When thousands of people of all ages were asked if they would rather suffer from a back problem or a brain problem, every single person said that they would choose to suffer from a back-related problem. People believe that even severe back problems are less of a problem than brain problems because the brain regulates so many aspects of life and health. People often overlook the circumstance that unites the back and the brain. The brain and spine combine to form the nervous system, and the nervous system helps to regulate the health of the body. Research shows that a back problem is a brain problem. Chiropractic care improves the brain and the health of the entire body by improving the health of the spine and nervous system.
Millions of people all over the world experience life and health-transforming benefits from Chiropractic care. Over the 120 years of Chiropractic practice people have experienced improved sleep, energy, digestion, breathing, reproduction, immunity, and heart function through the optimization of their nervous system. Adjusting the spine and back to improve health goes back to ancient Egyptian times. Regular chiropractic care improves health for adults, children, and babies from the day of their birth.
The scientific research and medical communities originally stood in general opposition to crediting Chiropractic with non-spine-related health improvements. These groups often cited a lack of scientific validation over the course of the decades that followed the development of Chiropractic care. Some medical doctors went so far as to slander Chiropractic in hopes of discrediting a profession determined to help people without the use of drugs and surgeries. A wealth of science and research now exists to explain exactly how a Chiropractic adjustment can achieve significant health benefits for people experiencing non-spine-related health conditions. The spine directly impacts brain function.
Four specific research articles (found below) released over the last decade prove that the largest benefit of a Chiropractic adjustment happens in the brain. An intimate relationship exists between the spine, brain, and autonomic nervous system. The first Chiropractic adjustment took place in Iowa in 1895 and restored a man’s hearing. Mahatma Gandhi’s blood pressure issues subsided after receiving adjustments every week for three months. The Spanish influenza threat missed thousands of people who pursued adjustments during the epidemic of 1918 that claimed the lives of nearly five percent of the world’s population. These brief examples represent a small sampling of people who received health benefits credited to Chiropractic adjustments by improving brain and autonomic nervous system function.
The research continues to grow. Chiropractic adjustments improve brain function and benefit almost every aspect of human performance. All humans deserve access to Chiropractic care. Proper education and continually updated research will overcome the notion that Chiropractic only addresses back and neck pain. Chiropractors locate and correct small and subtle misalignments in the spine called subluxations. Subluxations always alter brain and autonomic nervous system function. Subluxations, like arteries that gradually clog without warning, do not always cause pain despite a massive detriment to health. All adults, children, and babies benefit from regular spinal and neural care. Chiropractors improve brain and body health by improving spinal health through the Chiropractic adjustment. A healthy spine walks hand in hand with a healthy brain, and in the end, optimal health is all about the brain.
- There were measurable changes in the neuro-endocrine mechanisms following a thoracic spinal adjustment.
- An increase in the sympathetic tone of the nervous system plays a significant role in visceral disease.
- A spinal adjustment changes the tone of the sympathetic nervous system, thus influencing hormones through the neuro-endocrine pathways.
- A $3 million P.E.T. scan was used to measure outcomes following a Chiropractic adjustment. (A P.E.T. scan is a powerful neuro-imaging technique used to investigate neuronal activity in the human brain)
- Brain and nervous system changes were measured in subjects after receiving a cervical adjustment. The findings concluded an increase in glucose metabolism in all areas of the brain except the cerebellar vermis, significantly lowered results in the stress response scale and visual analog scale, reduced muscle tone, and a significant decrease in salivary amylase.
- All of these measurements are major indicators in a reduction of stress hormones by inhibiting the tone of the central nervous system.
- Entire spine and both sacroiliac joints were assessed for segmental dysfunction (vertebral subluxation) and treated where they were deemed necessary by a registered chiropractor with 15 years of clinical experience
- High velocity, low amplitude thrusts were delivered to the spine or pelvic joints always less than 200 milliseconds in duration.
- A change in sensory-motor integration occurred after the spinal adjustment predominately in the prefrontal cortex.
- The study confirms that a single session of spinal adjustment of dysfunctional segments in subclinical pain patients alters somatosensory processing of the cortical level, predominantly with the prefrontal cortex.
- A vertebral subluxation alters balance of afferent input to the central nervous system.
- Imbalanced afferent input, due to subluxation, leads to “maladaptive neural plastic changes in the CNS.”
- A subluxation negatively affects the brain’s ability to receive feedback from the body in order to create, sustain, and maintain optimal function throughout the nervous system.
- The group within the study that received Chiropractic adjustments was described as having “enhanced active inhibition” of the nervous system.
- This is an indication that a Chiropractic adjustment inhibits the tone of the nervous system in a way that cannot be replicated or changed by any other physical, emotional, or chemical strategy.
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