewhere in Europe and the world, was based on good clinical results and scientific evidence of the effectiveness of spiral manipulation. In recent years, this science has attracted increasing interest and has become the subject of numerous studies on its methods and effectiveness. Although its development has been uneven in the past 20 years, some countries already have chiropractic in their public health systems. Chiropractic is recognized as a health profession in countries including Italy. Portugal. France. Belgium. Switzerland. UK. Finland. Denmark. Norway. Sweden. Iceland. US. Canada. Mexico. Australia. South Africa, and New Zealand, among many others. However, in some countries, such as Greece and Spain, current laws do not yet recognize it as such. The world has evolved from the original ideas of Palmer, though. Despite maintaining its theoretical basis, chiropractic also has managed to incorporate the modem advances of medical sciences including ncuroscicncc. psychoncuroimmunology. and cpigcnctics. Today, chiropractic is taught and practiced worldwide. There arc approximately 70.000 doctors of chiropractic across five continents. Chiropractic: A Profession at the Crossroads of Conventional Medicine Since its inception, chiropractic lias been controversial among established medical orthodoxy. Chiropractors were jailed for "practicing medicine without a license." The profession designed a legal and political defense against prosecution, which argued that chiropractic was "separate and distinct from medicine." asserting that chiropractors "analyzed" rather than "diagnosed "and" adjusted" subluxations. but did not treat the disease. In 1963. the American Medical Association formed a "Committee on Quack-cry" designed to "contain and eliminate" the chiropractic profession. In 1966. the AMA referred to chiropractic as an "unscientific cult." and until 1980. the association said it was unethical for doctors to associate with unscientific professionals. In 1987. the AM A was found to have engaged in an illegal conspiracy to restrain trade to eradicate the chiropractic profession. In the 1980s. spinal manipulation gained widespread recognition and has stimulated ongoing research collaboration, manipulative therapies, and delivery models of chiropractic care for musculoskeletal disorders in the general health sector. Today, chiropractic is an established profession in the US. Here, we have briefly reviewed the development of chiropractic from its modest and controversial early developments to its cur- rent situation of straddling the fence, so to speak, between com entional medicine and alternative medicine. Chiropractic has many of the characteristics attributed to a profession; it has consolidated and improved its education systems and permitting, which has increased its market share substantially in recent decades. There has been an increase in the number of people visiting chiropractors for treatment of low back pain syndromes who have achieved great levels of satisfaction with the results. Of all the professions referred to as "alternative." chiropractic has been the one to experience major advances in the systems of public and private health and in its recognition as an effective specialty by the medical profession. Much of the positive evolution of chiropractic can be credited to research efforts conducted because of chiropractic spinal manipulation procedures during the first quarter century. This effort has helped pull manipulation out of the inves-tigational category to become a chosen form of conservative treatment that lias been studied more for back pain. In addition, more physical therapists and medical practitioners are becoming highly skilled in manipulation as well. However, chiropractic theory continues to be controversial among the public and other healthcare professionals, especially when carried to the extreme by some professional factions. The reality is that the medical professions and the public will not accept chiropractic as a legitimate profession of healing when such theories arc carried to radical extremes. Yes. we all have heard antidnig rants, and we know that dnigs are capable of inflicting harm, causing iatrogenic illness, and more. We also know that far too many are overprescribed. and that lifestyle choices arc not emphasized nearly as much as they should be or integrated into primary care on the part of mainstream medicine. Any rational DC also understands that drugs can and do save lives, though. The same goes for surgery, advances in trauma, genetics, etc. I always find it ludicrous when chiropractors send patients for diagnostic tests that may involve contrast agents and drugs, yet still claim to be a drug-free profession. Have they never witnessed significant trauma? Have they never experienced it. or needed the most powerful of medications while ministering to the sick and dying? In 2014. trying to remain completely drugless as a healing art is extremely foolish, at its best. There is no way that chiropractic can ever accomplish all that it could by remaining on the outside. As I've maintained for years, we can accomplish more from the inside than we ever could from the outside. As my friend Rod Lacy. DC. MD. has suggested during the past two years, there is no way we can help patients get off dnigs and use fully integrated lifestyle choices as disease treatment alternatives unless we can fully prescribe Pharmaceuticals in the first place. Although tiering lias been suggested, much like in the nursing profession. I have no doubt this would only allow the public to see a fractioned profession with a continued, distorted view of reality. The bickering and the infighting will continue forever. Personally. I believe that those in the chiropractic profession who feel as I do should be given a direct path to go the same way as osteopathie pin sieians. and take all our skill sets with us. This new year will be crucial in determining whether cliiropraetie will continue to maintain its antimedieal attributes or alternatively, as I advocate, to become fully licensed and integrated into all healthcare systems. The chiropractic profession is more widespread, better regulated, and enjoys greater recognition among all professions that have traditionally operated outside of conventional medical institutions or been put in the category of "complementary and alternative medicine" in the US. It has the unique status of being one of the most widely used healing systems. The growing acceptance of chiropractic treatment by patients of all sorts is a clear indication that this profession is no longer the "trivial" or "anomalous" profession it once was considered to be. What we actually can accomplish, now or never, with such radically divided leadership (ACA/ICA). however, is another matter altogether. Dr John Hayes Jr, consultant, author and clinical instructor has an extensive clinically balanced background, and works actively with many clinicians whose sole purpose is to deliver excellence in patient care. His purpose is to provide fellow healthcare practitioners with the systems, platforms, tools and executive skills needed in today s very complex arena, without unneeded stress. You can find out more at http: PerfectPracticeWeb.com or call us 781-754-0599 24. 7.
