The Good Hands Man

Alberto Juantorena of Cuba, the Olympic gold-medal winner in the 400 and 800 meters at Montreal, was slowed to a painful lope this spring by aches that doctors could neither diagnose nor cure. On May 6, Juantorena, who had lost only one 400 since 1976, was third in that event at the UCLA-Pepsi Invitational, 1.94 off his personal best of 44.26. Several days later, on the eve of the Norman Manley Games in Kingston, Jamaica, Juantorena was in such agony that he was forced to withdraw.

A few hours before the meet was to start, Juantorena conferred with Dr. Leroy Perry of Pasadena, a chiropractor. After a brief examination, Dr. Perry offered a diagnosis: "Because of weak gluteus maximus, the hamstrings became overdominant, resulting in compensation in the lower back. This created lower-back spasm, which produced nerve pressure." He also offered a treatment, a kinetic therapy technique to relax Juantorena's hamstrings and lower back. Then he readjusted the runner's posture to change weight distribution, and offered suggestions on a more relaxed running style.

When the session was over, Juantorena felt so good he entered the 400. Sweeping around the track with his powerful long stride fully restored, the 6'3" Juantorena crossed the finish line first in a respectable 45.77.

When the race was over, El Caballo jogged loosely along the track, searching for Perry in the crowd. And then, smiling hugely, he embraced the stocky American and hoisted him up for all to see.

Displays of this sort are rare where doctors are concerned, but Juantorena and Cuban sports authorities were so impressed with Perry's work in Jamaica that he was given an official invitation to visit Cuba and work more wonders. He now has State Department clearance and soon will spend two weeks in Cuba teaching his sports-medicine concepts to athletes, trainers and officials. Similar offers have come from other nations, including Japan, Jamaica, Venezuela and Trinidad. One country whose athletic Establishment has not sought out Perry's expertise is the U.S. The reason is that the chiropractic profession is ill-regarded by organized American M.D.s. Consequently, Perry is not just avoided by sports-medicine commissions in this country but he is also shunned.

Nevertheless, Perry's list of satisfied patients is impressive. Among them are world-class runners Henry Rono, Francie Larrieu, Patti Van Wolvelaere and James Gilkes as well as Juantorena; high jumper Dwight Stones; National Football Leaguers past (Alex Karras) and present (Ricky Bell); track and field coaches Jumbo Elliot (Villanova), Vern Wolfe (USC) and Payton Jordan (Stanford); weightmen Mac Wilkins, Al Feuerbach, Jay Silvester, John Powell and George Woods; javelin thrower Sam Colson and discus thrower Jan Svendsen; as well as such luminaries as Arnie Robinson (long jump), Bruce Jenner (decathlon) and Harvey Glance (sprints); skier Suzy Chaffee; tennis player Stan Smith; pentathlete Jane Frederick; and baseball players Rick Monday, Don Sutton and Jim Palmer; not to mention patients from the ranks of the obscure, like George Lynfield Throop III, pitcher for the Houston Astros.

Late last year, the U.S. Olympic Athletes' Advisory Council voted unanimously that the USOC include doctors of chiropractic on all international and Olympic teams and that they be included on the Sports Medicine Committee. A subsequent news release by these athletes reported that "On Feb. 10, the USOC Executive Board, under the advisement of Dr. Irving Dardik, chairman of the Sports Medicine Council, rejected the endorsement. In light of this decision, the athletes feel that the USOC is not being responsive to their needs."

To further display their regard for chiropractors in general, and Perry in particular, several athletes—Jim Wooley (judo), Kate Schmidt (javelin), sprinter Steve Williams and weightlifter Bruce Wilhelm—made one more effort. At their own expense, they set up press conferences in Manhattan and Houston to publicize their campaign on Perry's behalf.

Wooley said, "We want future generations of athletes to be able to get the chiropractic care they might need so they can achieve their goals. It was stymieing for us, psychologically and physically, to be told we couldn't get the chiropractic care we needed and we want to be sure others get it. The Juantorena episode proved what we've been saying for a long, longtime."

Given its traditional stand on chiropractors, it is not surprising that the medical Establishment ignored this appeal. It is ironic, however, that one of the M.D.s' own, Dr. George A. Sheehan, the cardiologist-runner, wrote in his book. Running and Being: "Physicians who handle emergencies with éclat, who dive fearlessly into abdomens for bleeding aneurysms, who think nothing of managing cardiac arrest and heart failure, who miraculously reassemble accident victims, are helpless when confronted with an ailing athlete. They are even less able to counsel the athlete and [answer] his never-ending questions about health." The athlete, Sheehan concludes, is "medicine's most difficult patient."