Yasuhiko Takeda was born in Japan in 1946 into a family of several generations of medical doctors. Despite this he always questioned, much as D.D. Palmer did, why some people heal and others don't. His contention was that the answer was in the spine and nervous system, since these are the main coordinators of information between the brain and the organs.

His questions led him on a search for an educational institution that focused its study on the spine and nervous system and in 1988 he graduated from Osaka Chiropractic College.

Following his graduation from chiropractic college, Dr. Takeda became chief researcher at the Tokyo Low Back Pain Research Center where he served until 1993. Since then, he has served as the president of the Nerve Information and Blood Circulation Research Institute in Osaka where he has been conducting his research.

Takeda related how difficult it was to study chiropractic in Japan and to carry out research since chiropractic is not officially recognized there and because there is opposition from organized medicine.

"I started to study and research problems for which there isn't a teacher and there is no useful literature," he explained. "Dr. Joseph Janse's books and manuscripts became important resources along with Henry Windsor's works." Takeda learned about Windsor's works through Dr. Fred Barge.

Beginning in 1992, the focus of Takeda's research has been on the relationship between subluxation, allergic disease, asthma, crohn's disease, irritable bowel disorder and ulcerative colitis. He became interested in this after observing common patterns of spinal distortions and subluxation in patients presenting with these problems, and after observing that many of these people got better following chiropractic care. This convinced him that chiropractic care was the answer to these health problems and that he needed to look into it in more detail.

As Takeda pointed out, "Allergic disease are a large group of disorders that include: pollinosis, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, hay fever, bronchial asthma, drug allergies, crohn's disease and inflammatory bowel disease to name a few. In Japan alone these diseases affect tens of millions of people. It affects their quality of life in terms of physical strength, immune deficiency, and autonomic imbalance. It doesn't stop there as it affects their social well being, schoolwork and on the job productivity. You must also consider the terrible side effects of the steroid medications and immunosuppresants that are given to treat these patients."

Takeda's dedication to these patients and desire to bring the chiropractic solution to the forefront is unquestionable. In order to fund the study he sold his chiropractic office, his land and his house.

The study involved more than 3,000 patients with allergic diseases and over 1,000 non-allergic patients and focused on the following relationships:

*** Allergic disease and spinal curvature

*** Immune function and spinal curvature

*** Immune function and vertebral subluxation

*** The relationship between spinal curvature and spinal support muscles

*** The most fundamental cause of these diseases

Takeda studied the relationships between levels of vertebral displacement and subluxation and the particular manifestations of the allergic disease.

In addition to his work on this study, Takeda has been involved in other projects including methods for dealing with subluxation and low back pain, hypertension and dementia, thoracic outlet syndrome and others.

When asked what direction chiropractic research should head in, Takeda offered this advice: "Chiropractic has infinite possibilities since it is the most effective means to enhance the ability of the person to achieve the ultimate potential they were born with."

Dr. Yasuhiko Takeda's article, "Abnormal Vertebral Curvature and Vertebral Subluxation in Allergic Disease Patients," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research.