Medical experts agree that the world is due for a Flu Pandemic. The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1917 killed 500,000 people in the United States and over 50 million worldwide. Yet, during that pandemic, those treated with Osteopathic manipulation were 25 times more likely to survive than those treated by conventional means alone.
The reason for the difference concerns mechanical ventilation. Patients with Flu often have their lungs fill up with fluid. When this occurs, mechanical breathing support may be necessary. Current medical practice provides this mechanical support by employing ventilating machines (“ventilators”). In the event of a Bird Flu Pandemic, there would not be enough of these ventilators available.
Before the invention of ventilators, Osteopathic manipulation successfully provided similar breathing support. Faced with a shortage of ventilators, these treatments could be employed just as they were in 1917. In this video, Dr. Teitelbaum demonstrates the treatment methods used successfully by Osteopathic Physicians during that pandemic.
