Enlightened physicians seek chiropractic care

Only a few years back physicians and chiropractors were at odds over differing health philosophies. It got so bad that the United States Supreme Court found the American Medical Association guilty of an illegal conspiracy to eliminate chiropractic as a competitive art. But today more and more enlightened physicians are referring patients to chiropractors and of course availing themselves of the benefits of specific spinal adjustments.
In a Chicago Tribune article this month a Professor at Loyola University Medical Center, Dr. Aaron Michelfelder, notes that doctors live extraordinarily stressful lives. Dr. Michelfelder says, “We see a lot of bad things,” and pointed out that 300 to 400 physicians commit suicide each year. Although he laments that “Physicians are always the slowest to change,” he has discovered the benefits of chiropractic care for his own health and well-being.
Another Chicago area doctor, Dr. David Bilstrom, on staff at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, also uses chiropractic to maintain his good health. Dr. Bilstrom observes that, “Physicians tend to be terribly unhealthy people who die at a younger age than others, have terrible stress, work bad hours and eat on the run.”
Dr Bilstrom also advocates the use of untraditional techniques on his patients with chronic diseases who failed to obtain relief from traditional medicine. The Chicago Tribune article quotes him as saying, “The interesting thing…is the same things you do to help treat a person with a problem are exactly the same things you want to do for prevention,” said Bilstrom. “Many medications only target symptoms and not the disease or illness,” he said.
I’ve often thought that it was sad that physicians weren’t being taught about the benefits of chiropractic care, so it is encouraging to see this trend.