Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975) was a highly influential Ukrainian-born American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. As one of the most important 20th-century biological scientists, he made evolutionary biology a rigorous, genetically grounded science. In a 1973 publication, he famously stated (1): “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution” This dictum is memorialized in [..]

Americans spend a substantial amount on pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs) each year. In 2024, total prescription drug expenditures were approximately $806 billion, up 10.2% from 2023 (1). An additional $43 billion is spent yearly for over-the-counter drugs (2). Americans spend approximately $35 billion annually on pain medicines, encompassing both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription pain management drugs [..]

The primary reason that people go to chiropractors is for the management of spine pain (1): 63% of chiropractic patients seek care for lower back pain 30% of chiropractic patients seek care for neck pain 91% of these patients report acceptable positive clinical outcomes to chiropractic care for these complaints The primary subject of this [..]

The randomized controlled trial (RCT) is considered the highest level of evidence to establish causal associations and clinical benefits in clinical research (1, 2). Yet, the medical use of opioids in the Unites States for the treatment of pain has been based on very weak evidence, inflicting enormous harms on the US population (3). A [..]

A classification method for nerves is to distinguish them as either spinal nerves or cranial nerves: Spinal nerves exit/enter the spinal cord via the intervertebral foramen between two adjacent spinal vertebrae. Cranial nerves exit/enter the brainstem and/or brain via the skull (cranial nerve XI, the spinal accessory nerve, is an exception: it is fully formed from neck nerve roots that enter [..]

Background Concepts Allopathic providers (medical doctors) are primarily chemical providers of care (pharmacology/drugs). Government gives drug companies patents for their products, allowing for hundreds of billions of dollars in profits. Government does not grant patents on natural products, even if they work great, which is one of the reasons we hear much less about these [..]

Some History Humans discovered opioid chemicals about 6,000 years ago (1, 2). These chemicals could cause both euphoria and suppress pain. Initially, these chemicals were derived from plants, like the poppy. The most common legal plant-derived opioid is morphine. The most common illegal plant-derived opioid is heroin. More recently, opioids are made in chemical labs. [..]

A Media Story On June 9, 2025, a headline in the People Magazine feed stated: “Chiropractor Tears Woman’s Artery While Cracking Her Neck” •••• Sensational headlines exist because they grab the public’s interest and their attention. Yet, such headlines and the accompanied article may be unfair, incomplete, biased, or even flat out incorrect. Investigations into [..]

Altered Biomechanics and Altered GaitFuture Joint Degeneration and Future Back Pain Following the discovery of x-rays in 1895 (by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen), x-rays of the spine began to appear in healthcare research and literature. In 1916, Harvard Orthopedic Surgeon Robert W. Lovett, MD, published the third edition of his book Lateral Curvature of [..]

In April 2025, an important study was published in the journal Medicina, titled (1): Dynamic Cycle of Low Back Pain:A 17-Year, Population-Based Study Analyzing the National Health Insurance Service Data in South Korea The objective of this study was to describe the long-term recurrence patterns and healthcare utilization associated with low back pain (LBP) in [..]