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Harvard Endorses Chiropractic

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE:   Dynamic Chiropractic 2017 (Dec); 35 (12)

By Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h)

Harvard Health Publishing is an arm of the prestigious Harvard Medical School. The publisher’s tag line is “Trusted advice for a healthier life.” Probably the most popular Harvard Health publication is the Harvard Health Letter, which you’ve probably seen or heard referenced.

The Harvard Medical School is one of the more notable exceptions to the rule that medical establishments are generally anti-chiropractic. You may have seen its Special Health Report “Pain Relief: Natural and Alternative Remedies Without Drugs or Surgery,” published in 2015. [1]

While certainly not as all-encompassing as one would have hoped for, the report not only features a section on chiropractic, but also includes chiropractic in the low back pain section, as well as two patient “stories.” The first story (“Gary’s Story: A Journey to Pain Relief”) talks about Gary’s primary MD referring him to a chiropractor. The second story (“Alice’s Story: A Comprehensive Approach to Pain Relief”) talks about how Alice has been using chiropractic, along with other nondrug interventions, for years with positive results.

Last month the Harvard Health Letter featured an article: “Where to Turn for Low Back Pain Relief.” The article’s deck answers the question: “In most cases, a primary care doctor or chiropractor can help resolve the problem.” [2]

Under the section titled “Where to Turn,” we read that for people suffering from back pain, their first call should be to a primary care physician or a chiropractor. Dr. Matthew Kowalski, a DC at Harvard’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, is quoted as saying that 35-42 percent of people experiencing their first episode of back pain consult a doctor of chiropractic.

The report concludes by reminding patients that most common back pain issues will be effectively addressed by a primary care MD or a chiropractor. It also references Harvard’s 2014 report on back pain (which also includes information about chiropractic).

There are many observations that immediately come to mind when reading this 2017 report.

Here are my top three:

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Founder’s Day: Chiropractic Turns 122 Today

The Chiro.Org Blog

     
Harvey Lillard (L)               D.D. Palmer (R)

The Story of Chiropractic

The year was 1895, the same year that x-rays were discovered. At that time, Health Care was provided by a diverse group of unregulated and unlicensed professions, including osteopaths, magnetic healers, and “medical” doctors.   In those days, most medical education consisted of working as an “apprentice” for a medical doctor, and learning the craft by observation.

D.D. Palmer, the Father of Chiropractic, was a magnetic healer, with a huge practice in Davenport, Iowa.   He had doubts about the “germ theory” as the complete explanation for the cause of all disease.

After all, if germs kill… shouldn’t we all be dead?

He asked himself:

“how it was that 2 brothers could work in the same shop, eat the same food, sleep in the same bed, and that one would succumb to a disease while the other one would not”?

His theory evolved that it was not just the “seed” (or germ) which was the sole cause of dis-ease.   He felt that the “soil”, or the recuperative power of the body (which he later referred to as “innate intelligence”, and we now call homeostasis) was the missing component of the equation, which defines the continuum between health and “dis-ease”.

One day D.D. was talking with Harvey Lillard, the man who owned the janitor service in his building.   Harvey was deaf.   He mentioned to D.D. that years before, while lifting a heavy weight, he felt something “snap” at the base of his neck.   Shortly thereafter his hearing started to fade.

D.D. was intrigued, and asked Harvey if he could have permission examine his back.   What D.D. “felt” (we refer to this art as “palpation”) was that one of the upper thoracic bones was sticking out much more than the one above or below it.   He explained to Harvey that he felt that this “bone out of place” \could be causing pressure on his spinal cord, and that this could be the reason that Harvey was now deaf.

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