Many Chiropractors express an excitement and enthusiasm for their work. Passionate advocates of the Chiropractic model of health care feel called to educate every community about the safe and effective healing that exists within the power of the body. Most unwelcome symptoms and conditions that people suffer from connect directly to the health of a person’s spine and posture.
A time existed when the American Medical Association circulated a campaign of lies and deception in an attempt to discredit Chiropractic and produce skepticism within the public. The AMA levied claims that Chiropractic results were not rooted in scientific evidence and eventually these claims landed in a court of law. The American court system found the AMA guilty of conspiring to eliminate the Chiropractic profession for its own benefit. Chiropractic celebrated vindication in the court system, but faced a society that had become uncertain about whom to trust when it came time to make health care decisions. Some of that uncertainty permeates society today.
A very prominent pediatrician and research scientist named Dr. Donald Ingber published a ground-breaking study in a 2003 medical journal describing the vast implications that body structure and mechanics play on overall health. He concluded:
“Contemporary medical practice focuses primarily on molecular genetics while largely ignoring the physical basis of disease. Many of the problems that lead to pain and morbidity, and bring patients to the doctor’s office, result from changes in tissue structure or mechanics. Addressing body mechanics should be integrated into healthcare.”
Chiropractors began educating the public on this very idea over 120 years ago. A message that attributes disease to genetics and bad luck begins with bad science. Evidence and research proved long ago that symptoms and sickness originate within the structure of the body. Chiropractors impact a change in structure and address the origination of disease rather than the symptoms of illness. Much of society remains unaware of this science amidst a pharmaceutical industry that dominates medical practices and media with a message that drugs fix health concerns. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Dr. Donald Ingber addressed the decision makers on his findings and pleaded with them to introduce the practice of assessing and addressing body mechanics into healthcare. He met with complete resistance. The consensus established that the inability to put a patent on addressing biomechanics would lead to no interest from the major players in healthcare. In those moments the medical industry declared that money was more important than health. Pharmaceutical companies cannot profit or patent a process that seeks to prevent sickness. The big companies that drive health care shared no interest in Dr. Ingber’s call to preventative care.
Chiropractors uniquely address and influence whole body function by improving spinal health and body biomechanics. Chiropractors now play a significant role in healthcare despite the actions of the American Medical Association. Science and research will continue to explain why Chiropractors deliver results when other forms of healthcare simply engage in a cycle of sick care. Chiropractic benefits go beyond musculoskeletal relief and the work of Dr. Ingber explains why. All people deserve the benefits of preventative health care that originates with regularly evaluated spinal function. An optimally functioning nervous system hold the health and healing that cannot be found in drugs and pills. Research validates a better choice for health care and change begins with the education of every local community.
Annals of Medicine
2003;35(8):564-77
Mechanobiology and diseases of mechanotransduction.
Ingber, DE.
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