Lectures of Dr. J.M. Littlejohn Volume I

Lectures of Dr. J.M. Littlejohn Volume I

by | Dec 22, 2017 | Bookshop

The Littlejohn Lectures Volume 1

The Littlejohn Lectures Volume I

The Littlejohn Lectures Volume I

John Wernham wrote in his introduction to The Littlejohn Lectures Volume I “The transcription from the lecture room to the printed page is difficult.  Any attempt to reproduce the intimacy of the spoken word to the reader from the silent book can only result in a conglomerate of repetition and the most unfortunate juxtaposition of uncontrolled sentences and ‘asides’ that, to say the least, make for difficult reading.  The only solution to this dilemma is one of compromise between a mere verbatim record and a total reconstruction with some omissions and with some alteration in presentation where the meaning is obscure.  However, in spite of this daunting prospect every effort has been made to preserve the great truths that are enshrined in the old manuscripts and to restore, to some extent at least, the atmosphere of the earlier years of academic osteopathy, without creating an excess of fatigue for the modern student.

The Littlejohn Lectures Volume I edited by John Wernham, begins with the subject Osteopathy in General.   John Wernham writes “The first question is “What is Osteopathy?  Osteopathy is a system of therapeutics based on the theory that many diseases are due to pressure on the vessels, or nerves, by some displaced vertebrae, or some other part of the skeleton, or to a condition of imbalance in the muscles moving around the joint.  The treatment is directed to the mechanical correction, by means of manipulation of the osseous displacement, or muscular imbalance, with a consequent repression of abnormal reflexes, and a restoration to normal of the circulation and the nerve impulses.”

John Wernham further writes “The method of treatment is based on the principle of adjustment.  This is the key to our theory because all adjusted structures contribute their quota to general vital force underlying the correlated activities of the body, the constitutional vitality being the sum total of these correlated activities, and it is when this power fails that we are called in to help restore the vital force to its normal position.  That is to say, the tendency to the normal is the underlying physiological force of the body.  If, and when, lack of adjustment exists within the organism, or its environment, it is our place to recover the lost vital control and assist nature in the return to the normal.”

This publication is available to order from our Online Bookshop:

http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/product/the-littlejohn-lectures-volume-1/

To read more of “The Littlejohn Lectures Volume I” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £30 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/product/the-littlejohn-lectures-volume-1/

The Body Adjustment

The Body Adjustment

by | Nov 18, 2016 | Bookshop

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The Body Adjustment

As an Introduction to our Body Adjustment Course commencing in January 2017, we draw your attention to the article written by
John Wernham in his Lectures on Osteopathy (Volume I) on the importance of The Body Adjustment……..

“With the exception of treatment given in the case of acute disease and other certain conditions, osteopathic techniques were always applied under the aegis of the General Treatment.  There has been a total rebuttal of this first great principle in osteopathy and operators are content to give only local treatment directed to the painful area indicated by the patient.  Such a limited viewpoint represents the absolute negation of the second great principle, namely, the integration of all parts of the body, anatomically, mechanically and physiologically.  This is a broad canvas, and if there is detail it must be made to bear a right relationship with the unit body if the condition is to be resolved and the patient stabilized.

The term ‘general treatment’ fell into disrepute and soon became a background for the so-called ‘specific’, or ‘replacement’, techniques, which are entirely anatomical in concept and have no concern with the body mechanics, or function.  To give a treatment called ‘general’ gave rise to boredom and led to scant attention to the finer point of our manipulative procedures.  It was for these reasons that the old title was abandoned and the new term ‘Body Adjustment’ substituted.

The truth is that the general treatment, body adjustment, full treatment; or whatever name is chosen is the very fabric of our manipulation and demands our closest attention every step of the way.  The technique employs the long lever and deals with ALL tissues conjointly with only special emphasis where it is necessary. The method is deliberately routine in order to ensure that nothing is missed in diagnosis and, further, to establish the lost rhythm so often lacking in the patient. The limb leverage is powerful and brings into play every muscular insertion into the spine and into the pelvis, yet the effect is gentle, smooth and relaxing.  The objective is the restoration of the internal environment and thus provides those conditions essential for the recovery of the lesion state.  Without such preparation the good effect of spinal correction is limited and short-lived; in fact in a great many cases the general body adjustment will be enough for nature to make the recovery without any local, or specific, work whatsoever.  But, perhaps the most important aspect, and the most important argument in support of this traditional technique is to be found in the long-term effects which are stable and stress resistant.  Finally, it must be said that although the technique is loosely and freely given, it must be precise and accurate in execution.”
JOHN WERNHAM

To read more about “Attending our Body Adjustment Course in January 2017” you can reserve your place and find further information here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/postgraduate-studies-on-classical-osteopathy/

 

The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn

The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn

by | Oct 17, 2016 | Bookshop

The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn

The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn

In his biography The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn, published in 1999, John Wernham begins his introduction  “Any attempt to analyse the character of John Martin Littlejohn is confronted with a complex that has no entry and no completion.  He was and remains an enigma.”

This book is a true account by the one man who knew him, lived next door to him, travelled with him, studied under him and spent his lifetime practising, teaching and publishing what Littlejohn taught him — John Wernham.

In The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn, John Wernham writes that Littlejohn was “a warm parent and a tough disciplinarian; he was a quiet man, soft-spoken and with a manner that was diffident and sometimes withdrawn to the point of indifference.  Wryly, perhaps, it was often noted that his farewell was a shade more cordial than his greeting and there can be no doubt at all that he was a man who preferred to be left alone.

My first encounter with John Martin was on the cricket field, a family field it must be said and I, being something of a fast bowler at the age of eight years, had reached sufficient renown to show the head of the house something of my true metal.  With all this very much in my mind, I put on every ounce of speed of which my puny arm was capable in the determination to topple the great man’s stumps.  But the batsman retired without losing his wicket and the bowler never completed the over and has never quite made it ever since”.

In The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn, John Wernham also wrote “He was orientated to his beloved osteopathy to such an extent that domestic affairs sometimes took second place.  Not that the family lacked the basic necessities of life.  One friend of the family once remarked, ‘If you are feeling down, pay a call on the Littlejohns and you will feel the better for it.’  There were many such friends who took advantage of this American style in hospitality and the house was often bulging with all kinds and types of guests.”

To read more of “The Life and Times of John Martin Littlejohn” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £25 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/product/the-life-and-times-of-john-martin-littlejohn/

 

Andrew Taylor Still 1828-1917

Andrew Taylor Still 1828-1917

by | Aug 26, 2016 | Bookshop

Andrew Taylor Still 1828 – 1917

In her biography of Andrew Taylor Still 1828 – 1917 Carol Trowbridge writes “Andrew Taylor Still had lost confidence and hope in the medical therapies of his day after three of his children died of meningitis in 1864.  He became obsessed with finding the cause and the cure for disease.  Still developed a philosophy of osteopathy that was holistic, naturalistic, and emphasized health rather than disease.  He shunned drugs, and used a manipulative therapy designed to release the healing powers of nature.  After years of thought, study, and experimentation, Still opened the American School of Osteopathy in 1892 in Kirksville, Missouri, far removed from the medical centers of traditional medicine.  Author Carol Trowbridge tells us about Still’s family, the communities he lived in, and the events that shaped him.  She helps us understand this eccentric medical pioneer who was never fully accepted by his peers, but whose holistic methods are now considered the cutting edge of medicine today.  He leaves a legacy of patient-centered care that impacts providers and patients around the world”.

“Andrew Taylor Still perdió la confianza y esperanza en las terapia médicas de su época después de que, en 1864, tres de sus hijos fallecieran victimas de la meningitis.  Se obsesionó con entontrar la causa y la cura de la enfermedad.  Still desarrolló una filosofia holistica y naturalista de la osteopatía, hacienda hincapié en la salud antes que en la enfermedad.  Rechazó los farmacos y utilizó una terapia maniuplativa diseñada para liberar los poderes curativos de la naturalza.  Tras años de reflexion, estudio y experimenación.   En 1882, Still abrió en Kirksville la Escuela Americana de Osteopatía en Kirksville, lejos de los centros medicos de medicina tradicional”.  La autora Carol Trowbridge nos habla sobre la familia de Still, las comunidades en las que vivió y los acontecimientos que le dieron forma.  Nos ayuda a comprender a este excéntrico pionero, nunca totalmente aceptado por sus contemporáneos, pero cuyos métodos holisticos se consideran hoy como la vanguardia de la medicina de la actualidad.  Nos deja un legado de cuidados centrados en el paciente que impacta sobre los suministradores y pacientes de todo el mumdo.

Andrew Taylor Still 1828–1917 Written by Carol Trowbridge

Contents include:
Chapter 1  Sons of Thunder  (Hijos del Trueno)
Chapter 2  A Howling Wilderness  (Una Selva Huracanada)
Chapter 3  Kansas
Chapter 4  A New Beginning  (Un Nuevo Principio)
Chapter 5  A New Science  (Une Nueva Ciencia)
Chapter 6  The Old Doctor  (El Viejo Doctor)

To read more of “Andrew Taylor Still 1828-1917” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £35 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/andrew-taylor-still-1828-1917/

 

Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis

Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis

by | Aug 15, 2016 | Bookshop

Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis

Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis

In the Preface of the Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis, John Wernham writes: “The present study in the Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis is based on some original research carried out by Dr. J.M. Littlejohn about the year 1900.  The text has been prepared form lecture notes delivered at the British School of Osteopathy in 1934.  (Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lecture Notes are held in the John Wernham College of Classical Osteopathy Library and Archive.)  The diagrams illustrating the text were produced by John Wernham and T.E. Hall in 1955.

The human body is not a machine; it is a living, and highly sensitive organism.  None-the-less, it is subject to the laws of gravity and if the mechanical aspect of our physiological life does not receive its proper and due acknowledgement, and if adequate clinical procedures are not adopted, then the ultimate breakdown in the body unity will become inevitable”.

In the Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis the second chapter refers to Applied Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis.  “If a solid body is suspended, its balance is maintained at a definite point and the line of action of supporting power passes through the centre of gravity, if the body is at rest.  In the human body this point is to be found in the 3rd lumbar vertebra.  If the movement of the body is properly balanced its equilibrium is maintained in standing or walking around this point and is under the control of muscles and soft tissues in the dorsal, lumbar and sacral areas.  In the erect posture, the pelvis represents suspension through the legs which operate as the support in relation to standing or walking.  This is why the legs become tired in abnormal postural conditions of the body, and why, in its true gravital position the body is suspended from the pelvis, and supported upward from the pelvis”.

Also in this chapter, John Wernham writes about The Anterior Body Line; The Non-Parallel Lines; The Curved Lines; The Dorso-Lumbar Arch; The First Examination of a Patient; The Posterior and Anterior Curvatures.

To read more of “Mechanics of the Spine and Pelvis” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £15 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/mechanics-of-the-spine-and-pelvis/

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion

by | Jul 7, 2016 | Bookshop

Dr Littlejohn’s Lectures on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion

Dr. Littlejohn’s Lectures on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion

The publication of Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion commences with The Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion “The foundation of all disease is some deficiency in the immunising power of the body, and the principles underlying disease therefore are variations from normal in structure and/or function.

Susceptibility to disease depends on the degree of variation from normal in body integrity; the normal resisting capacity of the parts of the body; and capacity of toxins and/or micro-organisms to invade and produce resultant changes in the body, which lay the foundation for degenerative processes.”

In the second section of Lectures on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion, Dr. J.M. Littlejohn writes on the subject of Osteopathic Pathology: “Pathology is obstructive or irritative conditions, resulting in disturbed structure or function. This result secondarily establishes:

1. Abnormal blood, i.e. malnutrition; or
2. Neurosis, i.e. weakening of the functions of the nervous system or a part of it.”

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn further writes in this section: “The fundamental characteristic of the body is harmony and equilibrium in the organism. If the latter is normal there is no struggle for life among the different parts of the body, each being a unity in itself which consists of co-operation among fibres, cells, tissues and fluids, each of which derives its value from the place it occupies and the work it does in the organism. Hence, the body is not a colony of cells but an organism in which all cellular elements are united together each cooperating with the other to form the unity of the body. Hence if one part of the body is in revolt (disease) then all other body forces must be used to end the revolt”.

To read more of “Dr J.M Littlejohn Lecture’s on the Pathology of the Osteopathic Lesion” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £15 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/dr-j-m-littlejohns-lectures-on-the-pathology-of-the-osteopathic-lesion/

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Orthopaedics

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Orthopaedics

by | May 10, 2016 | Bookshop

Orthopedics

Orthopaedics

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on Orthopaedics commences “Properly speaking, orthopaedics deals with deformities of the child but in practice it covers all forms of deformity in the spine and extremities.  The foundation is in the inherent weakness of the spine which results from some abnormal development.  At birth, the musculo‑vertebtral column is free from architectural defect, the spinal reflexes are absent, the activity of the voluntary nervous system is at a minimum, so that voluntary muscular control is impossible.  It is only when this control begins to show in the spine that the typical curves begin to form.  Hence we can lay down two propositions: (1) If the brain development with the spine accessorily is normal in the child, the normal curves are established early but, (2) As deficiency develops in the cerebro spinal nervous system the curves become more atypical, indicating that outside trauma all treatment should be directed to the C.S.N.S.

It must be emphasized that the motor nerve supply to the vertebral tissues is of supreme importance and if we are to obtain the correct foundation on which to build the normal spine we must look to this mechanism after the appearance of the physiological curves.  In a high proportion of cases the muscular vertebral column is weak at puberty and is to be localized in the intrinsic nervous mechanism.  That is to say, the central nervous system is equal to the task of making the spine normal, but the spinal and accessory nervous mechanism is too weak to make this possible.  Therefore, it can be said that the vertebral column as a whole is structurally and functionally normal in development, but that functionally it is inadequate to maintain the integrity of the muscular system in and around the spine, so that, functionally, it is unable to bear the weight of the body as and when it assumes the postural erect position.”

Orthopaedics edited by John Wernham from Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s lectures covers the subjects Sprains; Dislocations; Shoulder; Lower Extremities; Ankle; Knee; Hip; The Sacral Plexus; The Locked Lesion; Postural Integrity; The Development of Posture; The Lumbo-Sacral Area; and Relation of Accommodation and Compensation to Deformity.

To read more of “Dr J.M Littlejohn Lecture’s on Orthopaedics” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £15 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/dr-j-m-littlejohn-lectures-on-orthopaedics/

Notes on Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Principles of Osteopathy

Notes on Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Principles of Osteopathy

by | Apr 21, 2016 | Bookshop

Notes on the Principles of Osteopathy Front

Notes on Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Principles of Osteopathy

JWCCO is pleased to announce the launch of its new website www.jwccolearning.org.uk
By registering on this website you will be able to read this publication (Notes on the Principles of Osteopathy) and other publications free of charge.

Notes on Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Principles of Osteopathy, John Martin Littlejohn writes: “In discussing the theory of the treatment of disease we must differentiate between the condition of disease and the state of disease.  If treatment is to be successful it must be based on the relation of cause and effect and the diagnosis must cover every aspect and sequence of that relationship.  We deal with vitality as the sum total of all the activities of the body, and we distinguish between health that is vital and that which is merely nutritive.  Here are included:  (1) The supply of materials on a nutritive basis; (2) the power of reception and rejection of the proximate principles so provided, and (3) the power of assimilation to its own substance after the body has received, digested and absorbed the food materials.  In vital health, however, we have to consider: (4) the adjustment of all the different parts of the body on a structural basis, and (5) the adjustment of all the functional activities of the body on the basis of vitality.

“Vital unhealth as distinguished from vital health means that some impairment or deficiency is present in any one or more of these five points.  This disturbing element is expressed in the term ‘Osteopathic Lesion’ which, in its widest sense, may have its origin in the food supply; in the power to receive or assimilate and in the structural or functional activities of the body.  Disease is an effect and not a cause.  It is an effect from the disturbed vital health and the state that we call disease is always a result of a previous condition of un-health.  If we take disease as a starting point and attempt to trace it backwards, there are three topics which emerge for discussion, namely, the Etiology, Symptomatology, and the Effects, or results of disease.”

In the Notes on Principles of Osteopathy, Dr. John Martin Littlejohn further writes about the Principles of Treatment where he states that…..“Osteopathic work is palliative or curative.  Palliative treatment aims at the mitigation of pain, or the relief of some inflammatory condition, exudation, accumulation, etc.  It is accomplished mainly by the relaxation of muscular contractures and through the sensory nerve connections.  The curative work is corrective of irritability, having a three-fold object in view.  All treatment is, or ought to be, directed to the vital force through the property of the irritability of tissue, of which nerve tissue is the most highly irritable.  Every lesion involves some modification in the irritability so that the principles and practice of treatment should appeal to the irritability or to the vital force through the irritability.  In appealing to the irritability we first correct the condition of the muscles, bones, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels and so on in order to alter, or modify the irritability.  Secondly, hyper-irritability at a particular local point is lessened by inhibitory pressure over that point.  The inhibition equalises the impulses of their irritability and distribute them equally among all the different parts of the body, using the vital force as the governing principle of the distribution.  Similarly, equal distribution may be obtained by a moving pressure to stimulate when the irritability is sub-normal.  The curative work appeals more largely to the motor or efferent side of the nervous system. While the palliative work is valuable to check pain and inhibit the excessively stimulated processes which are tending to the pathological condition, the curative work employs the three methods described to restore the adjustment, coordination and cooperation of the structures and tissues through the efferent side of the nervous system.  The corrective appeals to the body as an animated mechanism based on physiological mechanics.”

To read more of “Notes on Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Principles of Osteopathy” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £10.00 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/notes-on-dr-j-m-littlejohns-principles-of-osteopathy-centenary-edition/

Osteopathy Notes on the Technique and Practice

Osteopathy Notes on the Technique and Practice

by | Apr 12, 2016 | Bookshop

Osteopathy - Notes on the Technique and Practice

Osteopathy Notes on the Technique and Practice

Osteopathy Notes on the Technique and Practice was edited by John Wernham in 1975.   Subjects covered include The Physiological Movements of the Spine; Osteopathic Diagnosis; Osteopathic Treatment of the Knee Joint; The Sacro-Iliac Articulation; Analysis of Side-Lying Technique; Disease of the Veins, Haemorrhoids; The Abdominal Cavity; Osteopathic Neck Technique; The Fevers; and Osteopathic Psychotherapeutics.  In his Introduction John Wernham writes that “The Notes have been selected from the best authoritative works published on osteopathy, and include lecture material and illustrated techniques to cover a wide field in osteopathic practice.”

John Wernham further writes in Osteopathy Notes on the Technique and Practice that “Physical medicine, as it is applied in the manner and style peculiar to osteopathic technique is not to be modelled on the latest medical theory, or discarded in favour of a new discovery in medical teaching.  Natural Law is unaware of changes in terminology, and the conditions that Nature demands for the maintenance of good health are the same yesterday, today and forever, regardless of the most advanced thinking in medical circles.

This is not to suggest that osteopathic technique and practice is content to remain at a standstill as medical techniques advance.  Such a notion is absurd.  But advance in one field of treatment can mean regression in another, particularly if Authority is weighted in favour of the one and at the expense of the other.  We have much to learn from other skills and other methods of treatment but it might be well to remember the words of the Chairman’s address delivered at the Inaugural Meeting of the Osteopathic Institute of Applied Technique, ‘….it is necessary always to preserve what many of us feel to be genuine osteopathy and, moreover, to develop it.  We have no quarrel with others, but we do feel that there is always an outside pressure on osteopathy which, if we react to it rightly, is perhaps a good thing; we can learn things from others.  But there is also an original osteopathic idea which is different from the medical idea and different specifically from the orthopaedic idea.  So much literature is produced in medical and orthopaedic circles that it is rather difficult for all of us, and particularly perhaps our students, to correlate it to genuine osteopathy and preserve genuine osteopathy.’ ”

John Wernham concludes his Introduction commenting that “The section on the fevers is printed exactly as it was delivered in the lecture room.  The purpose here is simply to capture something of the atmosphere of the living occasion and it is inevitable that the rules of syntax become lost or confused.  If the experiment has not succeeded from this point of view, perhaps the brevity of the note-form and the extended content will repay the busy student sufficiently well”.

To read more of “Osteopathy Notes on the Technique and Practice” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £12.00 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/osteopathy-notes-on-the-technique-and-practice/

Chapters in American Osteopathic History

Chapters in American Osteopathic History

by | Apr 1, 2016 | Bookshop

Chapters In American Osteopathic History

Chapters in American Osteopathic History

Following our blog last week about Andrew Taylor Still, Carol Trowbridge published another book entitled Chapters in American Osteopathic History. This book has chapters covering Mark Twain and Osteopathy; The Flexner Report; The Electronic Reactions of Abrams; An Abrams Connection; The Baruch Grant for Physical Medicine – 1943.

The first Chapter of Carol Trowbridge’s book covers Mark Twain and Osteopathy. “Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was a popular American writer and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876 and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, the later often called the Great American Novel.”

Carol Trowbridge further writes “Mark Twain was more than slightly interested in osteopathy, and may have been introduced to osteopathy as early as 1889 when A.T. Still set up practice for several months in Hannibal, Missouri. He had, on numerous occasions, written about the merits of osteopathy.”

Further on in the chapter, Carol writes “Along the way, osteopathy attracted many converts, and in 1905, the cause was furthered by the New York debut of a play called ‘Mrs. Leffingwell’s Boots’, in which the popular playwright, Augustus Thomas made an osteopath one of the heroes. In February, 1905, The Osteopathic Physician reported on the play: ‘Much fame has come to osteopathy in Gotham thorough a high-class comedy which is having a successful run at the Savoy Theatre. It is called Mrs. Leffingwell’s Boots, and it bids fair after an initial month of success to become the hit of the season.’
The reporter went on to explain that apparently an osteopath had cured Mr. Thomas’ son of a slight spinal affliction after regular physicians had failed and had shown his gratitude by including an osteopath in his play.”

To read more of “Chapters in American Osteopathic History” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £15.00 here: Chapters in American Osteopathic History

Andrew Taylor Still 1828 – 1917 by Carol Trowbridge

Andrew Taylor Still 1828 – 1917 by Carol Trowbridge

by | Mar 11, 2016 | Bookshop

Andrew Taylor Still 1828-1917
by Carol Trowbridge

From conception to completion over eight years, in her definitive illustrated Biography of Andrew Taylor Still, Carol Trowbridge writes in the Preface “At 1000 a.m. on June 22, 1874, an American physician, Andrew Taylor Still experienced a life-changing revelation, one he believed could revolutionize nineteenth-century medicine. Ten years earlier, Still had lost three of his children to cerebrospinal meningitis, and with them all confidence and hope in the medical therapy of his day. Emotionally wrought by grief and intellectually disgusted with traditional medicine, Still became obsessed with finding the cause and the cure for disease. In that hope he was not alone. ”

Carol Trowbridge further writes “Still opened the American School of Osteopathy in the fall of 1982 in Kirksville, Missouri, a small obscure town far removed from the centres of traditional medicine. But distance from traditional medicine was exactly what Still had in mind. His graduates, at first called Diplomates of Osteopathy and later Doctors of Osteopathy (D.O.s), were to become the vanguard of a drugless revolution in medical philosophy and therapy……….Based upon biological principles and intimately tied to the structure of the human organism, Still’s philosophy of osteopathy was holistic and naturalistic, emphasizing health rather than disease.”

In Part 1 Carol Trowbridge covers “A Family Journey” starting with “The Sons of Thunder” to “A Howling Wilderness” and on to “Kansas”. In Part 2 is found “The Journey of Andrew Taylor Still” from “A New Beginning” to “A New Science” and concluding with a chapter on “The Old Doctor”.

Carol Trowbridge’s Biography concludes with the illustrated “Andrew Taylor Still Family Album”

                                                                     This Biography is also available in Spanish.

                  “I do not claim to be the author of this Science of Osteopathy. No human hand framed its laws;
I ask no greater honor than to have discovered it.” (A.T. Still)

To read more of “Andrew Taylor Still 1828 – 1917” by Carol Trowbridge you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £25.00 (English Version) here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/andrew-taylor-still-1828-1917-english-edition/
£35.00 (Spanish Version) here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/andrew-taylor-still-1828-1917/

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on Applied Anatomy

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on Applied Anatomy

by | Feb 16, 2016 | Bookshop

Lectures on Applied Anatomy

Dr. J.M. Littlejohn’s Lectures on Applied Anatomy

Dr. John Martin Littlejohn’s Lectures on Applied Anatomy commences with an Introduction by John Wernham “The Applied Anatomy presented here by J.M. Littlejohn is essential reading for any student of Classical Osteopathy. Covering every aspect of the human body it begins with an outline of the spinal mechanics, supported by the four arches and their function.  The nervous systems, sympathetic and central, with special reference to the 5th and 10th cranial nerves are given a prominence in osteopathic thinking that is unknown to Medicine.  Ganglia and plexuses receive close attention with their sub-divisions and the great spinal centres are included in a survey that yields a very considerable amount of information and fundamental knowledge in 68 pages that is unobtainable elsewhere.”

The opening chapter begins: “Applied anatomy is the application of our general knowledge of the anatomy of the body as it lives and moves from day to day. Anatomy in general gives bones, muscles, etc., but we have to know the superficial anatomical landmarks and their relations to all the organs and structures of the body.  The final object is to obtain a knowledge of the normal adjustment of each part of the body to every other part and to the body as whole.”

In his writings on Applied Anatomy J.M. Littlejohn further writes “The science and system of therapeutics we call osteopathy constitutes the application of physical treatment for conversion into a physiological process within the body.  This implies that the body is living and has the vital power to convert the physical into the physiological and that this living body is a mechanism which, together with the vital organism, is in control of all its different parts.  It is this control which enables us to give osteopathic treatment.  If the body did not possess this power of taking a treatment given in the abdomen and applying it to the head, our treatment would be valueless.  This means that the nervous system, presided over by the brain, with the assistance of the spine, is at the head of all the work that can be carried out to deal with disease, osteopathically.”

To read more of “Dr. J.M Littlejohns Lectures on Applied Anatomy” you can purchase a copy from the JWCCO Bookshop for £18.00 here: http://www.johnwernhamclassicalosteopathy.com/dr-j-m-littlejohns-lectures-on-applied-anatomy