Chiropractic and General Health

There is great controversy around the question of whether chiropractors or other professional may relieve or cure certain diseases of internal organs through spinal manipulation. Even if one of the guiding principles of chiropractic is that no treatment is given with the intent to cure any disease per se directly, many chiropractors, if not most, reported almost anecdotally that many of his patients with different organic conditions usually get better when under his care.

The most compelling reason to continue to believe that there is a relationship between spinal injuries and internal functions (rather, organic disorders) remains the evidence from clinical histories and anecdotes about the advent of improvements in different conditions as a result of therapeutic reason designed to treat spinal injuries.

The structure governs function is also basic axiom of osteopathy, it comes to mean that any functional impairment is determined by a structural alteration. The structure is not only important, but it is the key to treatment. Therefore, it can solve correcting organ dysfunction.

To understand this mechanism we must speak of the autonomic nervous system, we could say that the nervous system is divided into a part that responds to the will and conscience, another is automatic that works permanently which gives the body the orders for the proper functioning of organs and systems.

The autonomic nervous system is then part of the central and peripheral nervous system that is responsible for the regulation of involuntary body functions of maintaining internal balance and the responses of adaptation to changes in the external and internal environment.

It helps control, among other things, pressure arterial, motility and digestive secretions, issuing urinary, sweating and body temperature. Some of these functions are fully controlled by the system autonomic nervous, while others are partially.

This automatism is regulated by the autonomic nervous system and this is divided into a sympathetic and parasympathetic other, which goes up or down the activity of each organ as sensors distributed throughout the body.

The sympathetic nervous system can be activated massively; this occurs when the hypothalamus is triggered by a specific event, such as a very intense painful or emotional stimulus and thus a generalized reaction throughout the body, known as alarm reaction or stress, also called the fight-or-flight response occurs.

With the massive sympathetic discharge the body starts to carry out an activity vigorous muscle; increases blood pressure, increases blood flow to active muscles and organs decreases unnecessary for rapid activity, widely increases cellular metabolism, muscle glycolysis, muscle strength, and mental activity. All this allows a strenuous physical activity.

Contrary to what happens with the sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system relates to processes of rest, and its activation is oriented to energy saving. Thus, parasympathetic activation causes a decrease in heart rate, constriction of bronchial smooth muscle, mitosis, etc. Signs of parasympathetic discharge are nausea, vomiting, increased intestinal peristalsis, enuresis and defecation. Also causes increased secretions.

The vertebral subluxation then in addition to generating local painful symptoms or irradiated generates conduction disturbance stimuli of the autonomic nervous system causing alteration in the function of the systems and internal organs, so it is very common in our view, the commentary of patients on improvements in health that are not commonly associated with the origin of the query, as examples we can cite the reduction of gastritis, dyspepsia, recovery of smell, loss of ringing in the ears, decreased menstrual cramps, voltage stabilization blood etc.

Although they may actually occur these changes, chiropractors we do not propose to solve such diseases occur by the body’s ability to heal itself when interference to nerve conduction disappear by aligning the spine, anyway suggest that any such symptoms should be controlled by the appropriate specialist.