MD, PhD, MAE, FMedSci, FRSB, FRCP, FRCPEd.

The fact that much of chiropractic might be bogus has frequently been discussed on this blog. A recent press-release provided me with more evidence for this notion. It proudly announced a new book entitled “Beyond the Back: The Chiropractic Alternative For Conditions Beyond Back Pain”

The text claimed that shortly after the launch, the book hit #1 on the Amazon.com best seller list out of all Chiropractor books and also reached #1 for the category of Holistic Medicine.

When I checked (22/12/2016), I was not able to confirm this statement: #47 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Medical eBooks > Alternative & Holistic > Holistic Medicine, #58 in Books > Medical Books > Allied Health Professions > Chiropractic. But let’s not be petty; let’s rather see what the book has to offer.

‘Beyond the Back’ focuses on how Chiropractic care can do so much more than just alleviate back pain, the press-release says. From avoiding knee surgery to resolving athletic injuries, chiropractic care allegedly is a 100% natural health solution for a wide variety of conditions… In fact, in some cases, chiropractors can help their patients get off medications entirely and even avoid surgery, the press-release continues.

In the book itself, the authors claim that chiropractic is effective for a multitude of conditions, including asthma and colic (in fact, the authors try to give the impression that chiropractic is a veritable panacea), and that there is sound evidence for all these indications from hundreds, if not thousands of studies. The authors make it very clear – even on the book cover – that chiropractic is not an adjunct to conventional healthcare but an alternative to it; an idea, of course, that goes back to the founding fathers of chiropractic. As if this were not enough, the book also promotes diagnostic techniques such as applied kinesiology.

Some commentators on this blog have argued that the chiropractic profession is in the midst of giving up much of the nonsense upon it was originally based and to which it has clung on for more than hundred years. This book, written by 9 US authors of the new generation of chiropractors, seems to demonstrate the opposite.

On Amazon, the book currently has one single customer review: Value information and an easy read! I am a strong believer of chiropractic and this makes it easy for me to share this info with my friends ! 

This comment is apt because it makes clear that chiropractic is a belief system. We must not expect rational thoughts or facts from what, in effect, is a religion for many. I can understand this in a way: belief can be a cosy shelter from the truth; it does not require much thinking; it hardly needs any learning, no changing of minds, etc. However, belief can never be a basis for good healthcare. In my view, ‘Beyond The Back’ provides a perfect example of that.

109 Responses to If we needed proof that much of chiropractic is bogus, this would be it

  • “Some commentators on this blog have argued that the chiropractic profession is in the midst of giving up much of the nonsense upon it was originally based and to which it has clung on for more than hundred years. This book, written by 9 US authors of the new generation of chiropractors, seems to demonstrate the opposite.”

    Stand by for an onslaught from the back of beyond! 🙂

  • If you want to know the mechanisms of spinal manipulation, and its efficacy, read the peer-reviewed literature… Not pop culture books. This book doesn’t appear to be a representation of evidence based chiropractic…. You can find quackery in any profession if u look for it….

    • …. You can find quackery in any profession if u look for it….
      GOOD POINT
      but I cannot find much non-quackery in chiropractic.

      • Maybe reading more than just things in an echo chamber would help. Perhaps understanding the effects of spinal nerve root compression…. there are plenty of peerror reviewed studies out there. Do a literature search. Geesh

        • I suggest you give us some proof then that chiropractic is not bogus.

          • Ask and ye shall receive. Read it all. Read the studies. Look at the respected medical journals in which their studies are published. Then make up your mind. If this body of work doesn’t at least get you to see that real science is being done in chiropractic by at least one subset of practitioners, nothing will.

            https://idealspine.com/what-is-cbp/

          • @Jeff on Saturday 24 December 2016 at 21:53

            “Ask and ye shall receive. Read it all. Read the studies. Look at the respected medical journals in which their studies are published. Then make up your mind. If this body of work doesn’t at least get you to see that real science is being done in chiropractic by at least one subset of practitioners, nothing will.

            https://idealspine.com/what-is-cbp/

            Receive what? An advertisement from three chiros selling treatments for SUBLUXATIONS?
            At least someone has identified the mythical subluxation because no one has been able to find one for over a hundred years. lol

      • Anytime someone chooses to improve their health it’s based on information readily available to them. In the case of chiropractic, the best evidence of its efficacy comes from the experiences of its patients. Satisfaction by patients of chiropractic is commonly greater than the other treatments available for neck pain, back pain, and headaches. The growth and success of chiropractic has been built on those positive experiences. From a risk/benefit point of view chiropractic has been demonstrated over and over to be very safe. Evidence of which can be extrapolated by actuarial analysis used to establish malpractice insurance rates. A 20 year experienced chiropractor will have rates usually under $3000 US per year vs. that per month for medical doctors treating similar conditions. It seems disingenuous to disparage a popular and effective treatment for the ubiquitous spinal maladies man is prone to when even what medicine considers conservative (painkillers and opioids) have resulted in the most virulent addiction problem the country has seen. The less conservative treatments have a terrible record (failed back syndrome, anesthesia deaths, infection, and rendering treatable conditions into chronic pain syndromes through surgical side effects). So Dr. Ernst consider doing the world a favor and critically look at the alternatives to complementary medicine.

        • interesting post!
          unfortunately just wishful thinking.
          the insurance fees, for instance differ, differ because doctors treat often seriously ill patients with high-risk therapies, while chiros mainly treat back symptoms.

          • That’s where you’re wrong Edzard. Giving a drug to a person for pain is treating the symptom. Chiropractic treats the underlying cause of the pain. When the problem is removed the body had no need to send the pain signal. People come to see me because they are in pain, but they stay because they value being able to turn and bend without pain, to be able return to passtimes they hadn’t been able to do for years, and yes because their general health improves. Things that I would never suggest to a patient that I would be treating as a chiropractor also commonly improveme or complete resolve. As was my experience as a patient first. After being on muscle relaxants, painkillers, and anti-inflammatory drugs until diagnosed with a stomach ulcer and forced to stop, I discovered what millions worldwide already had. Chiropractic works and I’m proud to have helped 10’s of thousands find true health versus being toxcisified or cut open unnecessarily.

          • “Chiropractic treats the underlying cause of the pain.”
            This is pure BS!
            http://edzardernst.com/2013/03/alternative-practitioners-treat-the-root-causes-of-disease/

          • DC… As in DC Comics, DC Entertainment… Perhaps these should be the chiropractic regulatory bodies instead. The content fits the purpose! Besides:

            Chiropractic treats the underlying cause of the pain. When the problem is removed the body had no need to send the pain signal.

            No amount of rational argumentation can reverse such amounts of brainwashing.

          • It’s amazing how chiros keep trotting out the same old easily – and frequently – debunked crap. It’s almost as if they are taught this nonsense at chiro school.

          • Dr. Ernst,
            I have two questions for you. If a patient walks into my office with all of the signs and symptoms of a lumbar radiculopy at L5/S1 and walks out without those signs and symptoms after the visit, did the underlying cause of the problem get addressed? If a medical doctor injects that patient with corticosteroid does that constitute addressing the underlying cause or treating the symptom?

          • what’s a ‘radiculopy’
            is chiropractic a RIDICULOPATHY’?

          • James Williams DC,

            You wrote: “If a patient walks into my office with all of the signs and symptoms of a lumbar radiculopy at L5/S1 and walks out without those signs and symptoms after the visit, did the underlying cause of the problem get addressed?”

            That statement’s not even ignorant. That statement is like ignorance resin. Like, if you just take all of the stupid and just cook it down, and then scrape just the pure ignorance. Like crystal “duh.” It’s like crystal “duh.”
            —Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

            If a client walks into my office with all the signs and symptoms of wanting to see you, and I show them your comments on Professor Ernst’s website, then they walk out of my office without those signs and symptoms after the visit, did the underlying cause of the problem get addressed?

      • So Edzard,
        If chiropractic is bogus why and how could a person with all the signs and symptoms of a RADICULOPATHY walk out of my office without those same signs and symptoms? We are not brainwashed. We are not a cult of personality. Many, if not most of my patients only come to me after listening to people like yourself. Being on drugs for 3 months with nothing to show for it but bad stomach or worse. The worst of them, sadly, after spinal fusions and little left can be done by me or anyone else. (Hopefully you know the research on that procedure) Hopefully, the sort of terrible pain I experienced first as a patient never plagues you, because I suspect your ego will prevent you from getting the help you would need.
        I won’t bother you again.

        • you were no bother – just a source of amusement.

          • Edzard…. (combination of wizard and Edward???). You are a condescending twit. I was reading this hoping to learn something…. and I did. You were too cowardly to engage Dr. Williams up there… you and your buddy were the definition of confirmation bias and echo chamber. The pinnacle of stupidity is the person who sees no possibility of being incorrect. That is you. I’d site some studies for you, but unless you have X-ray vision to see through your abdomenal cavity from the inside of your rectum then you won’t be able to read it anyway. I fully expect you to respond solely to a grammatical error I undoubtedly made above. That’s a lot of letters after your name sir… congratulations, you’re clearly a genius.

        • And you ‘deduce’ this underlying SOURCE of Pain via; leg checks?? Motion palpation?? Heat-readers?? Posture-analysis?? Xray?? Then ‘fix’ it with “drop tables”?? Activator guns?? 1000 year old manipulative procedures?? Foot orthotics?? Magic fart dust??
          None of these theatrics is real and YOU had to have learned them from someone else? Unless you’ve invented and researched your own bevy of bastardized trickery?? Actually a staple of Chiropractic….And if so how did you come upon Your SOURCE knowledge?? Drugs? Prayer? Aliens? LRHubbard??
          And do you really think that your ‘treatment’ of the gullibilized 6% is the ONLY place to which anyone leaves an office feeling better??? Did you ever suppose many of the 94% get better on-their-own or via MD and PT care??? God forbid you’d have done a residency in a real hospital and recognize real doctors occasionally help people.
          Chiropractic: “pretending to get sick people well since 1895”

        • This seems to be a concrete pattern in alternative medicine… Once a patient, forever a believer! Regression to the mean manifests itself as one of the worst enemies of rationality.

          What strikes me, however, is how many alt med practitioners build the rest of their lives on a coincidence…
          There seems to be a correlation between our future and the level of our tendency to believe in coincidences!

          • @James: your comment, and especially: “there seems to be a correlation between our future and the level of our tendency to believe in coincidences” , strikes me as indeed profound.
            It (coincidence(s)) stake it’s claim and then sticks like Epstein-Barr,….but of course not apparently in everyone.

    • @Craig Roberts on Saturday 24 December 2016 at 15:46

      “If you want to know the mechanisms of spinal manipulation, and its efficacy, read the peer-reviewed literature… Not pop culture books. This book doesn’t appear to be a representation of evidence based chiropractic….”

      That’s interesting. The prof has been searching for evidence of “evidence based chiropractic” for years and is yet to find anything of substance. Perhaps you might post links to such research?

      If you are going to make such assertions, maybe you shouldn’t post the following on your website?

      http://www.docroberts.com/about.html
      “I am constantly inspired by the power of Chiropractic. The human body is truly the most amazing thing that we know of–ten thousand trillion cells all working together! This is many times the number of stars in the Milky Way!”

      By this logic, the blue whale should be “the most amazing thing we know of” currently, while the enormous herbivorous dinosaurs should be “the most amazing things” ever.

      “When this system is able to work together harmoniously, health is the result.”

      Does this mean you don’t subscribe to Germ Theory?

      “When there is disharmony, disease is the result.’

      Disharmony of what? so bacteria, viruses, and other causative factors don’t exist?

      “The power of Chiropractic is in creating harmony within the body.”

      Harmony of what?

      “I am privileged to watch patients regain health from a multitude of ailments with Chiropractic Care.”

      Which ailments? I’m sure many on this blog would be very interested to know what these ailments are?

      “You can find quackery in any profession if u look for it….”

      True, but you won’t find Tu Quoque everywhere.

      When I first read your post, i was feeling more generous, however, after close scrutiny, it is a load of nonsense. please provide links as requested above?

  • This book is an embarrassment to chiropractic physicians who value their reputations as clinicians who provide effective, conservative treatments for neuromusculoskeletal disorders. Many claims contained within it are half-truths and seem to be more oriented toward patient acquisition than they are toward an authoritative review of disorders mainstream DC’s actually treat and how they manage them. The book was obviously not meant to be an authoritative work regarding evidence-based practice but, rather, merely a populist, litererary assemblage of case reports(and the like) meant to appeal to unscientific consumers of healthcare. Edzard knew this, but this didn’t stop him from insulting the chiropractic profession at large. Would Edzard find Dr. Mehmet Oz’s opinions as offered in his published works and spoken comments to be representative of the majority of “modern medicine”? Do Oz’s claims of anti-aging via Resveratrol or miracle properties of green coffee beans have systematic reviews to justify them? No…and Edzard would not paint medicine with the same brush as he would Oz’s comments; his pro-medical bias would forbid it. At least he admits that there is quackery in “modern medicine.”

    It is humorous, however, that Edzard would use the opinion of one single reviewer to justify his chimerical claim that chiropractic is a belief system. Edzard never misses an opportunity to induce all-emcompassing, insulting takeaways from literature which is blatantly not representative of a paramedical profession. This latest rant is simply another instantiation of this.

    Merry Christmas to all, and be well

    • I suggest you give us some proof then that chiropractic is not bogus.

      • Ah…Edzard’s inevitable deflection. I ask, Edzard, and likely will not receive, your proof that mainstream chiropractice is a religious belief system. You made the allegation. Please evince that you have more proof of same than simply your inductive and biased inference of a comment by a reviewer of a book not even intended for consumption by the scientific community.

    • Logos your debating technique is like that of a small child. It’s amusing.

  • I’ve been going to my Chiropractor for almost 7 years now every week. I had 11* curvature in my spine which was scoliosis and I had asthma for 15 years. After a year of therapy I was completely cured of my scoliosis and my asthma. I also learned a lot about toxicity in foods and everyday products. I switched to eating organic foods and switched to environmental friendly products to use in my home. I have never been so healthy in my life!! I never get sick and my immune system is stellar. I will continue to see my Chiropractor for the rest of my life!

    • @Sabrina

      It appears that you exemplify the improvement resultant to your chiropractic physician’s knowledge not only of SMT and NMS disorders, but also about nutrition and beneficial lifestyle modifications. In other words, your improvement has at least partly been realized because your DC has given you good advice as to how to improve your health in general. Chiropractice is more than SMT, just as medicine is more than dispensing drugs.

      I have practiced as a chiropractic physician for over 30 years and treat NMS disorders. Therefore, I was surprised to read that you have been “completely cured” of your scoloisis. With respect, I must state that I am dubious of your conclusion. If you truly had a structural scoloisis, SMT would not have been curative. I have seen many claims of scoliosis cures by some in the osteopathic and chiropractic disciplines and all have been bogus. Technically, spinal curvatures can be called “scoliosis” even when they are transitory due to antalgia and to other causes. Claiming to have cured “scoliosis” merely via elimination of proximate pain is a deceptive claim.

      It certainly appears that your DC’s rxs have benefitted your asthma; but know that it’s likely his nutritional and toxicitiy-avoidance advice which has helped you in this regard. Therefore, I don’t see why you require weekly manipulations since it is likely not the manipulations which have benefitted your non-spinal-related complaints.

      Merry Christmas

      • Amen to that. My only objection to your comment Doc, is that this page is unworthy of it. Pearls before swine so to speak. Edzard (Edward-wizard MD Ph ABC DEF GHIJK Ed…) has no interest in learning anything new…. but you looked right past that and gave great advice to a person/patient who surely shouldn’t need weekly chiropractic care for 7 years… but Edzard and his cronies will have no respect for your effort to help someone- but will continue throwing childish insults around. – Cade Willes D.C. (just D.C.)

  • Go spend a day in a Chiropractic office. See the immediate effects of appropriate spinal and extremity care without side effects by highly educated neuromusculoskeletal specialists. Then go to a medical clinic and watch the guessing and coin flipping of the uneducated big pharma automatons with the medical profession coming in 3rd in the country for killing patients with medical errors.
    I never killed a patient in 23 years of practice seeing 30 patients/day while in the same timeframe I recorded 7 medical related deaths by the local clinic MD’s. Disgraceful.

  • Well, clearly chiropractic is not bogus, any economist will assure you that the free market will ensure the best results; people pay for chiropractic care. Ergo chiro must work.

    Oh, this may be more revealing of my opinion of economists than an evaluation of chiropractic.

  • This guy claims to represent “scientific” research, but everything I have seen/read about him online says he goes on these witch hunts against ANY alternative medicine. He claims to be objective, but everything he has written is anything but (medicine always wins). He is a cheerleader for modern medicine, let’s throw more meds at it until it goes away! If they don’t agree with me they’re wrong! Maybe some people don’t feel the 1 in 5 chance that CORRECTLY prescribed medications will cause adverse reactions and is tied for the fourth leading cause of death.

  • Likely if you actually read the book and take it in context, the authors are not calling chiropractic adjustments a cure or a treatment. Rather the benefits are a result of improved spinal mechanics and nerve transmission. There are numerous studies across multiple academic disciplines that agree and have done so over more than a century. Is every symptom a direct result of spine and nerve function. Of course not. But normal spine and nerve health has obvious benefits. I know that hurts your feelings but anybody can see this is true.

    • @Josh

      Please explain what you mean by “improved nerve transmission.” Are you referring to radiculopathy, neuropathy, impaired nerve function secondary to spinal stenosis(central or foraminal), neurapraxia, or to something less measurable? Please advise.

  • Dear Dr. Edzard:
    Here’s just five links that will connect you to literally hundreds of refereed, peer reviewed, journal articles on science & evidence-based Chiropractic Care. I know you won’t look at a single one, but here you go anyway. On the other hand if you do choose to truly criticize/comment on the actual content & findings, please pick the ones that have the most respectable M.D.’s contributing & utilizing the best scientific methods, so that you don’t get caught up in the minutiae and deliver a reputable/honorable comment to the actual proofs!
    Chiropractically Yours, Dr. Steven J. Scafidi

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3716373/

    https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/top-10-chiropractic-studies-of-2013/

    https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=peer+reviewed+journals+supporting+Chiropractic&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwiGjp-R7I3RAhUK5iYKHYrRCt4QgQMIFjAA

    http://www.journalchiromed.com/article/S0899-3467(07)60142-6/fulltext?mobileUi=0

    http://www.chiroindex.org/open-access-library/peer-reviewed-journals/

  • Chiropractic was founded and continues to stand on sound principles, just like medicine. Chiropractors are specialists of the nervous system and the bones that surround and support it. Also, DOCTORS OF CHIROPRACTIC go through rigorous education including numerous hours of anatomy, physiology, diagnosis, radiology, etc.

    Yes, it’s true that some of the effects of nerve interference, caused by subluxation, include musculoskeletal conditions like neck pain and back pain. However, to ignore the potential for non-musculoskeletal issues is to ignore basic human anatomy. Nerves supply much more than muscles:, like you’re heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver, pancreas, etc.

    Respectfully, you, sir, like many others, are just ignorant to the reality that is Chiropractic. And just continue to propagate that ignorance by continuing to call the profession QUACKS.

    Chiropractic is not a religion, nor was the commenter you mentioned speaking of it as such. They were merely referring to the thousands of people, such as yourself, that do not BELIEVE.

    And to answer your underlying question… there are numerous case studies showing that it is not bogus. Let me know, I’ll send them to you.

    As a doctor, with all those letters behind your name, you’d think you could do a simple database search and get some peer-reviewed published articles and studies… but maybe that’s my ignorance.

    • @TM

      I appreciate your comments here, especially the one which noted that Chiropractic is not a religion; such was simply another silly iteration of the insult by Edzard.

      I must take umbrage regarding your comments regarding nerve interference and subluxation(I assume you meant chiro subluxation). Respectfully, invoking the subluxation concept essentially guts your post of merit. The chiro subluxation is largely a myth; it hasn’t been proven to exist, and the concept has been used to glom money from dupes(er, patients). It also has reduced the credibility of Chiropractic at large.

      The verbiage our profession uses matters. If a patient’s radiculopathy is resolved via SMT and rehab, our services should not be referred to as subluxation correction. Rather, they should be referred to as what they actually did: eliminate spinal joint dysfunction. MD’s understand such lexicon and using more explicit terminology fosters improved interprofessional communication.

      Just my thoughts………be well.

    • Chiropractic was founded and continues to stand on sound principles, just like medicine.

      Baloney! In fact, the theory of chiropractic was pulled out of his ass by one D.D. Palmer, a magnetic healer with zero medical training. Palmer combined metaphysical vitalism with a big dose of osteopathy to produce his theory of ‘subluxations’, non-existent lesions in the vertebrae that accounted for all kinds of disease. Modern chiros, several of whom post regularly in the comments on this blog, assure us that 21st-century chiropractic reject ‘subluxation’ theory and other pseudo-scientific nonsense.

      Chiropractic is not a religion, nor was the commenter you mentioned speaking of it as such. They were merely referring to the thousands of people, such as yourself, that do not BELIEVE.

      Wonderful! Your second sentence cancels the premise of the first.

      …there are numerous case studies showing that it is not bogus. Let me know, I’ll send them to you.

      More comedy gold! If you think that case studies provide evidence beyond anecdote, you are seriously mistaken.

      As a doctor, with all those letters behind your name, you’d think you could do a simple database search and get some peer-reviewed published articles and studies… but maybe that’s my ignorance.

      Correct: it’s your ignorance. If you search those simple databases you refer to you’ll find hundreds of peer-reviewed articles by Edzard Ernst. He’s a world expert on studies of complementary and alternative medicine, for goodness’ sake!

      Please take the time to read through other posts and comments on this blog under the heading of Chiropractic (see right-hand column) and educate yourself. You appear to have much to learn.

      • There goes Odd Frank again on one of his ignorant rants which implies that D.D. Palmer’s dubious chiropractic beliefs, precursory to contemporary understanding of physiology in general, somehow is indigenous only to chiropractic. What a load! Odd Frank has been previously schooled on this particular red herring yet he still hasn’t committed the truth to long-term memory: medical and osteopathic physicians can trace their own beginnings to preposterous beliefs, at least by today’s standards. Odd Frank must have selective memory loss relative to the medical use of leeches and bloodletting. The use of urine therapy and trepanation are particularly ghastly(yet humorous in this historical lesson to Odd Frank) procedures proferred by “old time medicine.” Yet here is Odd Frank’s joking about Palmer’s alleged “magnetic healing” bent.

        Hypocrisy, thy name is Odd Frank.

        Be well

        • Just as an aside: the first time somebody tried to belittle me by calling me Odd Frank, the tears ran down my diaper.

          My response was to a person who incorrectly claimed that “Chiropractic was founded and continues to stand on sound principles, just like medicine.” (My italic just so L-B might for once comprehend before he responds with one of his arrogant comments.) Medicine was never founded: it evolved with growth of scientific understanding. Just because medicine has definable imperfections does not justify pseudo-medicine, any more than imperfections and dubious practice in the banking industry justify pyramid schemes and other forms of improvised fraud.

          Tu quoque, thy name is Logos-Bios.

          • NO NO ODD FRANK SMT is not pseudo science and is taught in D.O. and Medical schools. Physical therapy is not pseudo science either and in my practice this is what I perform.

            Acting like a doctor while putting a patient on an unnecessary Opioid or something they can buy over the counter that could kill them, lead to heroine addiction IS PSEUDO SCIENCE!

            Medicine and chiropractic both are great but not perfect but get your head out of the sand and stop the bashing of others who are working hard to treat patients with minimally invasive treatments.

            What are you so insecure about? Perhaps you never succeeded in practice?

          • @Odd Frank

            Sorry to hear you cried into your diaper last night…..sincerest apologies to you.

            You stated, ” In fact, the theory of chiropractic was pulled out of his ass by one D.D. Palmer, a magnetic healer with zero medical training. Palmer combined metaphysical vitalism with a big dose of osteopathy to produce his theory of ‘subluxations’, non-existent lesions in the vertebrae that accounted for all kinds of disease.” You really do need to Google more than Wikipedia for your material. Argumentum Ad Verecundium is on full display by Odd Frank in his attempts to feign veridical knowledge of Chiropractic’s founding.

            You stated that medicine was never founded(what is your defintion of “founded”?) and that it has evolved with the growth of scientific knowledge. Thank the Lord that it has evolved! After all, medicine began as a magic “discipline” some 3000 yrs. BCE and continued as such well into the Greek “golden age” until Hippocrates and Aristotle added some rationality. Such rationality continued during the Roman Empire years and beyond, more or less, although bloodletting was still practiced into the 1920’s. “Modern medicine” has evolved from the thalidomide disaster to the Paxil/GSK debacle, both of which killed more humans than chiropractic has allegedly killed in its entire history.

            Chiropractic was never really related to osteopathy: the premises of both then-nascent prefessions were different and the techniques taught within both disciplines were dissimilar. Please remember this in your future attacks on the profession.

            Chiropractic and diagnosis, as they’re taught by mainstream chiropractic colleges, are dissimilar to how they were taught by D.D. Your specious posts to the contrary belie even a minimal knowledge of the subject on which you’re commenting. Perhaps you should stick with topics within your medical specialty; I would assume you’re better versed in those.

            Be well

  • Headaches
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21640251
    Backpain
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19028250
    Neck pain
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24262386

    Conservative care by evidence based Chiropractors nearly mimics physical therapists with a greater emphasis on passive rehabilitation than active. I agree, many members of the profession greatly oversell the benefits without any evidence and that is a problem. However, to paint the entire profession as a bunch of “quacks” is not objective. There are numerous studies that demonstrate Chiropractic care is an effective alternative to analgesics and surgery. Why not attack the surgeons who over recommend surgery? How about mentioning that 20% of patients require a second surgery for the same condition after just 10 years?
    National University of Health Sciences (my school) has clinical rotations at the VA hospitals and Laser Spine Institute. We are well trained in conservative care, we know what we can manage, co-manage, and when we must refer for more invasive procedures.

    You have shown YOU have surcome to your own belief system to simply dismiss the high patient satisfaction and consensus that manipulation is moderately effective for LBP, Neck pain, and headaches. We also have extensive classwork in nutrition. If you are curious of the quality of research behind our nutritional education suggest you look into the work of Dr. David Seaman. Read “The Deflame Diet” and write about that on your blog.

    Merry Christmas

    • Most Physical Therapists are well trained and perform honorable medical services. Chiropractors are not physicians and offer no more than PT except excessive bogus claims to treat totally unrelated symptoms with spinal adjustments and unneeded supplements. You call twerking the spine a cure or preventative for conditions as asthma, stones, colic, sinus disease, ear infections, etc, etc. That is not scientific or even logical and if you think it is then your basic science courses were a waste of time or terribly inadequate. Get real.

  • Thie author of this blog obviously has some bias and apparent insecurities to go so out of his way to bash a profession that helps millions of people a year.

    We don’t claim to be perfect by any means and there are some valid discussions he presents.

    But those in glass houses should both throw stones. Drugs and surgeries are not the answer to all of the worlds ailements.

    What about the millions of herion addicts that were created by M.D.s through the Opoid epidemics? I call this QUAKERY

    • @Jeffrey
      You must be new to this blog? If you had followed posts and discussions here for a while you would know what bias is and how the simple logical fallacies you come with have already been dealt with here ‘ad nauseam’. The fact that there are many chiropractors and gullible customers of theirs, in no way instantiates the theatrical make-believe made up (not discovered) by a charlatan magnetic healer named Palmer.
      Your immaturely parroted fallacy about harmful surgery and medicine simply shows how little you know about genuine modern healthcare.

      Apropos pain killers and their perils. I stumbled over this article yesterday. It supports what is becoming increasingly clear that a large portion of the "opioid epidemic does not originate in the doctor's prescription pen. Of course modern medicine is not infallible, but that is in no way an excuse to replace it with make-believe manipulations. Physicians around the world are becoming better aware of the dangers of strong pain killers and avoid using them for chronic problems. You see, medicine progresses, – how about chiropractic? The only progress in chiropractic I can find is in unsubstantiated marketing ploys, bloated indications (like asthma, reflux, etc…), child abuse ("Pediatric chirpractic" ) and silly use of clicky gadgets, rotary sanders and other theatrical inventions.

      • Oh yes and the medical profession used to do blood letting and pulling teeth… There are two sides to every argument sir and it is simply fallacy to suggest doctors are not to blame for the opiod epidemic.

        One in five patients recieves an opioid for pain and 75% of heroin users started by taking prescription pain killers.

        Please present this article you state shows the opioid epidemic is not due to physicians and pharmecutical companies pushing these habit forming medications.

        To suggest pediatric Chiropractic is child abuse is a bold claim exactly how many children are “abused” by Chiropractic last I checked iatrogenic disease is the third leading killer in the United States and that isn’t Chiropractic that’s medicine. A quarter of a million people die per year from modern medicine and we are the ones to be afraid of because we make the “bones go crack” must be bad. Except there are little to no side effects of manipulation which is why malpractice insurance is among the lowest in healthcare.

        Meanwhile you all readily prescribe amphetamines for children who could simply alter their diet and lifestyles to treat their behavioral disorders, you prescribe antibiotics so much we are seeing antibiotic resistance in once easily killed pathogens, you give barbiturates to children, and give vaccinations without any animal studies of clinical trials of potential interactions of vaccines to 1 day old infants, an age that was never studied.

        You cover up the symptoms instead of feeding the body what it needs, you dull the pain instead of strengthening the body, you operate on 56 million people a year for back pain when only 5% require surgery and then 5 to 10% will require a second surgery and half the patients who.had surgery will suffer from the same condition down the road.

        Instead of pointing the finger how about pointing the thumb. My profession has a lot of work to do I agree but medicine is FAR from perfect in fact I would say you have far bigger problems to deal with than worrying about the 10% of population who see Chiropractors for their ailments.

        Science and statistics don’t care about your opinion.

        • Most people don’t care about Geir’s opinions, actually…unless they desire a good belly laugh!

          Be well, Christopher

          • Wrong again L-B. Dr. Geir’s opinions are based on reality and years of legitimate education, training, science and experience. True medicine has evolved for many years and continues to do so with self criticism and science based evaluations of numerous diseases and treatments. Like your other alternative brethren your fictitious pseudo remedies cannot even be explained by basic high school or college science. Why is that? Do you really think you are faith healers. Health care is difficult and wrought with complexities and complications. Physical Therapy would be a more honorable and honest profession for you to consider. I wonder why you chose chiropractics instead!?

        • re; Christopher Kotwicki on Sunday 25 December 2016 at 19:03

          Young Christopher is a chiro student and this is him;
          http://www.nuhs.edu/christopher/about-me/

          Christopher does many things in his course, including taking blood, though I can’t understand why.
          https://www.nuhs.edu/christopher/

          “Oh yes and the medical profession used to do blood letting and pulling teeth…”

          Yes, and both were abandoned a long time ago, after RESEARCH found the in-efficacious. Does, or has, the same happen with chiro, having been invented by a convicted conman and charlatan who saw himself as the head of the religion of chiropractic?

          “There are two sides to every argument sir and it is simply fallacy to suggest doctors are not to blame for the opiod epidemic.”

          Despite research showing otherwise?

          “One in five patients recieves an opioid for pain and 75% of heroin users started by taking prescription pain killers.”

          One word; bullshit. You have no evidence because there is none.

          “To suggest pediatric Chiropractic is child abuse is a bold claim exactly how many children are “abused” by Chiropractic last I checked iatrogenic disease is the third leading killer in the United States and that isn’t Chiropractic that’s medicine.”

          Typical chiro writing, much as they think; garbled and incomprehensible.

          Chiro treatment of children is unnecessary and has no basis in science. As for the second, educate yourself minimally before you write nonsense; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis

          “A quarter of a million people die per year from modern medicine and we are the ones to be afraid of because we make the “bones go crack” must be bad. Except there are little to no side effects of manipulation which is why malpractice insurance is among the lowest in healthcare.”

          Have you learnt this nonsense in your course or from a chiro website? Rather than faffing about with spines, real doctors treat life threatening diseases. If there were a car crash as you walked down a street, a real doctor could treat the people involved while you look on as a useless bystander. THAT is only one of the many differences.

          “Meanwhile you all readily prescribe amphetamines for children who could simply alter their diet and lifestyles to treat their behavioral disorders, you prescribe antibiotics so much we are seeing antibiotic resistance in once easily killed pathogens, you give barbiturates to children, and give vaccinations without any animal studies of clinical trials of potential interactions of vaccines to 1 day old infants, an age that was never studied.”

          I would ask whether you have any evidence for this but I know you do not.

          “You cover up the symptoms instead of feeding the body what it needs, you dull the pain instead of strengthening the body, you operate on 56 million people a year for back pain when only 5% require surgery and then 5 to 10% will require a second surgery and half the patients who.had surgery will suffer from the same condition down the road.”

          I am one for whom back surgery has gained me now 32 years of pain-free, active, unrestricted life. My comment above also applies.

          “Instead of pointing the finger how about pointing the thumb. My profession has a lot of work to do I agree but medicine is FAR from perfect in fact I would say you have far bigger problems to deal with than worrying about the 10% of population who see Chiropractors for their ailments.”

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque

          If that is the extent of your reasoning, it seems as though yet another dopey chiro will join the ranks of the anti-scientific pea-brains already dispensing nonsense.

          “Science and statistics don’t care about your opinion.”

          Nor do you care about them, except to cherry-pick and ignore those that bring about cognitive dissonance.

          • @Frankentool

            ““Oh yes and the medical profession used to do blood letting and pulling teeth…”

            “Yes, and both were abandoned a long time ago, after RESEARCH found the in-efficacious. Does, or has, the same happen with chiro, having been invented by a convicted conman and charlatan who saw himself as the head of the religion of chiropractic?” asked Tool. How many patients died from such quack medical “treatments,” or from quack medical research in the Paxil/GSK scam? More people have died via these quack medical scams than have died resultant to chiropractic interventions since 1895.

            Frankentool has been given many past opportunities to support his laughable claim that chiropractic is a religion; of course he has consistently failed to support his prattle.

            “Christopher does many things in his course, including taking blood, though I can’t understand why,” wrote Frankentool. The answer is “diagnosis.” As a medical, presumably professional, doctor, he should understand the value of appropriate labs.

            “…. real doctors treat life threatening diseases,” stated Frankentool. Medicine’s treatment with thalidomide of the “real disease” of morning sickness killed and disfigured thousands of developing humans. The “tool” would like to forget such inconvenient truths about “modern medicine.”
            “You cover up the symptoms instead of feeding the body what it needs, you dull the pain instead of strengthening the body, you operate on 56 million people a year for back pain when only 5% require surgery and then 5 to 10% will require a second surgery and half the patients who.had surgery will suffer from the same condition down the road.”

            “I am one for whom back surgery has gained me now 32 years of pain-free, active, unrestricted life,”
            wrote Frankentool. Ignorantio Elenchi(logical fallacy)! Personal experience is not a reasoned rebuke of Chris’ comments.

            “One in five patients recieves an opioid for pain and 75% of heroin users started by taking prescription pain killers.” Frankentool replied, “One word; bullshit. You have no evidence because there is none”

            Perhaps Tool should reference the US Surgeon General’s letter (as well as the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse commentary) to prescribing physicians regarding their roles in the opioid epidimic. Education regarding a particular subject would serve the Tool well as he authors his drivel in the future.

          • @Logos-Bios on Saturday 31 December 2016 at 14:55

            “@Frankentool”

            Is the extent of your intelligence?

            “More people have died via these quack medical scams than have died resultant to chiropractic interventions since 1895.”

            How many lives have been saved by chiro since Palmer pulled it out of his @rse, or, more likely, stole it from Still?

            “Frankentool has been given many past opportunities to support his laughable claim that chiropractic is a religion; of course he has consistently failed to support his prattle.”

            http://www.chiro.org/Plus/History/Persons/PalmerDD/PalmerDD's_Religion-of-Chiro.pdf
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_David_Palmer
            http://quackfiles.blogspot.com.au/2005/06/moral-and-religious-duty-of.html
            http://quackfiles.blogspot.com.au/2004/07/dd-palmers-religion-of-chiropractic-dd.html
            http://www.letusreason.org/NAM33.htm

            “The answer is “diagnosis.” As a medical, presumably professional, doctor, he should understand the value of appropriate labs.

            lol

            “Medicine’s treatment with thalidomide of the “real disease” of morning sickness killed and disfigured thousands of developing humans.”

            That was more than 50 years ago and the culprits were punished. My friend Pete, on the other hand, is 56 and had polio as a child leaving him with poor eyesight and a withered, deformed lower left leg. This doesn’t happen anymore and it is NOT due to chiropractic.

            ““I am one for whom back surgery has gained me now 32 years of pain-free, active, unrestricted life,”
            wrote Frankentool. Ignorantio Elenchi(logical fallacy)! Personal experience is not a reasoned rebuke of Chris’ comments.”

            True, except young, ignorant Christopher made a Sweeping Generalisation fallacy for which you have failed to rebuke him. My anecdote was to remind him that his overarching generalisation is not correct.

            “Perhaps Tool should reference the US Surgeon General’s letter (as well as the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse commentary) to prescribing physicians regarding their roles in the opioid epidimic. Education regarding a particular subject would serve the Tool well as he authors his drivel in the future.”

            And this has ben dealt with above. Medicine isn’t perfect, of course, but it progresses and was not pulled out of a conman’s @rse.

      • @BG
        The so called progress that you point out Bjorn is a sand castle built on a swamp and does not represent where chiropractic is heading. Instead it represents the circling of the vitalists and marketing guru’s wagons. All they are interested in is obstructing progress and maintaining their business model!
        The SOFEC position statement that came out of the WFC conference in Athens is a good example of reformers coming together and drawing a line in the sand. The true believers were pissed off to put it mildly and additional Universities have signed up since then!
        http://vertebre.com/charte-pour-l-education-chiropratique-en-europe-8163
        Also the BS merchants who think they can push the boundaries and set the agenda are getting hammered. This recent newspaper article may be of interest. Chiropractors have lodged compliants with the registration board!
        http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/chiropractors-furious-at-melbourne-clinic-screening-of-antivaccination-film-vaxxed-20161216-gtcn8w.html

        • @Critical_Chiro
          Seems like you are the only Chiro around here able to keep its composure (or sobriety?).
          I think I asked the following question of you before but in the light of the latest pathetic display of the (bottom) level of learning and intellectual (in-)capacity by your belligerent colleagues here in this thread, I ask again:
          Why do you still call yourself ‘Chiropractor’?

          This title is hopelessly tainted. Its origins are in prescientific charlatanry, its key doctrines and methods are demonstrably inconsistent with anatomy, physiology and pathology. Further, its marketing and practice are increasingly associated with fraud, fabrication and misuse, such as demonstrated in the development of “pediatric chiropractic” (Let’s call it ‘misuse’ as many associate the term ‘abuse’ to sexual abuse, which was not my intention in a recent comment) or exemplified in some of the Professor’s recent posts or this shameful situation.
          It may well be that some of the more sensible and rational members of the chiropractic ‘cult’ have discovered or acquired methods and approaches that could be found to be efficacious were they properly identified, tried and tested.
          If they wish however, to be taken seriously and develop their skills and toolsets further, they will have to disassociate themselves from the ignorami who still refuse to acknowledge the futility and fiction in the heritage of DD Palmer e.g. subluxations, innate intelligence etcetera, along with imbecile additions such as applied kinesiology and other alt-med fabrications.
          I sense in your writings, a sentiment that tells me you would like to relieve yourself and those likeminded of this historical burden and clean up your act so to speak – get rid of the useless elements.
          But I guess you would rather continue to use the term/title”Chiropractor”. Am I right in this conjecture and if so, why do you not chuck this term, perhaps add physiotherapy or similar to your formal merits (to secure an acknowledged platform) and then develop and substantiate the methodology you wish to promote?

          • For once, Geir has proferred some intelligent suggestions. Granted, the thought of renaming the profession is not new; but one wouldn’t expect Geir to be up to speed on a profession which is not his own.

            A name change worked pretty well for podiatry, formerly chiropody. It could possibly improve the image of chiropractic practice for some potential patients. Personally, I would rather see a formal statement from a unified chiropractic national organization which denounced chiropractic subluxation and vitalism. Natural selection would take over from there.

          • Perhaps Critical Chiro missed my question? This comment to bump it up.

          • @BG
            Good question!
            The only vitalist loon who had the integrity to realize that the majority of the profession has moved on was Reggie Gold when he started/rebranded as Spinology!
            Yes I am actively involved in trying to excise the guru’s, vitalists and practice management guru’s from the profession and just as one dropkick like CJ Merts disappears another one like Liam Schubel appears! It is extremely frustrating at times!
            I have never subscribed to the cult Björn nor drunk the kool aid! I have had the benefit of being mentored by some remarkable chiropractors that had me questioning everything and looking for best evidence right from the start. Going to AK and SOT seminars in the early 1990’s out of curiosity and asking the presenters WHY over and over only to be looked at in bafflement and told “its in the manuals, it works, just follow the protocols” left me unimpressed! By Sunday afternoon the expert presenters would actively avoid me!
            I recently went to a conference where Scott Haldeman was presenting and he noted that the vitalists business model is in for a shock change within the next few years from the insurers and legislators. This has been discussed for many years as John Badanes has noted recently here but the forces now building within and just as importantly from without the profession now make reform inevitable!
            Will I be continuing to use the title chiropractor?
            After 25+ years educating and building brand ME the answer is yes! 80% of my new patient referrals are from doctors and most of the chiropractors I associate with practice similarly!

      • @Bjorn Sorry SIR BJORN the opioid epidemic started with the prescription pad. Identify your studies and how many medical doctors wrote prescriptions for these addictive drugs that have left millions dead and addicted when they could have referred a patient for safe and non habit forming chiropractic care?

        How many of your magic pills will be pulled of the market in the next five years after realizing they do more harm than good SIR BJORN?

        I don’t have to go far on your blog to see where your bias is.

        Chiropractic has not progressed it is by no means a cure for every ailment but is still a valid treatment option for musculoskeletal disorders.

        It takes a village to raise a child SIR BJORN and a village to treat a community. Your book and blog shows that you are not a real doctor because you would have realized this SIR BJORN.

        • Your book and blog…

          Jeffrey must be a clairvoyant. Can find things that don’t exist 😀

        • The vast majority of opiates relieve severe pain and do not result in addiction. Millions of patients have benefited from judicious and compassionate use of opiates. How many chiropractors refuse them for fractures, renal colic or other severe pains? The most recent update and correction from the CDC admits that most addiction and OD’s originate from self obtained heroin and illegal fentanyl. Prescription opiates have been abused by a minority of subscribers and many abusers who con doctors with fake pain. That is improving with self monitoring by the medical profession and improved education and monitoring of patients receiving opiates. This does not mean safer options are not needed for severe pain(acute and chronic) and research continues. Unfortunately the alternatives are not as effective for most. I will agree that pharmaceutical companies and hospital administrators(and some MD’s) are complicating the picture by price gauging. That does not refute science and medicine but makes our jobs more difficult and your chicanery easier.

    • @Jeffrey

      Pay no attention to Geir, a closed-minded chiropractic antagonist who is unable or unwilling to accept that mainstream chiropractic training is robust and that chiropractic is more than simply SMT. He invokes a negative perception of chiro by mentioning DD Palmer’s founding(in the 19th century) of the profession as though the minimal understanding of physiology at that time somehow taints our profession’s current mainstream treatment protocols. He, of course claims Tu Quo Que when reminded of medicine’s killing of humanity via its Thalidomide and Paxil debacles, not to mention its past use of leeches and blood-letting for the the “scientific” treatment of such disorders and UTI’s.

      Geir is seldom intellectually perspicatious, but he is consistent in his prejudiced criticisms of chiropractic. Chiro is bad because of its beginnings, according to Geir, but medicine’s pseudo-scientific beginnings should be forgotten, despite the fact that even singular medical quack episodes have killed more people than chiropractic interventions have allegedly killed since 1895. You would think that such comments from Geir can’t be made up….yet here is Geir regurgitating the same drivel he espouses in practically all of his posts. LMAO!

      I’m sure you smiled when Geir proferred his opinion link which, according to him, suggested that “modern medicine” should be absolved from responsibility for the opioid tragedies which seem to be becoming more ubiquitous; what a laugh! He must’ve missed the US Surgeon General’s August letter to US physicians which was antithetical to the link he cited.

      Take Geir’s opinions for what they’re worth……usually very little.

      Be well

    • ” I call this QUAKERY”

      I’m sure the Quakers will be delighted.

    • Jeffrey posted, “The author of this blog obviously has some bias and apparent insecurities to go so out of his way to bash a profession that helps millions of people a year.”

      Ya think?

  • This guy Edzard is a real Scientist. He better get an Occipital lift or an Torque release activator in his stocking to get the pickle juice out of his brain with his way out opinions.
    I would like to see some videos of his technique doing Spinal care.

    Its gotta to be a front.
    What a joke.
    Merry Christmas’
    Ebenezer’s Scrooge ghost of the Christmas past… Scat be gone

  • Was quite in the house, not even a mouse..
    Merry Christmas
    Beware Ebenezer of the new Osteapractors are coming like Zombies.

    • Dearest SIR GEIR. Your divisiveness and lack of clarity regarding your own professions short coming does nothing to benefit optimal patient care.

      I see you live in Iceland. Were you educated there?

      Here in the U.S. Chiropractors and medical doctor work hand and hand treating patients SIR BJORN.

      • Jeffrey said:

        Here in the U.S. Chiropractors and medical doctor work hand and hand treating patients

        All/most/some/a few/not really that many at all?

        • Alan said, “All/most/some/a few/not really that many at all?” Another incoherent and bogus statement from Big Al. Go figure!

          • My apologies if that was well beyond your comprehension.

          • @Alan

            Your incoherence and mendacity were noted and exposed. Try harder!

          • Oh dear, L-B. I’m not sure I can make it simple enough for you. Sorry about that.

          • @Alan

            Simply write grammatically coherent statements and readers wil have no problems understanding whatever nonsense is imbued within them. Just sayin’………

            Be well

          • I’m sure intelligent readers will have no trouble in understanding those 11 simple words and the syntax I used – and I really don’t think I can dumb it down any more for you, L-B. Sorry about that.

          • @Al

            No apologies necessary, Al. Simply tighten up your grammar, post sensible comments(if such is possible for you), and all will be good.

            Be well

          • @Al

            Al asked, “Who’s Al”?

            Please desist with your vacuous-of-cogency posts. You are embarrassing yourself.

          • ROFL! Please don’t stop.

            However, It’s still open to Jeffrey to answer my question – or to anyone else to have a stab at guessing what he meant.

          • @Logos-Bios on Thursday 29 December 2016 at 17:04

            “@Al

            No apologies necessary, Al. Simply tighten up your grammar, post sensible comments(if such is possible for you), and all will be good.

            Be well”

            Corrected, below, for the chiropractically disabled;

            “No apologies necessary, Al. Simply tighten up your grammar, post sensible comments (if such is possible for you), and all will be good.

            Be well.”

            The problem with being a complete and total smartarse, without commensurate capability, is that it will be seen for what it is.

          • @Frankentool

            “The problem with being a complete and total smartarse, without commensurate capability, is that it will be seen for what it is,” you wrote. So true, Tool, so true. Such is exemplified by your inability to prove that chiro IS a religion; your “citations” were so pathetically weak and non-germane to current chiropractice as to be considered as laughable as attempting to paint modern medicine as wizardry via a citation regarding its past use of trepanation. ROTFLMAO!

            Regarding number of lives saved via chiropractice, you should know that SMT is not a tool(pardon the pun) for saving lives. However, chiropractic education and clinical diagnosis do save, prolong, and improve lives. Personally, I have diagnosed many skin cancers, several cases of bone cancer, a few cases of lung CA, a number of hypertrophic prostate problems(some of which were eventually deemed cancerous per my referrals to urologists), and many palpable breast masses. Many other non-chiropractically treatable conditions have been discovered on physical examination in my office and have, of course, been referred to proper medical specialists for treatment. Such is the modern practice of chiropractic in my neck of the woods.

            “True, except young, ignorant Christopher made a Sweeping Generalisation fallacy for which you have failed to rebuke him. My anecdote was to remind him that his overarching generalisation is not correct,” you stated. Uh huh….go with that “explanation” if you wish.

            My daughter is a Medpeds resident. She graduated undergrad Summa Cum Laude in biochemistry; I graduated undergrad Summa Cum Laude with dual biology and chemistry degrees. She was in the top 10% of her medical schoo(4 years) class; I was in the top 10% of my chiropractic school(4 years) class. She is in the midst of her 4-year residency. Chiropractic doctors, like those in optometry, dentistry, etc) are not required to complete a residency.

            Whereas my daughter has been in school continuously since high school, I worked in a toxicology lab for a while before starting my chiropractic training. My biochem background has given me a very good perspective on judging basic science education as reveived by my daughter in medical school and by me in chiropractic school. I have perceived no significant difference in the quality of basic science education in medical school versus my chiropractic school. You may guffaw and insult my opinion if you wish because I’m certain it doesn’t reconcile with your biased meta-narrative, but my opinion is sincere and accurate.

            I don’t have anything but respect for medicine and medical physicians, and not simply because my daughter is a physician. I do take umbrage with pompous ignoramuses who espouse half-or-non truths about chiropractice as though they are pursuing truthfullness ala Trump or Clinton.

            Be well

          • @Logos-Bios on Sunday 01 January 2017 at 16:14

            “Such is exemplified by your inability to prove that chiro IS a religion; your “citations” were so pathetically weak and non-germane to current chiropractice as to be considered as laughable as attempting to paint modern medicine as wizardry via a citation regarding its past use of trepanation. ROTFLMAO!”

            The problem with discussing anything with a chiro is they keep changing the goalposts. When you said it was not true, I said I would provide evidence of D. D. Palmer’s claim that chiropractic is a religion and he is the head of that church, which is exactly what I did.

            “Regarding number of lives saved via chiropractice, you should know that SMT is not a tool(pardon the pun) for saving lives. However, chiropractic education and clinical diagnosis do save, prolong, and improve lives. Personally, I have diagnosed many skin cancers, several cases of bone cancer, a few cases of lung CA, a number of hypertrophic prostate problems(some of which were eventually deemed cancerous per my referrals to urologists), and many palpable breast masses. Many other non-chiropractically treatable conditions have been discovered on physical examination in my office and have, of course, been referred to proper medical specialists for treatment. Such is the modern practice of chiropractic in my neck of the woods.”

            All you are saying is chiro is superfluous.

            “True, except young, ignorant Christopher made a Sweeping Generalisation fallacy for which you have failed to rebuke him. My anecdote was to remind him that his overarching generalisation is not correct,” you stated. Uh huh….go with that “explanation” if you wish.

            it is not an “explanation”, it explains why I did it.

            “My daughter is a Medpeds resident. She graduated undergrad Summa Cum Laude in biochemistry; I graduated undergrad Summa Cum Laude with dual biology and chemistry degrees. She was in the top 10% of her medical schoo(4 years) class; I was in the top 10% of my chiropractic school(4 years) class. She is in the midst of her 4-year residency. Chiropractic doctors, like those in optometry, dentistry, etc) are not required to complete a residency.”

            lol I can see now why your envy is so consuming. It (sense) does skip generations.

            “Whereas my daughter has been in school continuously since high school, I worked in a toxicology lab for a while before starting my chiropractic training. My biochem background has given me a very good perspective on judging basic science education as reveived by my daughter in medical school and by me in chiropractic school.”

            If you could judge “science education”, you wouldn’t have become a chiro, instead going into physio or similar. The lure of the title “doctor” was too much though. You couldn’t qualify for medical school so that seemed the next best thing to get that glorious title, which you so craved.

            “I have perceived no significant difference in the quality of basic science education in medical school versus my chiropractic school. You may guffaw and insult my opinion if you wish because I’m certain it doesn’t reconcile with your biased meta-narrative, but my opinion is sincere and accurate.”

            The quality of the content is only one aspect; the quality of those admitted, the quality of the teaching, the rigour of the assessments, and the standards of marking are all important.

            “I don’t have anything but respect for medicine and medical physicians, and not simply because my daughter is a physician. I do take umbrage with pompous ignoramuses who espouse half-or-non truths about chiropractice as though they are pursuing truthfullness ala Trump or Clinton.”

            Others take umbrage at pompous ignoramuses pretending to be doctors while only faffing around at the edges.

            P.S. Many here are not Americans and could not care less about your ridiculous system of democracy.

      • Not true in the US. MD’s and chiros do not work hand in hand. Unfortunately, most MD’s are not offered education in the realities of Chiropractic. If so, even less would refer. This is an excellent point though. Much more public and legitimate health care education should be offered explaining the hoax and con of chiropractics. If you cannot get into medical school why not try PT school?

        • Some do and some don’t Cox. As far as your “hoax con” inflammatory statement it’s physician like you…the bottom feeders who think giving adderall to children (or anyone for that matter) and prescribing opioids (heroine) to everyone is the answer.

          Your’e just an internet troll Cox, just because you have M.D. behind your name means nothing and your post is a prime example of this.

  • @Geir

    Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced today that two criminal Grand Jury indictments were unsealed charging an orthopedic surgeon, his personal attorney and a cadre of assistants with operating one of the largest insurance fraud scams in state history.

    Dr. Munir Uwaydah, his personal lawyer and his former office manager were among the 15 named in two indictments totaling 132 felony counts. Uwaydah was arrested Wednesday in Germany and is awaiting extradition back to the United States.

    “Today, we put an end to the illegal activities of an organized criminal enterprise that was responsible for one of the largest insurance fraud scams in California’s history,” District Attorney Lacey said. “Although the patient victims sustained physical harm, we who pay higher premiums for health care suffer economic harm when scams are allowed to continue unchecked.

    “Modern medicine” has its share of criminals, obviously.

    One simply must shake his head at the sophomoric attempts of Geir to paint chiropractic as corrupt because of the actions of a few, when those in his own profession engage in the same(or worse) nefarious activities. Perhaps Geir is still smarting from the realization that the death rate post chiropractic cervical SMT is infinitesimal compared to the 4.6% one-year death rate post bariatric surgery? Maybe said realization has strengthened his resolve to disparage chiropractic? Geir is so predicatbly arbitrary in his attacks on chiropractic that his opinions can largely be ignored, laughed at, or simply discounted.

    Be well, dear Geir

  • Here is a debate on chiropractic and it is worth watching.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRNzlKMLYk

    The stuff Reggie Gold speaks about makes a lot of sense even today.

    • @James

      In that video, what, precisely, makes a lot of sense to you?

      • @ James White

        Good grief. Is that the same Reggie Gold who taught courses on how to persuade people to get their spines checked and adjusted throughout their lifetime and said “if you were to come to my office, I wouldn’t want to know what is wrong with you. I wouldn’t want to know what your symptoms are. I would want to do one thing . . . examine your spine.”
        Ref: https://www.ncahf.org/digest12/12-02.html

        If so, his wife seems just as dubious…

        “Irene Gold DC, wife of straight chiropractor Reggie Gold, collected money to help straight chiropractic students cheat through board exams… Irene Gold was actually able to sit in on the meetings and obtain the questions for the upcoming test”
        Ref: http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Irene-Gold/1731702051

        ___________________________________________________________

        “Chiropractic is the correct term for the collection of deceptions DD Palmer invented.”

        Björn Geir Leifsson, MD

  • Edzard and anyone else like would like to answer… this question can be answered simply with 1-2 words… What system controls and coordinates every function in your body?

    • Do you mean the nervous system, or perhaps the endocrine, maybe the lymphatic, the vascular, or any other of the vital interactive systems?

      Anyway, what is the point of the question, unless, of course, it is purely rhetorical, premised on a fallacy? Chiros always assume an (incorrect) answer when they don’t even understand the question.

      Just like my chiro neighbour, a complete moron. He is even too nonsensical to have a casual conversation with. Sound similar?

      • you must forgive him: he was taught in chiro school that humans are all nerves; the rest seems just a little by-product. they are brain-washed!

  • Well to the fact that a simple GOOGLE search even tells you that the nervous system and brain does this… nervous system controls the endocrine system, nervous system controls the lymphatic, vascular, digestive, respiratory systems… so to the fact that none of you knew this explains to me the caliber of people we are dealing with on this forum. I rest my case with that. Thanks for engaging and have a great day

    • simple GOOGLE searches are for simple chiros; reality is more complicated.

      • Not a chiro but good to know you can’t even explain how the body works. And it’s actually not all that complicated. Only doctors who don’t understand how the human body works finds it complicating.

        Thanks again for not explaining and just complaining and bashing. Great ethics and morals.

        • you are more than welcome!

          • In all seriousness, I’m just interested, could you explain it to me Edzard. I’m a sophomore in high school and looking to be in the health profession. I have always wondered what is the master controller of the human body and how does it all work. I would like your explanation if you would be willing to explain it to me. Much thanks, Sam

          • there is no ‘master controller’. please study a good textbook of physiology to get a vague idea how complex it is.

  • Mark…your query

    “What system controls and coordinates every function in your body?”

    I would suggest looking into this function…

    “Passive transport is a naturally occurring phenomenon and does not require the cell to expend energy to accomplish the movement. In passive transport, substances move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration in a process called diffusion.”

    https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/mhccmajorsbio/chapter/passive-transport-diffusion/

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