The information in this and the next four chapters comes from case records of chiropractic patients and statistical surveys. Some of the details have been taken from newspaper accounts; most of them are from the records of chiropractors in various parts of the country. The case records are based on the statements of the patients themselves. Chiropractic associations and clinics have recently undertaken the compilation of field research studies of cases given chiropractic care. Selections of survey material from two of the most recent and continuing field studies are also included in the following pages.
1. Allergy: Field Survey Data
Number of cases: 39 Male: 19 Female: 20 Average age: 23.5 years
Youngest: 1 year Oldest: 70 years Duration of condition: Average7.4 years
Longest25 years
Shortest60 days
Length of chiropractic care: Average-140.5 days
Number having previous chiropractic care: 7
Medical: 33 Number %
Summary
Recovered 22 56.4 Much improved 12 30.8 Some improvement 4 10.3 No improvement 1 2.5 Worse 0 0
2. Amnesia:
The following is quoted verbatim from the Phoenix (Arizona) Republic of April 30, 1953:
“Phoenix police did what they always did with amnesia victims yesterday and, sure enough, the victim remembered everything.
“In the middle of the afternoon a man came into the station. He was crying. He told Sgt. Arthur Fair-banks the past was a blank. The man said the last he remembered was being on a bus from Tucson to Phoenix.
“Fairbanks went into a huddle with Capt. More-head. `Take him to Dr. Shelton,’ Morehead said.
“The Captain was speaking of Dr. Milburn C. Shelton, Glendale chiropractor, who police say has restored 19 memories in a row.
`Patrolman Norman Morris and Leonard Damiani watched as the doctor manipulated the vertebrae in the victim’s neck.
`He went to sleep for a few minutes,’ Norris said.
`Then he woke up, looked at our uniforms, and wanted to know if he had done anything wrong.’
“The man remembered he was Hugh E. Smith of Covina, California. He remembered he was 40 years old, had a wife, and five children. It all came back to him, he said, that he went to Tucson last Sunday to look for work.”
3. Asthma: R.A., a young man of 22, had suffered from asthma since the age of eight. The frequent choking attacks made it difficult for him to work or associate with friends. He received treatment at the Asthma Clinic of the New York Hospital and had had injections which gave some relief, although the attacks always recurred. He was advised to avoid dust, feather pillows, rugs, and tobacco smoke. He finally went to a chiropractor. X ray revealed displacements of the second and third dorsal vertebrae. He was adjusted three times per week. After the first week of adjustments his condition improved markedly, and in three months he recovered completely.
4. Asthma: Field Survey Data
Number of cases: 355 Male: 188 Female : 167 Average age: 32.9 years Youngest: 1 year Oldest : 79 years Duration of condition: Average-9.7 years
Longest57 years
Shortest7 days
Length of chiropractic care:
Average-117.9 days
Number having previous chiropractic care: 71 Medical: 340
5. Hay Fever: Field Survey Data
Number of cases: 141 Male: 75 Female: 66 Average age: 30.7 years
Youngest: 4 years Oldest: 72 years Duration of condition: Average10 years
Longest-50 years
Shortest7 days Length of chiropractic care:
Average111 days
Number having previous chiropractic care: 32 Medical: 130
Summary Number %
Recovered 146 41.1 Much improved 140 39.4 Some improvement 43 12.1 No improvement 23 6.5 Worse 3 .9
Summary Number %
Recovered 65 46.1 Much improved 50 35.5 Some improvement 19 13.4 No improvement 7 5.0 Worse 0 0
6. Headache: Following an accident in which he was “badly shaken up,” C.D. of Roseau, Minnesota, had severe headaches which sometimes lasted for several days and were almost unendurable. Over a period of years, he underwent treatment by several medical doctors, but nothing they did helped for “more than a short time.” He then went to a chiropraetor, who X-rayed his neck and stated that the first bone in the spine, just below the head, was slightly out of place. One adjustment greatly improved the condition. The patient visits the chiropractor infrequently, since he lives 150 miles distant, but writes that he’s “free of headaches for weeks at a time and they are never very severe, now.”
7. Headache: Clinic Statistics
Number of cases: 145 Male: 33 Female: 112 Average age: 36.4 years
Youngest: 6 years Oldest: 71 years Duration of condition: Average-7.9 years
Longest35 years
Shortest2 weeks Length of chiropractic care:
Average-2.4 months
Medical: 69
Summary Number
Recovered 54 Much improved 46 Some improvement 25 No improvement 20 Worse 0
8. Hiccoughs: V.T. of Hot Springs, Arkansas, had a severe attack of hiccoughs which lasted for over three weeks. Five medical doctors attended the patient at various times, but “no permanent relief” resulted. Then the patient visited a chiropractor, and two adjustments were given, the first at 11:30 A.M. and the second at 1:15 P.M. Shortly after the second adjustment, the hiccoughs ceased and did not return thereafter.
9. Meniere’s Disease: Field Survey Data Number of cases: 25 Male: 16 Female: 9 Average age: 51 years
Youngest: 21 years Oldest: 71 years Duration of condition: Average5.3 years
Longest15 years
Shortest7 days Length of chiropractic care:
Average131.8 days
Number having previous chiropractic care: 3 Medical: 21
Summary Number %
Recovered 10 40.0 Much improved 8 32.0 Some improvement 5 20.0 No improvement 2 8.0 Worse 0 0
10. Sinusitis: For twelve years, Mrs. A.O.S. of Dayton, Ohio, suffered with a severe sinus condition which produced headaches so painful that frequently she could not lie down but had to sit up and hold her head in her hands. Treatment by numerous medical doctors did no good, and the patient was advised to move to a drier climate. At that point she visited a chiropractor, and after three adjustments the head-aches vanished for the first time in two years. After four months, the patient was so much improved that her headaches virtually ceased and she discontinued wearing heavily tinted glasses.
11. Chronic Sinusitis: Field Survey Data
Number of cases: 423 Male: 231 Female: 192 Average age: 39.9 years
Youngest: 4 years Oldest: 80 years Duration of condition: Average8.8 years
Longest53 years
Shortest5 days Length of chiropractic care:
Average93.5 days
Number having previous chiropractic care: 116
Medical: 383 Number
Summary
Recovered 173 Much improved 179 Some improvement 50 No improvement 20 Worse 1
12. Torticollis: Field Survey Data
Number of cases: 208 Male: 124 Female: 84 Average age: 37 years
Youngest: 4 years Oldest: 78 years Duration of condition: Average6.9 years
Longest50 years
Shortest1 day Length of chiropractic care:
Average24.1 days
Number having previous chiropractic care: 56 Medical: 111
Summary Number
Recovered 154 Much improved 40
Chiropractic in Head and Upper-Body Ills
Some improvement 9 4.4 Improvement 5 2.4 Worse 0 0