| Abstract/Notes |
Introduction: The first half of the 20th century was plagued by the poliomyelitis epidemic. Franklin Roosevelt was the highest-profile victim and did much to publicise the plight of polio victims, most of whom were children. Sister Kenny from Australia also became a household name because of her success in treating the victims of paralysis. Medicine, chiropractic, and other manual therapies rallied to find a cure and prevention for the dreaded affliction. This paper gives a brief review of polio and presents an account of chiropractic efforts in addressing the polio epidemic. Methods: The author identified the literature by searching PubMed, EbscoHost, WorldCat, the Index to Chiropractic Literature, and the Palmer College Online catalogue databases. The sources were then reviewed and a summary of articles analysed. Results: As early as 1909, success in treating victims of polio was reported in the chiropractic literature, and chiropractors wrote frequently on the subject of polio during the 1930s through the 1950s. Techniques for care during the acute phase of the disease, rehabilitation of victims, testimonials by patients reporting positive outcomes of chiropractic care, and theories of prevention were topics receiving chiropractic attention. After introduction of the Salk and Sabin vaccines, articles on polio appeared less frequently in the chiropractic literature, with most warning against the side effects of the vaccines. In the late 1980s, the literature addressed post-polio syndrome and chiropractic’s positive results. Discussion: The chiropractic focus on polio was largely unnoticed or undocumented by the mainstream and scientific press. The author asserts that the profession’s positive contributions would have had a higher profile resulting in the potential of helping more victims of polio if chiropractic successes had been published in the peer-reviewed, indexed literature. This paper is intended to help ameliorate the lack of access to documentation of the chiropractic contribution to the fight against polio. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription. |
