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World Chiropractic Alliance issues new mission statement

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The Board of Directors of the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) has issued a revised mission statement that puts the emphasis on worldwide humanitarian efforts. “The new mission statement is a reflection of our desire to create an ever-expanding ripple effect of positive actions,” stated the organization’s founder and President Terry A. Rondberg, DC. “We want to support and assist individual doctors, the profession as a whole, and ultimately the world.”

Peter Morgan, DC, chairman of the WCA Council on Humanitarian Efforts, said the WCA was inspired by the work of organizations that bring chiropractic and related health care and aid to developing nations and underserved populations around the globe.

“We have seen the impact a group of dedicated and compassionate chiropractors can have,” he said. “Although the WCA has always supported those humanitarian missions, and promoted them in The Chiropractic Journal, we feel the time is right to step up our efforts and make this a major focus of the group.”

The World Chiropractic Alliance was founded in 1989 as a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and strengthening chiropractic around the world. It is in a unique position to coordinate and support a variety of chiropractic missions since it is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) affiliated with the United Nations Department of Public Information. Timothy Merrick, DC, the WCA NGO representative, attends weekly briefings at the United Nations headquarters in New York and meets with other NGOs from around the world to share information about chiropractic.

“We have an opportunity to play a major role in addressing health concerns in developing nations as well as in first-world countries,” he explained. “We frequently see people in remote, poverty-stricken areas walking miles to get to a doctor of chiropractic who is visiting as part of a health care mission. They want chiropractic; they need chiropractic. And we all gain from the experience of serving others.

To initiate the new emphasis on service, the World Chiropractic Alliance has scheduled its first annual World Chiropractic Alliance Humanitarian Forum on Oct. 2, 2010 in Long Branch, NJ. Organizations involved in health mission — including Mission Life International, Mission-Chiropractic, Spinal Missions, ChiroMission, The “Best Mission Trip Ever”, and AdJust World — will attend the meeting to discuss how the WCA can assist in their work.

The WCA plans to provide scholarships to students wishing to participate in mission, provide other administrative and/or financial support to humanitarian groups, coordinate with NGOs in United Nations work, raise awareness of chiropractic charitable work through the global health care community, and provide information and resources to groups and individuals engaged in such work.

The new mission statement also reflects the organization’s continued commitment to supporting the chiropractic profession as a whole, and providing a wide range of resources to assist individual doctors of chiropractic.

The new mission statement of the World Chiropractic Alliance is to:

  • Develop, promote and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations that, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care
  • Support health and social measures that would benefit the underserved populations worldwide
  • Promote chiropractic as the only discipline that focuses on correcting subluxations and reducing the stress that interferes with the body’s ability to self-regulate and heal
  • Provide resources needed by doctors of chiropractic and chiropractic students to become more competent and successful practitioners

All doctors of chiropractic, chiropractic students, and chiropractic supporters are invited to join the WCA by visiting the WCA website at www.WorldChiropracticAlliance.org.

The World Chiropractic Alliance is an international professional association representing doctors of chiropractic, chiropractic students, and chiropractic patients. It’s four-fold mission is to develop, promote and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations who, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care; support health and social measures that would benefit the underserved populations worldwide; promote chiropractic as the only discipline that focuses on correcting subluxations and reducing the stress that interferes with the body’s ability to self-regulate and heal; and provide resources needed by doctors of chiropractic and chiropractic students to become more competent and successful practitioners.

DCs helping in Haiti

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The new mission statement by the World Chiropractic Alliance puts an emphasis on humanitarian work around the world, re-dedicating itself to “ Develop, promote and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations that, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care,”

We’re obviously not the only ones recognizing the desperate need for chiropractic care as well as basic health care, food, water, clothing and shelter. That’s why the chiropractic profession continues to have a strong presence in Haiti, redoubling its humanitarian and relief efforts in the wake of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that left some 300,000 people dead and more than 1.5 million homeless.

Around the world, chiropractors have demonstrated compassion and generosity in a wide variety of ways, from fundraising by individual practices to ambitious on-site mission work.

Among a few of the many efforts:

Mission Chiropractic—Peter Morgan, DC, reports that the humanitarian group has already made four trips to Haiti this year. They returned just days after the earthquake and helped install water purification units to bring fresh water to a small village that was nearly totally destroyed in the disaster. They continue to provide chiropractic care at the Mission Chiropractic Clinic in Port Au Prince, are rebuilding a school and church, building a homeless shelter, and continue to distribute water and food. “The people in this community begged us to not forget them. We will not,” pledged Dr. Morgan. The group is the process of helping to open a chiropractic-based orphanage called Organisation Des Families Pour La Croissance Des Enfants Demunis: Mission Pour La Vie Internacionale. (Mission Life International: Family Organization for Orphaned Children). For more information, visit www.mission-chiropractic.com.

Heather Jones, DC—When ChiroMission put together a team of 36 chiropractors to provide chiropractic adjustments to anyone in Haiti who needed them (including medical doctors and nurses who were there as part of other relief efforts), Canadian chiropractor Heather Jones, DC, didn’t hesitate. “I was amazed at how everyone worked together to help each other,” she told her local newspaper, which ran a feature on her experience. “I will never forget the children. Even with these tough conditions, there was joy in their eyes. All they wanted was to hold my hand and to hug me.” The team also brought donations of food, clothing and other much needed supplies.

Rennie Statler, DC—This Danbury, Conn., chiropractor received an e-mail asking him to help out on a Stepping Stones mission trip to Haiti shortly after the earthquake. Within 45 minutes, he had made plane reservations and arranged for another doctor to cover his office. In addition to distributing rice and water in Port-au-Prince, the team set up adjusting tables and was immediately surrounded by a crowd of some 300 people wanting the healing only DCs can give.

The Martineau Chiropractic Clinics—In England, the Devon-based clinics held a raffle to raise funds for the Haitian victims, giving away prizes such as a free chiropractic session, a massage and even Pilates instruction. Plus, they matched all the money raised by the raffle!

Cheryl van der Mark, DC—The Ontario, Canada doctor sold her practice to devote herself full time to work in Haiti, where she has been living for the past two years. After surviving the quake, she decided to accept an offer to manage the Mission of Hope Haiti health care facilities. Now, she oversees an outpatient clinic staffed by Haitians, orthopedic surgery, prosthetics laboratory, and an in-patient ward—not to mention working to build a new hospital! An article in the Oakville Beaver newspaper noted that, in addition to all this, she also provides chiropractic care to Haitians and North American doctors working in Haiti. “I’m doing a lot of hands on and a lot of administration at the same time,” she stated in the article. “There’s no set hours. We’re working pretty much round the clock and on weekends as well. We live on the compound where the clinic is, so working has been improvised.”

Tzu Chi International—The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation continues to provide health care to Haitian survivors. Unlike many medical organizations, Tzu Chi provides a wide variety of health services, including oriental medicine, dental services, and chiropractic care. So far, since the earthquake, volunteers have made 13 trips to Haiti, most recently providing school supplies to children along with health care.

Shannon Johnson, DC—Dr. Johnson left his Greenup, Ky., practice for more than a week to work with Angel Missions Haiti, a non-profit medical and education group. As he told local reporters at WOWK-TV, “They were just in so much pain and hurt and there’s no help. I felt I needed to go and I spoke to my wife and asked if she cared if I volunteered and she said no, you need to go.”

Elliott Chiropractic Center—The Canonsburg, Penn., practice sponsored a four-mile relief walk, where participants paid $10 to participate. All proceeds went to benefit the earthquake victims in Haiti. In addition to the walk, Elliott offered free services to new patients who donate $20 to the relief effort.

The list goes on and on

“The World Chiropractic Alliance applauds these efforts and encourages all DCs to look for opportunities to help whenever a crisis hits, whether it’s in their hometown or across the globe,” said Terry A. Rondberg, DC, founder and president of the World Chiropractic Alliance.

WCA sponsors Haiti relief mission

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In response to the emergency in Haiti, the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) sponsored a special Mission-Chiropractic trip to the devastated country in January 2010.

Headed by Peter Morgan, DC, the team of 15 chiropractors and support staff flew to Haiti on Jan. 20 and spent five days delivering chiropractic care, first aid, and humanitarian relief to residents in an area close to Port Au Prince. In addition, the team distributed food and installed vital water filtration systems, which allowed people access to clean water for the first time since the Jan. 12 earthquake. The systems were donated by Connecticut-based KX Technologies.

Dr. Morgan, a long-time WCA member, is the founder and head of Mission-Chiropractic and has extensive emergency relief experience, including organizing efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York. He and his volunteers had just returned from a regular chiropractic mission trip to Haiti on Monday, January 11 — one day before the earthquake destroyed much of the country and killed as many as 230,000 people.

Morgan’s team joined up with a group of volunteers headed by Herman Mendoza, founder of Stepping Stones Ministries. The two groups received clearance from the Haitian Consulate General in New York to provide relief assistance.

Because there were no available living accommodations in the area, the team was housed by one of Morgan’s patients in the area, chiropractic advocate and Haitian citizen Saurel Charles.

“We installed five water filtration systems in five different locations,” Morgan reported upon his return. “These systems will be used to provide clean drinking water to entire communities. Among the recipients was a makeshift hospital in the rubble of the worst hit section in Port Au Prince. A community ambulance service that was nearly totally destroyed, as was the house of the Pastor in the community that we adopted.”

Upon arrival, the chiropractic team rented three large SUVs and filled them with food and water as well as chiropractic tables.

“We adjusted a few thousand people in tent-city refugee camps around the corner from the Capitol building,” Morgan explained. “The next day, we ventured into the fields behind the US Embassy, where we offered low-tech bandaging and wound care. We adjusted hundreds of people who were living in makeshift tents constructed with sticks and bed sheets.

“As we worked on these people, they begged us for food and water stating, ‘We have not had a drink of water in many days. We need food and water!”

Throughout the trip, the team filled and emptied the SUVs again and again, bringing as much food and water as they could to the desperate people, giving adjustments whenever possible.

“Two associates of our team served in the hospitals assisting in amputations and delivering babies,” Morgan added.

The water filtration systems were a particular blessing to the people. Many people who survived the initial earthquake have since died from diseases contracted by drinking contaminated water.

According to one AP report, “Nearly a month after the quake, respiratory infections, malnutrition, diarrhea from waterborne diseases and a lack of appropriate food for young children may be the biggest killers, health workers say.”

Ironically, generous but ill-informed donors had shipped in huge quantities of powered infant formula, which was useless or dangerous due to the lack of clean water and access to sterilized bottles.

The neighborhood targeted by Morgan and his team, near their host’s home, was almost completely destroyed.

“The school, church, and most homes are gone,” he said. “We have decided to adopt this community. Our mission is to provide full time chiropractic at this location. We also intend to rebuild the school, church, and many homes. We would like to build a shelter at the home of Saurel Charles. We intend to continue to distribute water and food. The people in this community begged us to not forget them. We will not. Our plans are to have two-to-three full time chiropractors at this site until our mission is accomplished. We are asking the chiropractic profession to support our mission.”

WCA sponsored mission takes chiropractic to Haiti once more

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Hundreds of military personnel get adjusted

Submitted by the World Chiropractic Alliance

During his 28-year career as a chiropractor, Peter Morgan, DC, has adjusted thousands of men, women, and children, but– unlike most of his colleagues — he often doesn’t even know their names. That’s because he cared for them during one of the 59 humanitarian trips he has made over the past 11 years, many of them sponsored and promoted by the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA).

“One of the key goals of the WCA is to develop, promote, and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations that, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care,” explained Terry A. Rondberg, DC, founder and president of the WCA. “During the past decades, we’ve been involved in mission trips from remote villages in Tibet to overcrowded tenements in the United States. We go where chiropractic is needed and people like Dr. Morgan are the heroes who get it there.”

Because of the devastating earthquakes that nearly destroyed Haiti in 2010, Morgan has focused particular attention on that country. This year, he took a team of 45 chiropractors and chiropractic students to URUBATT 2, the Haiti United Nations military base. They also had the opportunity to examine and adjust the entire 395 Uruguay military personal stationed at this base.

Some of the team stayed at the Mission Life International Chiropractic Orphanage in Haiti and others had the opportunity to teach the “Straighten up America” program to supervisors at the Codevi factory supervisors. Codevi — which manufactures clothing for Calvin Klein, Lee Jeans, and Timberland shoes — employs more than 10,000 Haitian citizens. “We examined and adjusted many of these employees and have been approached to create the largest chiropractic research study ever performed,” Morgan noted.

As a member of the WCA Board of Governors, Morgan works closely with Haitian health and government officials, as well as the departments within the United Nations. In December 1998, the WCA was named an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). Part of his job is to make sure the chiropractic profession is educated on the global need for health care in general and chiropractic in particular.

Morgan also serves as President of Mission Life International and as an International committee officer for the International Federation of Chiropractors and Organizations.

Traveling with him on recent humanitarian missions has been Gary Deutchman, DC, President Scoliosis Care Foundation, Vice President Mission Life International, DPI/NGO Chiropractic Representative to the United Nations, Past District President  NY Chiropractic Council and Stephen Simonetti, DC, Vice President Mission Life International, DPI/NGO Chiropractic Representative to the United Nations,  Past President Congress of State Chiropractic Organizations, Past President NY Chiropractic Council .

After their stay in Haiti, the team spent four days in the Dominican Republic, where a team of dedicated Dominican chiropractic advocates generated widespread publicity, spotlighting the mission on television and radio.

“We got word to more than 50 pastors and priests throughout the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. When we arrived at the churches, thousands of people were lined up waiting to be adjusted,” the New York-based doctor explained.

He added that, “At the schools, we teach Straighten Up America and check all the children. Our team sees approximately 6,000 people a day – 6,000 people a day for 8 days. We not only check and adjust the people, we tell the chiropractic story to groups of 50 at a time. This is some awesome and fun work. Giving for the sake of giving, giving out of our own abundance. Using the blessing that God bestowed upon us – our healing hands.”

He’s back in New York now, but receives daily phone calls and e-mails from Haiti, all echoing their pleas of “… don’t forget us… help us… please, please.” He’s often awakened in the middle of the night. “A nightmare?” he asks. “No, a Haitian reality.”

Before he embarks on another mission, he makes a plea of his own, for food, clothing, money, and support of any kind. “We thank all the people who have donated to our Mission Life International orphanage over the years, especially to the 2,500 chiropractors who have joined me over the last 11 years on these 59 chiropractic mission trips.”

To learn more about these missions, or to sign up for an upcoming trip, visit missionlifeinternational.com or call 404-786-2014.

SIDEBAR:

In addition to his own pleas, Dr. Morgan was asked by Colonel Raul Passarino, the United Nations Military Commander in Haiti – who has been under chiropractic care for many years—to pass the following information along to all his fellow chiropractors.

The mission of the United Nations for the stabilization of Haiti, called Minustah, was launched in 1993 and ran from 1994 to 2001.

In 2004 there was political crisis in Haiti with an armed outbreak. That’s when the United Nations Haitian police was created.  President Aristide left the country. On the 29th of February, the acting president assumed power and requested United Nations assistance, authorizing the entry of United Nations troops in Haiti.

The Security Council approved the recommendations of the secretary general for the installation of a multidimensional mission, and the Minustah mandate was established to secure and stable environment in which the political process can develop. To strengthen Haiti’s governmental institutions and assist in the reinstatement of the rules of law, as well as promote and protect human rights.

The current United Nations personnel deployed in Haiti consist of 8.720 soldiers and 3, 550 police, supported by 510 international staff, 1.214 national staff, and 231 UN volunteers.

Chiropractic mission to Cuba a first

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Earlier this year, a team of three chiropractors, three chiropractic students, three chiropractic advocates and one chiropractic office manager brought chiropractic care and humanitarian supplies to the people of Cuba.

Peter Morgan, DC, founder of Mission-Chiropractic, led the five-day mission to the communist nation at a time when new hope has emerged among the Cuban residents. The group made new friendships and brought home a better understanding of the plight of people on the island. It’s believed to have been the first successful major chiropractic mission ever to visit Cuba.

The trip was endorsed and promoted by the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), whih has put an new emphasis on humanitarian efforts throughout the world. It’s new mission statement specifically notes that it intends to “Develop, promote and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations that, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care.”

Terry A. Rondberg, DC, president and founder of the WCA, admitted that he never expected his organization to endorse a trip to Cuba. “The nation has been off limits for so long, we expected a ton of red tape, if you’ll excuse the expression. But Dr. Morgan was able to cut through the bureaucracy and focus everyone’s attention on what really mattered – bringing health care to people who needed it.”

From Nassau in the Bahamas, the team boarded a small, old Russian propeller plane. They encountered turbulence for the entire hour ride and were happy (and relieved!) to touch down in Havana, where they were greeted by hundreds of Cuban workers wearing swine flu masks. “It was really eerie, as was going through an extensive and exceedingly thorough customs protocol,” Morgan explained. “When we finally exited the airport, we felt as though we had stepped back in time. Most of the cars were made in the 1950s—but they all ran and looked as if they were brand new.”

The group stayed in a beautiful hotel overlooking Havana’s majestic harbor. The entrance to the harbor is guarded by a 400-year-old fort, built by the Spanish between 1589 and 1630, to ward off attacks by pirates and enemy fleets. In 1845, a huge lighthouse was built adjacent to the fort, which makes the entrance to the city even more picturesque. Havana looks like a combination of Spain, the Caribbean and Italy, with statues and fountains gracing many of the spacious squares, Morgan explained.

“We spent the first day like typical tourists, eating at great restaurants and even watching Cuban soldiers dressed in the uniforms of British redcoats performing a curfew-time firing of the canon, as they did when the British captured Havana in 1762.”

The following day, they set aside their tourist hats and went to work on their chiropractic mission, boarding a ferry that took them across the harbor to Regla, a poorer part of the island, completely different from the downtown tourist area of “Old Havana.”

They arrived about 8 a.m. and were met by a large group of local residents who had put on their “Sunday best” clothes. They had been waiting patiently to see the chiropractors from the United States and now jockeyed for position to get a glimpse of us. Morgan told them the chiropractic story and set up the adjusting rooms. They had not been allowed to bring portable chiropractic tables into Cuba, but the hosts had made a number of tables and set them up in several rooms of the converted church building.

The next day, part of the team was driven out to the countryside about an hour outside Havana. They set up adjusting rooms in a small church and attached house. Many of the Cubans living in the home had severe disabilities. The beds were simple slabs of wood, many without a pillow or even a cover. The floors were manufactured by the pastor in order to make more room for the people who lived there.

“When we broke for lunch or dinner we were told that honored guests eat first, everyone else later. They had so little yet they offered it to us!,” Morgan recalled.  “They are so generous that when one of us made a comment on how much we liked their small, old-fashioned coffee machine, they wanted to give it to us as a gift!”

The floor of the kitchen and eating area was plain concrete but swept and mopped perfectly clean, Morgan recalled. “Life there is simple, slow,” he stated. “Generations have been born on this property and shacks have been added to accommodate the new marriages. They work hard to live; it shows on the roughness of their feet, hands and faces, but their hearts are as warm and innocent as children.

“Speaking of children, they followed us everywhere. We felt like Pied Pipers! Our digital cameras always caused fun, laughter and smiles as the children transformed themselves into athletes, circus artists, clowns and acrobats for the camera. They all posed and began doing cartwheels and flips. They immediately wanted to see their pictures. As we were leaving, kids ran alongside us, waving.

One of the team doctors enthusiastically noted, “What an incredible experience I had in Cuba. It was five of the most meaningful days of my life. …We were humbled to see many chiropractic miracles while we were there. We saw God working through us as we taught and adjusted in Havana and Regla, Cuba.”

The Cuba trip was one of a number of humanitarian efforts by Mission-Chiropractic, which has also brought chiropractic care to poor communities in Central America and the Caribbean, including Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Trips to Ethiopia and Ghana are scheduled for 2010.

To help fund the missions, Mission-Chiropractic has partnered with Mission Life International and “7 Weeks to Wellness Ministry” to create an evangelistic health ministry geared to generating new patients.

To learn more about these missions, or to sign up for an upcoming trip, visit missionlifeinternational.com or call 404-786-2014.

Nine days in Tibet

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by Derek Conte, DC

“Two months after my mother, Sarah, passed away in Dec. 2009, I saw an invitation in The Chiropractic Journal to join a mission trip to the mysterious and far away land of Tibet. A photo showed a small temple on a hill and two monks, robed in red, nearby. In the background rose the massive, snow-covered slabs of the Himalayas. I was entranced. The trip was to be led by the World Chiropractic Alliance’s World Chiropractic Humanitarian Forum and Dr. Peter Morgan. I never had any desire before to visit such a place, but somehow I was strongly called to go.

I had moved mom in to live with me the previous year after I took the x-ray that revealed her cancer in what turned out to be the last year of her life. Back in the late 1960s, I remember her reading to my sister and me from the books of Lobsang Rampa, a Tibetan Lama, which told of his world and religion. Perhaps it was this connection that I was feeling when I thought about taking this journey, or maybe some need to break free from my own world and routine, but I knew it was time to look outward again.

The chiropractic mission was attached to a group called “Sacred Journeys,” which offers guided tours to Tibet and other sacred places. When I spoke with Dr. Morgan and asked for his advice on how to help create the mission in Tibet he said to me, “Doc, just make it happen. Go there and you’ll know what to do.” That simple direction left no more to be said. I knew it was up to me to use my chiropractic skills to help wherever I could. So, I left on August 1st with just a backpack that held only a minimum of gear plus a vial of my mother’s ashes. I kept my mind and heart free from expectations. Our mission team had five members: a doctor of Chinese medicine (Kip Clauss), a clinical psychologist (Michael Katz), two chiropractors (myself and Tamara Petersen) and a laywoman (Amparo Far) from Spain who is a practicing Buddhist.

Upon arriving in the capital, Lhasa, I noticed a striking quiet and stillness. The air was fresh and sweet. There was a heady, dreamy feeling as we carried our bags to the waiting caravan. The overall environment in Tibet is extreme with rocky, dry and unforgiving ground that prevents growing anything other than barley or rice near the river banks. It was cool in the day and cold at night. The sun is so strong that covering the head and arms was crucial during hikes.

To get to the hinterlands we visited, we would drive off-road as high as our trucks could take us and then hike for two or three hours more, as high as 16,000 ft., up to a village, nunnery or monastery nestled in the mountainside.

The thin air took its toll on all during these hikes. On our first day of hiking, after hours of walking up toward the sacred caves in Samye (one of Tibet’s spiritual centers), I began to falter and lagged behind the group despite working to push myself through the pain. I had to stop on the steep slopes every few steps to pant for breath. My legs were dead. I felt at the breaking point, physically and mentally. Eventually, I noticed I was alone and found myself wondering if I would die up there. Would that be so bad, I wondered, in a place like this? I stopped, gathered myself, and began to notice the majesty of the space and quiet around me. A great sense of well-being swept through me. I knew my mother would have loved this place and I used this moment to pray for her and spread some of her ashes on a cluster of beautiful wildflowers and in a stream I discovered nearby.

Our first stop after these mountain hikes would be an eating-place, usually a moderately sized room seating 15-20 people where we would have dinner. This was conducive to mission work because people were relaxed. At dinner this same evening, Michael Katz noticed a local who was favoring his neck. We had our Tibetan guide, Tsering, speak to the entire room and say that there were doctors present who would help them if they wanted. The man was reluctant, but at the urging of his wife the brave soul came forward. After a brief translated history was taken, the people gasped as the adjustment was done and the patient laughed and smiled as he moved his neck freely and without pain. And in that moment, the mission began. Everyone started lining up to tell us of their ailments.

Word traveled quickly through the village, bringing even more people. A tremendous energy was in the air as Kip Clauss grabbed the video camera and translated for Tamara and me as we interviewed the patients. The languages bouncing back and forth, the tension of the evaluations, the physical surprise of the adjustments, and the joy of the results combined to make an indelible memory. One teenage boy had hip and groin pain, bladder control problems and testicular pain with an elevated testicle. We adjusted the mid-lumbers and stretched the psoas muscle and cleared the genitofemoral nerve for him.

This scene was typical of how the mission work would unfold. From modest beginnings grew intense and exciting moments of healing, joy and communion. The effect of pure chiropractic, in its elemental form, was profound.

Another day, at an outdoor eating-place, I offered to help a woman who was rubbing her hurting foot. As I was working with her, a crowd gathered around and a five-hour adjusting session ensued, during which I adjusted dozens of monks and villagers alike. We saw many problems, like chronically dislocated joints, tooth decay, old severed tendon injuries, thrombophlebitis, suspected organic problems and much more, which would have benefitted from earlier chiropractic or medical intervention. But we advised the people accordingly and did our best to help everyone with the only tools we had: our hands.

Tibetans are beautiful people with deeply lined faces etched by a hard life, and skin made reddish-brown by the unfiltered sun. They smile easily when engaged and believe it rude to complain, even when hurt or sick. Most have never seen a doctor, dentist or hospital, much less a chiropractor. In a place like this, a single, well-placed chiropractic adjustment can change a life. One villager I helped was stooped over from a motorcycle accident 10 days earlier, his face badly bruised, and within a few minutes he was upright and smiling with his family. He can earn a living again.

For me, this feeling of usefulness and being needed was very rewarding. I now know that wherever I am, I have the capacity to bring a ‘chiropractic mission’ with me and that is a very formidable idea. Ironically, though I was giving something to the people, I felt like I was the greatest recipient; not only from the work we did, but in the way I received so many blessings to my soul just by being among the Tibetan people. There were several powerful moments on this journey for me, spiritually, when what I witnessed brought me to tears, like hearing the nuns chant and sing in a temple, meeting a holy woman whose radiant energy penetrated me and when in the marketplace on my last day in Tibet, a child broke away from her mother’s hand just to run up before me and declare, “Welcome to Tibet!” It was like being hit with a hammer. I only wish she could have said that to my mother, too.

(Dr. Derek Conte lives and practices in Smyrna, Georgia. Contact him by e-mail:[email protected])

50 DCs to join largest mission to Haiti

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by Peter H. Morgan, DC

Mission Chiropractic begins 2013 by setting off on the largest chiropractic mission trip to Haiti in the group’s history, sponsored in part by the World Chiropractic Alliance. More than 50 DCs will join me in bringing chiropractic care to this poverty-stricken nation. Previously, our largest Haitian mission team numbered 28.

Unlike many health missions, this is part of an ongoing outreach to Haiti. Since the devastating 2010 earthquake, we have been able to feed 100 children per day and house 20 orphans. On this upcoming trip, we’ll be staying at the orphanage. We’ll also be building a chiropractic office in the house that our famous Dr. “Eddy” will be running.

We started with chiropractic missions to the Dominican Republic and Haiti in 2002. I was vice president of the New York Chiropractic Council during the 2001 World Trade Center attack. I helped organize chiropractors from all over the world to come to NY and assist in our efforts to assist the workers after the tragedy.

It was then I heard the calling to work in the mission field. So, our chiropractic mission began, and then expanded to Trinidad, Tobago, Venezuela, and Tibet.

On January 11, 2010, the day after we’d returned from a mission trip to Haiti, we heard news that the tiny island nation had been struck with the worst earthquake in 200 years. Approximately 320,000 people perished; 1,500,000 became homeless; and thousands upon thousands of children became orphans.

God issued me an order to organize chiropractors to aid in this disaster. Our team of 20 returned to Port Au Prince and started feeding and adjusting thousands. We took in many children and Mission Life International became licensed as an orphanage. Mission Life International is also a 501(C)3- registered charitable organization in the United States.

We’re also a registered non-profit in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti. We now have the ability to transport items to both nations at no fee. Since January 2010, we’ve had 18 chiropractic mission trips to Haiti and 12 trips to the Dominican Republic.

Helping to promote and publicize the trip was the World Chiropractic Alliance, whose newly established mission is to “Develop, promote and support humanitarian programs that reach out to populations that, due to geographic or economic factors, cannot access chiropractic care,” and to “Support health and social measures that would benefit the underserved populations worldwide.”

In December 1998, the WCA was named an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI).

We have put special emphasis on Haiti and nearby nations because of the poverty in the area, as well as the obvious signs of need there. In Haiti and parts of the Dominican Republic, hospitals don’t even have X-ray equipment. Fortunately, Jerry Degrado, DC, past president of the Congress of State Chiropractic Organizations and Robert Reiss, DC, past executive officer of the New York Chiropractic Council donated two X-ray machines that we’ll be shipping to the island shortly.

The generosity of DCs and chiropractic organizations has been inspiring. Dr. Gary Deutchman built 70 desks and chairs for the orphans at our vitalistic primary school. Thanks to Boo Burnier; Joe Rotola; Josh Click, DC; Benna Click, DC; Sebastian Bonin, DC; Joo Young Kim, DC; Brad Rauch, DC; and David Nguyen, we were able to raise the funds to build shelters, bathrooms and a shower in our school. (If I left any one out, I apologize.)

I’ve also become friends with Rev. Jack Bowman, a pastor in New York, who has helped the cause tremendously. His church, United Palace Cathedral, has a seating capacity of 5,000, and his theater, United Palace Theatre, is on Broadway in New York City.

A benefit concert in the United Palace Theatre featured a famous Latin singer and a showing of the movie “Doctored” was held in conjunction with Life University. Our special guests for this event were the film’s producers Jeff Hays and Dr. Brian McAulay, Life University vice president and provost. The proceeds went towards our mission work in the Dominican Republic and the orphanage in Haiti.

The future holds many exciting activities. We’re planning to bring computers to schools, generate donations of food from large supermarket chains, and even help with waste management projects. We hope to send several sanitation trucks and ambulances to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

We’ve opened a Mission Life International mission office in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic with a staff worker. I’ve paid for the lease of our house for the orphanage, 25 bunk beds and our mission office with my own money, and I’m looking for and getting help from others.

Last month, at the United Palace Cathedral, we held a major press conference regarding our mission work. In attendance were The New York Times, New York Post, many Latin newspapers, and representatives from major TV stations. We’re also in the process of getting sponsors from major corporations.

The only thing missing from our efforts is you! Please join us on a future chiropractic mission trip or support our activities with your donations. Visit www.missionlifeinternational.com for all the details on how you can help.

(A graduate of Pace University and New York College of Chiropractic, Mission Chiropractic Founder Peter Morgan, DC, has led dozens of chiropractic humanitarian missions to developing nations.)

Half of All Alzheimer’s Patients Don’t Really Have the Disease

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by Terry A. Rondberg, DC

English: PET scan of a human brain with Alzhei...

PET scan of a human brain with Alzheimer’s disease (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Research shows that Alzheimer’s disease and other dementing illnesses are often misdiagnosed in the elderly, leading to incorrect treatment and medications.That is the conclusion of a study presented as part of a plenary session at the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting in April.

“Diagnosing specific dementias in people who are very old is complex, but with the large increase in dementia cases expected within the next 10 years in the United States, it will be increasingly important to correctly recognize, diagnose, prevent and treat age-related cognitive decline,” said study author Lon White, MD, MPH, with the Kuakini Medical System in Honolulu.

For the study, researchers autopsied the brains of 426 Japanese-American men who were residents of Hawaii, and who died at an average age of 87 years. Of those, 211 had been diagnosed with a dementia when they were alive, most commonly attributed to Alzheimer’s disease.

The study found that about half of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease did not have sufficient numbers of the brain lesions characterizing that condition to support the diagnosis. Most of those in whom the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease was not confirmed had one or a combination of other brain lesions sufficient to explain the dementia. These included microinfarcts, Lewy bodies, hippocampal sclerosis or generalized brain atrophy. In most of these cases, however, the patient had been treated – incorrectly – for Alzheimer’s, based on the misdiagnosis.

Misdiagnoses increased with older age. They also reflected non-specific manifestations of dementia, a very high prevalence of mixed brain lesions, and the ambiguity of most neuroimaging measures.

“Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and provide insight as to how we may more accurately diagnose and prevent Alzheimer’s disease and other principal dementing disease processes in the elderly,” said Dr. White.

SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology, press release, Feb. 23, 2011

(Dr. Terry A. Rondberg is founder and President of the World Chiropractic Alliance and publisher emeritus of The Chiropractic Journal. Developer of Bioenergy Therapy, he brings cutting edge wellness care to clients at his Temecula Wellness Center in California.)

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Amphetamines Linked to Risk of Parkinson’s

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Dexedrine 5mg tablets

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

People who have used amphetamines such as Benzedrine and Dexedrine appear to be at an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study released presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 63rd Annual Meeting.

Benzedrine and Dexedrine are amphetamines often prescribed to increase wakefulness and focus for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy – a disorder that can cause excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden attacks of sleep. They are also used to treat traumatic brain injuries.

The study involved 66,348 people in northern California who had participated in the Multiphasic Health Checkup Cohort Exam between 1964 and 1973 and were evaluated again in 1995. The average age of the participants at the start of the study was 36 years-old. Of the participants, 1,154 people had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease by the end of the study.

Exposure to amphetamines was determined by two questions: one on the use of drugs for weight loss and a second question on whether people often used Benzedrine or Dexedrine. Amphetamines were among the drugs commonly used for weight loss when this information was collected.

According to the study, people who reported using Benzedrine or Dexedrine were nearly 60% more likely to develop Parkinson’s than those who didn’t take the drugs. The study revealed no increased risk for individuals who used drugs for weight loss.

“If further studies confirm these findings, the potential risk of developing Parkinson’s disease from these types of amphetamines would need to be considered by doctors before prescribing these drugs as well as be incorporated into amphetamine abuse programs, including illicit use,” said study author Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, PhD, with the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, Calif.

Dr. Van Den Eeden explained that amphetamines affect the release and uptake of dopamine, the key neurotransmitter involved in Parkinson’s disease. He said that more research needs to be completed to confirm the association and learn more about possible mechanisms.

According to a Newsweek article by Jack Shafer, “Pharmaceutical companies produced 3.5 billion legal tablets of various amphetamines in 1958, enough to supply every American with 20 standard doses (5 to 15 milligrams) a year. Those pills were potentially just as addictive and potentially just as deadly as the meth found on the street today. Less than a decade later, annual production of pharmaceutical amphetamines had climbed to 8 billion tablets, and by 1971 it topped 12 billion. These quantities far exceeded the amount needed for the then-approved medical uses of amphetamines in treatment of narcolepsy, obesity, depression, fatigue, anxiety, and hyperkinetic children.”

Terry A. Rondberg, DC, President of the World Chiropractic Alliance and developer of Bioenergy Therapy, says that such adverse side effects with today’s drugs is not only far too common, but increasing in frequency. “We have to learn that we can’t rely on drugs and surgery to prevent and resolve health issues,” he explained. “These methods usually don’t help and end up causing more problems. We need to understand that our bodies have an innate ability to get and keep us well. Sometimes, we need to give it help by correcting interference or relieving physical and emotional stress, which strengthens our natural abilities and our immune system.”

Bioenergy Therapy, which Rondberg developed after more than 40 years clinical practice in manual therapy, is specifically aimed at releasing the tension in the upper cervical spine area known as the sub-occipital triangle, which is a hub for mechano-receptors, muscle spindle cells and GTOs (Golgi tendon organs).

An advanced innovation in massage therapy, Bioenergy Therapy starts with application of vibrations applied to the sub-occipital, upper trapezius, and posterior cervical muscles. The vibratory action on these muscles causes these muscles to relax, increasing their blood supply and supply of nutrients, while releasing pain-producing metabolic waste products.

Ultimately, the brain changes the levels of pain, postural distortion, stress levels, and stiffness. By working directly on the muscles in the sub-occipital triangle region, rather than on bones in various areas of the body or spine, Bioenergy Therapy directly affects the brain, where all pain, stiffness and dysfunction, originate.

SOURCES: “Using Amphetamines May Increase Risk of Parkinson’s Disease,” press release,

American Academy of Neurology, Feb. 20, 2011

“Bioenergy Therapy,” Temecula Wellness Center.

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Why Are We So Resistant to New Ideas?

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Terry A. Rondberg, DC, has been in the health field for more than four decades and has witnessed radical changes in field, changes that are too often met with resistance.

“I’m always amazed that humans can be so incredibly innovative that we invent and discover new things every day, while at the same time are so adamantly resistant to new ideas and change,” he says.

This is especially evident in nearly any type of scientific discovery, he explains, from Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation (1686) to Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift in the 1900s, and, in more recent times, Linus Pauling’s advocacy of vitamin C to Prof. Jim Oschman’s work on energy medicine.

“Granted, a certain measure of skepticism can be healthy,” he admits. “We can’t latch onto every new idea that pops out of someone’s head or makes headlines in the National Enquirer. But, we can’t shut our minds so tightly we refuse to even consider the possibility that maybe – just maybe – we don’t know everything or that our long-held beliefs are wrong.”

The risk, he says, is that when it comes to scientific exploration – and particularly to health and wellness issues – we risk imprisoning ourselves in outmoded and potentially harmful mindsets and denying ourselves and society the benefits of true progress.

What’s even more unsettling for Dr. Rondberg is that so many medical professionals fall into that “flat earth” category. Unless research promises a “cure” by drugs or surgery, it isn’t worthy of scientific consideration.

He adds that much of the resistance is rooted in economics. He isn’t alone in that conclusion. Thirty years ago, Dr. Robert Forman of the University of Toledo noted: “Treatment modalities that are not interesting theoretically or that do not offer promise of prestige for the physician-researcher or profits to corporations are not likely to be extensively promoted in the medical world… One wonders how many potentially valuable medical discoveries are being overlooked because they are too simple and not profitable enough.” (Medical Hypotheses, Volume 7, Number 8, 1981, pp. 1009-1017).

One of the most recent and controversial areas is energy medicine – the recognition that humans are powerful transmitters of bioenergy that can affect the body down to the cellular level. Although there is mounting research evidence to prove that theory, too many scientists refuse to accept the new paradigms and cling to the old mechanistic model of the body.

Innovative cell biologist Bruce Lipton – whose research has shown the incredible healing power contained in our cells – explained, “We are holding ‘truths” about science that are actually untruth, they are actually ‘assumptions’ and false assumptions at that. Until we correct them, we are misunderstanding our relationship to the planet, to nature and the environment.”

For Dr. Rondberg, the solution is simple: bring the healing methods to the public regardless of the attitudes of the medical and scientific establishment. “Although real life experience by patients is often dismissed as ‘anecdotal evidence,’ no one can ignore a hundred thousand reports of a new therapy helping people get or stay well,” he stated. “That’s what we’re seeing in energy medicine and related fields.”

One of the modalities used in Dr. Rondberg’s Temecula Wellness Center is a Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) generator.

According to William Pawluk, MD, MSc, Board Certified Family Physician and Holistic Health Practitioner; Former Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and University of Maryland, “PEMFs address impaired chemistry and thus the function of cells – which in turn, improves health. PEMFs deliver beneficial, health-enhancing EMFs and frequencies to the cells. Low frequency PEMFs of even the weakest strengths pass right through the body, penetrating every cell, tissue, organ and even bone without being absorbed or altered! As they pass through, they stimulate most of the electrical and chemical processes in the tissues. Therapeutic PEMFs are specifically designed to positively support cellular energy, resulting in better cellular health and function.”

Like so many health innovations, however, the use of PEMF met with resistance from the old-school medical establishment. “PEMF users report remarkable results,” Dr. Rondberg says. “As word gets out, more people try it and get similar results. It won’t take long for news to travel and for PEMF to be the subject of so much interest that researchers will be forced to look into it, as well as other bioenergy-centered wellness therapy.”

Sources:

PEMF Temecula Wellness Center.

Magnetic Field

Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields: How They Heal, by William Pawluk, MD, The Doctor Oz Show

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