Fasting for the cure of disease/Chapter 19
CHAPTER XIX
SCHOOLS OF NATURAL HEALING
"Science does its duty, not in telling us the causes of spots in the sun, but in explaining to us the laws of cur own life, and the consequences of their violation,"
Ruskin.
CHAPTER XIX
SCHOOLS OF NATURAL HEALING
AS elsewhere expressed, the fast in itself is but a means to an end, but by its use in the treatment of disease, many mechanical defects in organs are entirely overcome through muscular rest and relaxation. Certain accessories are, however, brought into play. Bodily cleanliness and sanitation are essential, and mechanical adjustment of bones, muscular manipulation, and the internal bath are all invaluable concomitants of treatment.
In connection with muscular manipulation and bone adjustment, two distinct schools of healing have arisen in late years, those of Osteopathy and Chiropractic.
Osteopathy is defined as "that science or system of healing which treats disease of the human body by manual therapeutics for the stimulation of the remedial forces within the body itself, for the correction of misplaced tissue, and for the removal of obstructions or interferences with the fluids of the body, all without the internal administration of drugs or medicine." The name, derived as it is from the Greek, osteon, bone, and pathos, suffering, is not such a misnomer as might at first appear. The osteopathic theory is that many disease symptoms originate in bony lesions. This applies more particularly to the vertebral column, which, owing to its complex mechanism, is liable to several forms of sub-dislocation, depending upon the region in which they may occur. The most common is that of rotation followed by forward or backward displacement of a single vertebra. Compensation always succeeds these changes so that the disturbance is communicated to the ones above or below, thus forming a group. These lesions are detected by the touch and are verified by tenderness of the surrounding parts. They are necessarily slight, but the theory supposes them sufficient to profoundly influence adjacent tissue.
Mobility of the spine is of first importance, for in health there is motion between adjacent vertebrae. Lack of movement may be caused by muscular tension, by stretching of ligaments, or by a union of the parts due to bony deposit. Following any of these conditions, the theory holds, are functional or organic disturbances, acute becoming chronic. Nerves are pinched or impinged, and, as the circulation of the blood to an organ depends upon its nerve control, organic mechanism is interfered with, and disease begins.
Chiropractics is defined as "a system of therapeutic treatment for disease through the adjustment of the articulations of the human body, particularly those of the spine, with the object of relieving pressure or tension upon nerve filaments." As in Osteopathy, the operations are performed with the hands, no drugs being administered.
The two theories above presented are seen to be most closely related. But, it must be obvious that each school is reasoning from effect to cause when the claim is advanced that spinal lesions primarily lower nutrition. Muscles built when a state of mal-nutrition exists are not adequate for the work of supporting the bony structure with the delicate adjustment that combines strength with the necessary degree of flexibility. Barring displacement of vertebrae through an accident that forcibly disturbs the arrangement of the separate bones of the spinal column, there is but one source from which may arise a condition of lowered nutrition in any one of the muscles of the body impaired digestion. Perfect digestion insures perfect nutrition, and perfect nutrition must conserve muscular tone.
Both Osteopathy and Chiropractics are cut short of their greatest possibilities when they are applied apart from the fast. In the presence of a full stomach they become mere methods of force and stimulation, which, in many respects, are detrimental to health. They are then to be classed only as passive physical culture, in which the patient permits the operators to exercise the muscles instead of working them himself. During a fast, all muscles of the body are in a state of perfect relaxation, a natural result of the process of rest and elimination in progress. They respond in this condition to every impetus, and blood circulation at the same time is directly amenable to the stimulation applied. Hence the value, both local and general, of a combination with the fast of Osteopathic manipulation and Chiropractic thrust.
In pregnancy and confinement osteopathic methods are superior to all others in equalizing circulation and in facilitating delivery. In correcting uterine displacement, fasting removes congestion, relaxes the parts, and manual adjustment completes the cure. Manipulation at all times is an aid to elimination, but especially is this so during the fast ; and, when a patient is weak and despondent, circulation, thus stimulated, buoys. Congested glands that so often suppurate and develop into false or true cancerous growths may, through manipulation, be caused to disappear by the increased power of absorption thus induced. This applies to all local swellings and excrescences, the operation compelling natural augmentation of blood in the parts.
Osteopathy and Chiropractics are purely mechanical accessories in the treatment of disease, and, as such, their field of practice is limited. But, in connection with the method outlined in the text, their efficiency is largely extended, and, used in conjunction, the three schools form a perfect combination for the prevention and cure of disease.
Christian Science ranges itself with the various theories of psycho-therapy that have been advanced from time to time, but its effect in the treatment of disease is of worth only as regards the suggestive power of mind over matter. It, with other similar cults, neglects the physical body and its functions, and calls upon the soul to further its ends. The interdependence of matter and mind is the subject of detailed discussion in another chapter, and need not be repeated here. Healing the sick as well as the sinful is an ideal union in purpose. Needless to say, it is seldom found in practice, yet there is truth in the thought that physical health is a prime factor in the process of attaining spiritual excellence.
All practical working schools that employ natural aids to health in their operation are mutually concerned in the conservation of physical balance in man. Excluding the quasi-science of medicine, with the exception of its rarely needed surgical branch, the methods of natural healing enumerated embody a perfect combination.
(THE END)