I'm sure most if not all of you have heard that there is contention between Medical Doctors (M.D.) and Chiropractors (D.C.). I knew before going into the school that there was an underlying discontent most MD's had with DC's and vice versa. Everyday I go to school, we hear something that pertains to this problem. It astonishes me that still after all of these years, after all of the patients that have been helped, some MD's continue to believe and teach the public false information about chiropractic. Chiropractic can and has been distorted by many people and most problems I think come from false facts floating around.
I will admit there are few rogue chiropractors running around stating that they can cure everything and that MD's are worthless along with all types of medicine, but please keep in mind that that is NOT chiropractic. I personally believe that both DC's and MD's can find a common ground and be useful in both of their respected fields. It's quiet obvious that if you were to fall and break a bone you are not going to run to your chiropractor's office. There are limits to chiropractic as there are with any medical profession.
Somewhere in our history we decided that medicine and surgery was the best route to fix all health conditions. And that all other routes were to be ignored and thought of as insignificant compared to an allopathic view point. I can't understand why, if so many patients have been helped must the standard medical doctor still fight against chiropractic. Many believe that chiropractic is a new age option for health care, but in fact there is strong evidence that accent civilizations would perform spinal adjustments for health. There is both accent Egyptian and Greek writings and pictures of this procedure being done. Chiropractic is anything but new. DD Palmer claims to be the inventor of chiropractic but in fact he was a little late. He was in fact the first in that time era to realize the significance of the spine related to disease and furthermore allow chiropractic the future it has today. There is a great quote I ran across the other day and it says, “Look well to the spine for the cause of disease.” This is a quote from Hippocrates the "father of medicine" the ancient Greek physician. Hippocrates and other Greek physicians in many writings warned people to be aware of an over use of medicine that in fact would hinder man. Keep in mind that the Hippocratic oath created by Hippocrates is the oath that MD's take today. The oath has been distorted so much from its original state that it is almost unrecognizable. In the directly translated Hippocratic oath, it states that a physician will not prescribe a deadly drug that will cause death. Why is it then that JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) quotes prescribed medicine as being the United States third largest cause for death?
Don't get me wrong I am all for MD's and allopathic medicine, but I just can't stand the profession putting down chiropractic saying it is superior when the profession itself has so much to work on. Maybe it's right that they take the Hippocratic oath, because some tend to be hypocrites. Like I said I believe medicine has its place. Medicine has conquered many diseases that were once thought to be incurable, and has helped many rid themselves of cancer and other horrible diseases. The real question is do we need medicine for everything? Are we saying that our bodies were not built correctly to be able to handle the common cold, or to overcome most cases of chickenpox? Do we constantly need medication for migraines? I only worry about the constant use of medication because of the harmful side effects that it places on our body. As consumers we believe that we are fully warned about side effects of medication when in reality the FDA does not make clear all side effects of drugs. Moreover doctors who prescribe do not teach the patients enough about the medications. Take a common over the counter medication, Aspirin, which many people have taken. Did they know that it has been linked to stomach irritation that may lead to bleeding from the stomach? Also, the constant use of antibiotics is becoming a larger problem that isn't being talked about. I don't have time to delve deep into the problems, but just know that there is an increasing problem of antibiotic resistance in microbes, and that they are also becoming much more prevalent; both in the community and particularly in hospitals. Unfortunately, we have very few types of antibiotics that are able to continue to combat these bacteria. The more we prescribe antibiotics for simple things our body was designed to fight off, the stronger these microbes get year after year and the weaker our own immune system gets. Last year the FDA struggled to find a flu shot because the common flu had morphed so much and so fast they couldn't keep up.
If we take a stronger look at the birth control pill we will see that most of us have never heard the truth of the many problems that can occur upon consumption. The birth control pill is pumping synthetic estrogen into many women’s bodies, and they are unable to process it because humans don't have the enzyme to break it down, thus causing a toxic build up and toxic effects. Some of these toxic build-ups can cause such things as Pulmonary embolisms, Diabetes, Adrenal disturbances, Blood clots, High blood pressure, Gallbladder disease, UTI's, Fibroids and even Sterility. Also it has been proven that women who take birth control pills have lower bone mineral density (BMD), especially in the spine. Another great quote I heard is, " Today, newer lower dosage birth control pills maintain high popularity, despite their continued serious health risks for women." "Let me give you my opinion in a straight forward manner: I don't advocate the use of birth control pills. Yes, they are effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies, but the risks far outweigh those benefits." (Carolyn Dean, M.D.) It is things like this that are now being pushed on our nation as if it were candy. Children as young as the age of 9 are being placed on oral contraceptives in order to control acne. Do these risks outweigh the consequences of acne?
Our body is built on a simple premise, if you don't use it you lose it. I'm sure most of us that sat in college and didn't work out half as much as we did before can attest to that fact because many of us lost muscle. Think about the millions of elderly who suffer from osteoarthritis who don't use their bones the way they used to. They don't apply the needed pressure on them to keep them strong. They now ache everyday because of the osteoclast activity. It's the same for our immune system. If we don't allow it to work and use constant medication as a crutch, we will slowly lose it.
I am really only writing this because I'm confused as to why medical doctors and the AMA strive to put an end to something that has so few risks when it can't come within 1/10 of the numbers of patients hurt by medications and surgery each year.
It’s no wonder why MD's malpractice insurance is so much higher then DC's. On average a DC pays $1,500-$2,000 for a yearly malpractice policy. Just a fraction of an MD's.
Again this is not an attack on MD's or their profession. I just believe that if MD's are going to teach others about chiropractic they should get their facts right. Like I said earlier, both MD's and DC's can find a common ground and strive together to bring people to their optimal health.
