“So let me see if I understand this,” Jack said. “The pathological process starts with the blockage of the flow of innate intelligence, or life force, and the overgrowth of the bacteria is a result, not a cause. Am I getting this right?”

Newhouse nodded. “You’re getting it perfectly.”

“So, the chiropractor’s job is to restore the flow, and as soon as he or she does that, the bacteria, or whatever is secondarily involved, goes away.”

“You are exactly right.”

“I said ‘he or she,’ but it seems to me there are more men chiropractors than women.”

“I think that is safe to say.”

“Is there some reason?”

Newhouse shrugged. “Probably the same reason there are more surgeons who are men than women. Chiropractic therapy takes a certain amount of strength. Maybe men find it easier.”

Jack nodded while in his mind’s eye he could see the internal tears in Keara’s vertebral arteries. He had to agree. It took strength to cause the kind of damage she’d suffered. After clearing his throat, Jack asked, “How is it that the innate intelligence gets blocked?”

“One of Daniel David Palmer’s very first patients had a severe hearing problem brought on seventeen years previously while straining to pick up a heavy load. When Dr. Palmer examined him, he determined a cervical vertebra had been racked out of position. When he replaced it, the patient’s hearing returned. What had happened, simply put, was the displaced vertebra had been pressing on the nerves, enervating the ears. When the pressure had been released the flow was reinstated and function returned.”

“So, the innate intelligence flows through the nerves.”

“Of course,” Newhouse said, as if this particular fact was self-evident.

“So, it’s the backbone that’s the culprit,” Jack said, “when it comes to blocking innate intelligence.”

“Yes,” Newhouse agreed. “You have to realize that the spine is not just a stack of bones but rather a complex organ, with each vertebra able to influence the other as well as the group as a whole. It’s what supports us, holds us all together, and integrates us. Unfortunately, it has a strong tendency to get out of line. That, in a nutshell, is the responsibility of we chiropractors. It’s our job to diagnose the irregularity—or subluxation, as we call it—and restore the involved vertebra to its normal position, and then make sure that it stays there.”

“All this is accomplished by spinal manipulation, correct?”

“You got it. We, of course, have a special name for it. We call it adjustment.”

“Are you saying you can function as someone’s GP?”

“Absolutely,” Newhouse said, pronouncing each syllable as if it were a separate word. “I believe I serve as your friend Nichelle Barlow’s GP. And I’m sure she’ll tell you she is in terrific health. I adjust her regularly, because her spine needs constant attention.”