WHAT WE CAN OFFER DURING THE COVID ERA
Shirley and I will be here to provide our services during this crisis. We think it is important for our community that they be able to access our services during this time of crisis. It was the last great Pandemic, the 1918 Spanish Flu, that catapulted my profession into a wide acceptance by the nation. This has largely been forgotten in the 100 years gone by. The states and the nation kept very detailed statistics during the 1918 pandemic. The statistics may surprise many people, but they come from public sources at that time, most come from the departments of public health in the various states.
- Treated medically the average mortality rate nationally was 1 in 15 people infected by the Spanish Flu died of that infection
- The mortality rate National Average for those with the Spanish Flu in 1918, when treated by Chiropractors, was one in 886. Chiropractors nationally treated 46,394 patients with a loss of 54. This is one loss in over 800 patients.
- More detailed figures are found below as well as the source. These came from Dr. Walter Rhodes’ book, The Official History of Chiropractic in Texas, published in 1978, and his sources were public health records.
- Please be clear that I am not claiming the Chiropractic cures COVID. I am saying look at the detailed statistics that were kept by the departments of public health in each state and make a rational
A NOTE ON SAFETY AT OUR CLINIC
First, I want everyone to know that our tables and all surfaces are thoroughly disinfected between every patient. Also, only one patient at a time is routed through, so our patients do not share a room with any other patients. We also have high capacity air purifiers with virus rated filters in each room. Shirley and I are also masked for your safety. We also take a non-contact temperature when a patient enters our clinic to screen our patients for fever.
I believe, as do many of my medical colleagues that the only current real defense is a healthy robust immune system. It may take 18 months for a vaccine and by that time the virus will likely continue to spread through the population.
So, how can I, as a Chiropractor help my patients and my community?
When we study the body, we divide it into systems: The cardiovascular, the digestive, the endocrine. And yes, the immune system. The immune system is your own defense right now against this virus and we all need to rely primarily on our own defense systems at least until the medical field can find something other than O2 and ventilators to help. The quality of the immune response is largely the reason that some of our population gets a mild flu and others perish. The immune system depends on the master system, the Central Nervous System, to work efficiently, and at its optimal level. This is the domain of the Chiropractor!
These systems, including the immune system, depend on the smooth and efficient running of the central nervous system to function at an optimal level. Without the CNS these other systems would not work at all. Chiropractic can best be viewed as a health system designed to remove neurological interference. There is evidence that with Chiropractic care the body operates more efficiently and that includes an increased ability to fight disease. Let me be clear, that I do not claim that Chiropractic care cures COVID 19. That is not what I am saying. But, look at some statistics from 1918 and with these statistics, one can perhaps evaluate whether this speaks to you.
*The statistics I quote come from a book published in 1978, by Doctor Walter Rhodes, largely speaking to his own profession to remind or inform present-day Chiropractors of the stark results back in 1918. This book came up when I was using search terms to pull up some of the scientific studies that have begun to trace the mechanisms between the Chiropractic adjustment of the spine, and the subsequent boosting of the immune response. The book I refer to is The Official History of Chiropractic in Texas. The author is Dr. Walter R. Rhodes. When I began to read the actual statistics from the book, the stark increase in survival rates when under Chiropractic care was startling, even to me. I called the Board of Chiropractic Examiners in Texas to attempt to connect with the author, Dr. Rhodes. The board representative informed me that he was deceased, but did, in fact, know one of Dr. Rhodes associates familiar with his work. The was Dr. Chris Dalrymple. I told him the stark difference in survival rates for the Spanish Flu quoted in the book had prompted me to verify the sources of the figures quoted. The doctor was kind enough to return my call and informed me that the figures were obtained through state agencies, usually, the Departments of Public Health, which it seems kept detailed records of the number of infections, how they were treated, and the number of subsequent deaths. Knowing that these figures come from neutral bureaucratic sources as a matter of course doing their own business of keeping the public record allows me to have confidence in the figures quoted. Again, I wish to be clear I am not using these figures to claim Chiropractic care can cure COVID 19. Only your own body can do that at the current time.
We can help with that in multiple ways!
- Chiropractic adjustments work with optimizing the efficient functioning of an individual’s nervous system. If you have doubts, I can show you detailed statistics on the 1918 Pandemic by state and Nationally that compares deaths w/o Chiropractic care, (those treated my MDs ) versus those who used Chiropractors. It turns out the states kept detailed statistics on that pandemic. It turns out that one in 15 medically treated patients passed away. In Iowa, for instance, Medical professionals treated 93,590 patients, with 6,116 deaths- a loss of one patient out of every 15. In the same state, Chiropractors treated 4,735 patients with a loss of only 6 patients- a loss of one patient out of every 789. Nationally it was slightly better. 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. And it was not a case of one group being sicker. That is not the way a pandemic works. In fact, in the same epidemic reports it shows that Chiropractors in Oklahoma treated 3,490 cases of influenza with only 7 deaths. The best news for Chiropractic patients is that there is a clear record of Chiropractors being called in for 233 cases where medical doctors had cared for the patients and finally gave them up as lost. The Chiropractors saved all these lost cases except for 25 or roughly 10% of those given up as dead by the medical profession.
- We do not claim to “cure” COVID 19. We are best looked at as a profession with the tools to remove interference from the central nervous system’s communication with the rest of the body.
Research on Various Mechanism Involved Immune Mediation via Spinal Adjustments
A series of recent studies from several international research groups is systematically building the case that spinal manipulation appears to reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increase the blood levels of immunoregulatory cytokines. Cytokines are small cell-signaling protein molecules that are secreted y numerous cells of the immune system and are a category of signaling molecules used extensively in intercellular communication.
Brennan, et al. published a paper demonstrating that upper thoracic spinal manipulation resulted in markers indicating significant increased phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes compared to a sham manipulation or soft-tissue treatment.
In a second study, Brennan, et al., concluded that their data suggests spinal manipulation which generates a force over a certain threshold, elicits viscerosomatic responses that affect other neutrophils and mononuclear cells phagocytic activity.
In a 1994 study the authors concluded that upper cervical adjustments increased CD4 “helper” T-cell counts which initiate the body’s response to viruses in HIV-positive, by 48 percent over the six- month duration of the study.
Neural Immunoregulation: Communication Between the Immune and Nervous Systems
These earlier papers has now been followed-up by a series of recent studies within the past five years.Teodorczyk-Injeyan, et al., described the interplay between the nervous system and immune system as neural immunoregulation. The authors note that immune homeostasis is based on the reciprocal communication between the immune and the nervous systems executed by the actions of cytokines and neurotransmitters. In addition, the paper explains the close association of autonomic nerve terminals with macrophages and lymphocytes, which facilitates a chemically mediated transmission between nerves and immune cells.
So I am strongly encouraging all of my friends and patients to take advantage of my office during this time that the world is offering more challenge to your immune systems. I have the full documents on the former Pandemic for you to read if you like. Take advantage of us and our office. We will take care of you
Best to you all
Dr. Kyle Yoder