In the closing days of World War 1, a deadly form of influenza appeared. The Spanish flu Pandemic of 1917-1918 claimed more lives than the war. The 1918 Spanish flu infected 500 million people worldwide and killed anywhere from 50 to 100 million people, making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. Very little was known about the prevention or treatment of the flu virus back then and so the world was very much at the mercy of the deadly disease, at least so they thought. To better reference this time, penicillin was discovered around 1926, and the first flu vaccine was used on soldiers in 1938.

Since science was still relatively in the dark ages in 1918, chiropractors relied on a philosophy of vitality, things natural and adjusting for the removal of nerve interference as a rule. Application of these principles with the chiropractic adjustment as its center piece, chiropractors witnessed a wide variety of health benefits including recovering from respiratory infections, but the real test came during the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918.

Chiropractic is a profession that was really made by the 1918 flu. In 1918 chiropractic was brand-new. The first chiropractor adjusted the first patient in the year 1895. Chiropractic was just 23 years old when the flu struck. From 1917 to 1918 the people who had the flu who were dying and received chiropractic, their chances of survival increased dramatically. If they were already under chiropractic care, they tended to not come down with the flu. What independent health care observers noted was that those who chose chiropractic care had only one 40th the death rate as compared to those who chose allopathic or drug-based management.  

This did not go unnoticed by public health authorities, and the result was licensure for the chiropractic profession. Chiropractic was licensed in Iowa and Nebraska as a consequence of the observation that those under chiropractic care were not dying during the 1917-1918 flu epidemic in anywhere near the same proportion as compared to those who were under medical care. Chiropractors got fantastic results with influenza patients while those under medical care died like flies. It is so interesting to note from a historical perspective that chiropractors were licensed because of their ability to treat people with an infection, the flu. Reminding you that this was in the pre-antibiotic and the pre-vaccination era of healthcare.

During the aftermath, scientists and officials got busy investigating the forensics to learn more about what had just happened. To the surprise of the scientific community, the little-known chiropractic profession performed amazingly well around the country. During the 1918 flu, researchers in Davenport, Iowa found that out of the 93,590 patients treated by medical doctors, there were 6,116 deaths — a loss of one patient out of every 15. Chiropractors at the Palmer School of Chiropractic adjusted 1,635 cases, with only one death. Outside Davenport, chiropractors in Iowa cared for 4,735 cases with only six deaths — one out of 866.

The medical profession was seeing a majority of the worst of the worst; however, one of the greatest statistics backing chiropractic care came from Oklahoma. During the same epidemic, in Oklahoma, out of 3,490 flu patients under chiropractic care, there were only seven deaths. Furthermore, chiropractors were called in to treat 233 cases given up as lost after medical treatment and reportedly saved all but 25 lives. In another report covering 4,193 cases by 213 chiropractors, 4,104 showed complete recovery. 

 Dr. M. L. Stanphill D.C. recounted meeting an elderly chiropractor in 1996 who told him that his introduction to chiropractic was doing house calls with his father, who was a chiropractor before him. The chiropractor told Dr. Stanphill that those house calls were made specifically to treat people who were bedridden with infectious diseases, primarily pneumonia. “During the flu, we didn't have an automobile. I went by horseback and drove a buggy day and night. I stayed overnight when the patients were really bad. When the rain and snow came. I just stayed it out. There wasn't a member of my family that had the flu.” He told Dr. Stanphill that his father had a reputation of having never lost a pneumonia patient. This was the pre-antibiotic era of health care. These results are part of the proven, critical link between the body’s central nervous system and the immune system.

In regard to the flu, attention should be directed to the upper thoracic region, especially the upper rib articulations. Appropriate manipulation of the rib cage can help increase ventilation to the lungs. 

Helen Mason, D.C.’s son, when only a year old, became very ill with bronchitis. My husband and I took him to several medical specialists without any worthwhile results. We called a chiropractor as a last resort and were amazed at the rapidity of his recovery. We discussed this amazing cure at length and came to the decision that if chiropractic could do as much for the health of other individuals as it had done for our son, we wanted to become chiropractors.”

 While today we mostly look at chiropractors as someone who treats sore backs and sore necks etc. Back in our history practically nobody went to chiropractors with aches and pains. They primarily went to chiropractors with infectious diseases. By having more flexibility and ease in the spine and spinal tissues, the nervous system is allowed to function at its most effective and optimal way. This relationship influences the way that our body can adapt to the environment, and our immune systems can fight disease. 

 I don't encourage you to do house calls with your patients with pneumonia or Covid. Instead, you can strengthen their immune systems prior to getting sick or help them after they recover. 

The Official History of Chiropractic in Texas by Walter R. Rhodes, D.C. Published by the Texas Chiropractic Association — 1978 

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