In 1918 almost nothing was known about the treatment of influenza.

At that time there were two major progressions of thought on how to deal with such things in the west, Medicine and Chiropractic. As pragmatic as they were, they  started on what would change both professions permanently. Now scientifically validated, at the time of the flu epidemic of 1918 Chiropractic was considered an unscientific form of health care, using old antiquated knowledge.

The Influenza of 1918 proved chiropractic was not just something that people did. It was a method of health care.

The below quotes are excerpts from peer reviewed papers discussing the obvious problem within medical community.

In Davenport, Iowa, 50 medical doctors treated 4,953 cases, with 274 deaths. In the same city, 150 chiropractors including students and faculty of the Palmer School of Chiropractic, treated 1,635 cases with only one death.

In the state of Iowa, medical doctors treated 93,590 patients, with 6,116 deaths – a loss of one patient out of every 15. In the same state, excluding Davenport, 4,735 patients were treated by chiropractors with a loss of only 6 cases – a loss of one patient out of every 789.

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.

Reports show that in New York City, during the influenza epidemic of 1918, out of every 10,000 cases medically treated, 950 died; and in every 10,000 pneumonia cases medically treated 6,400 died. These figures are exact, for in that city these are reportable diseases.

In the same epidemic, under drugless methods, only 25 patients died of influenza out of every 10,000 cases; and only 100 patients died of pneumonia out of every 10,000 cases.

The Chiropractic method for the treatment of influenza was simple, adjust when there was a subluxation. Although in 1918 the exact science was not understood, today research is finally bringing form to our understanding of how real health care and wellness care can change our lives.

Dr.B