A Moment of Silence for Dr. Leon Chaitow (1937 – 2018)
Editorial Staff
After months of declining health, Dr. Leon Chaitow – clinician, prolific author and teacher – passed away on Sept. 20, 2018 at the age of 80.
A 1960 graduate of the British College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Chaitow authored or edited more than 70 books including Palpation and Assessment in Manual Therapy; Positional Release Techniques; Soft-Tissue Manipulation; and Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body. He also lectured for decades at chiropractic, massage, osteopathy, physiotherapy and naturopathic schools in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Australia, and served as a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster in London.
Dr. Chaitow was the first naturopath / osteopath appointed as a consultant by the U.K. government to a medical practice. In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the university for "services to Complementary and Osteopathic medicine." He continued to teach and practice part-time in London until late last year.
Even in failing health, Dr. Chaitow was able to complete Fascial Dysfunction 2e, his final book, currently pending release by Handspring Publishers. He also made arrangements for editorial succession of the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (JBMT), of which he was the founding editor-in-chief. Jerrilyn Cambron, DC, PhD, has been named acting editor-in-chief and will be supported by a team of associate editors.
Dr. Chaitow's website remains active and will be managed by his daughter, Dr. Sasha Chaitow. In a post to site visitors in the days following her father's passing, she stated (excerpted):
For those of you who knew him well, please know that, in the words of Dylan Thomas, Leon raged like few against the dying of the light and did not go gentle into that good night. His legacy lives on in his many books and articles, in the students he taught, in the patients he treated, and in the family to whom he was a most beloved husband and father whose loss will never fade. The greatest way to honour him is to continue to carry that torch."
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
Some pundits say that the upcoming presidential and congressional races, and many local races, might be the most consequential in our country’s history. We do not have the choice of sitting on the sidelines and hoping our patients will carry our water. Unlike other medical professions such as physical therapists, podiatrists, nurses, etc., the health care class (AMA) will not protect us. We must be in the game.
The most common condition affecting the shoulder is rotator-cuff disease. From acute tears to chronic tendinopathy, it’s common and needs a thorough workup. In fact, even asymptomatic shoulders can have full-thickness rotator-cuff rears in up to 40% of instances. Let’s look at additional conditions that can present to the office with weakness, loss of motion and pain in the shoulder beyond rotator-cuff tears.
