Posts Tagged "nervous system"

Immune Responses to Spinal Manipulation

Posted by Dr. Wirtz on Nov 29, 2011 in Blog, Diseases, Drug Free Treatment, Health Tips | 0 comments

I decided to find an article about how spinal adjustments can help boost the immune system which helps prevent illness and disease.  With the cold and flu seasons lurking around, I feel it’s necessary to explain to patients that a chiropractic adjustment is the BEST way to naturally prevent sickness.  I really enjoyed this article that I have included some excerpts below.  I also included the link to the full article if any of you would like to read it.  Stay healthy, GET ADJUSTED!

For many years, chiropractors have observed in their own practices that their patients sometimes demonstrate improvements of complaints related to immune problems: the disappearance or lessening of allergy symptoms, quicker recovery from or less frequent and severe colds and other respiratory infections, and so on.

Early Research on Manipulation and the Immune System

Research in the 1990s laid the groundwork for the more recent papers published in the past five years. Brennan, et al., [4] published a paper demonstrating that upper thoracic spinal manipulation resulted in markers indicating significant increased phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes compared to a sham manipulation or soft-tissue treatment. The findings suggest that a certain force threshold was needed to elicit the response.

In a second study, Brennan, et al., [5] concluded that their data suggests spinal manipulation, which generates a force over a certain threshold, elicits viscerosomatic responses that affect both neutrophils and mononuclear cells phagocytic activity, at least over the short term. And in a very small 1994 study, [6] the study authors concluded that upper cervical adjustments increased CD4 “helper” T-cell counts, which initiate the body’s response to viruses in HIV-positive subjects, by 48 percent over the six-month duration of the study.

Neural immunoregulation: Communication Between the Immune and Nervous Systems
These earlier papers have now been followed-up by a series of recent studies within the past five years. Teodorczyk-Injeyan, et al., [7] described the interplay between the nervous system and immune system as neural immunoregulation. The authors note that immune homeostasis is based on the reciprocal communication between the immune and the nervous systems executed by the actions of cytokines and neurotransmitters. In addition, the paper explains the close association of autonomic nerve terminals with macrophages and lymphocytes, which facilitates a chemically mediated transmission between nerves and immune cells.
This research group has published a series of papers that explores the relationship of spinal manipulation, spinoautonomic reflexes and their influence on activity of cells involved in immune and/or inflammatory responses. These interconnections may have great clinical relevance because studies [8] on the pathophysiology of discogenic low back pain, sciatica, and ligamentous tissue damage-related pain [9] reveal that the production of pro-inflammatory mediators, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß), are major factors in the genesis of pain and functional changes in neural activity. Furthermore, studies of the hypoalgesic effects of spinal manipulation have already been reported in the literature, suggesting that an anti-inflammatory mechanism might be activated by spinal manipulation. [10-11] Recent clinical studies have shown that chemical blockage of TNF-a is highly effective in reducing sciatic pain. [12]

The Take-Home Message

The studies described above demonstrate an accumulation of evidence that indicates spinal manipulation may influence the immune system’s response to various stimuli. Three of the studies suggest that manipulation consistently reduced the production of pro-inflammatory mediators associated with tissue damage and pain from articular structures. Two studies provide evidence that manipulation consistently reduced the production of pro-inflammatory mediators associated with tissue damage and pain from articular structures. Two studies provide evidence that manipulation may induce and enhance production of the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-2 and the production of immunoglobulins as well.

We must acknowledge that these results are preliminary because most are performed on asymptomatic subjects and the duration of the effects so far have only been demonstrated to be short-lived. Nevertheless, this research opens the door to further exploration of the possible neuroimmunoregulatory effects of spinal manipulation and confirms what many of us have observed in practice: Adjustments reduce pain and inflammation, and may improve immunoregulatory functionhttp://www.chiro.org/research/ABSTRACTS/Immune_Responses_to_Spinal_Manipulation.shtml

Tap Water Or Bottled?

Posted by Dr. Wirtz on Nov 8, 2011 in Blog, Health Tips, Uncategorized | 0 comments

If you’ve switched to bottled water as your primary fluid and have stopped drinking sodas, then you are definitely on the right track as this is one of the most important single steps you can take to achieve physical health (along with regular chiropractic adjustments).  As I stated in a few blogs ago, high fructose corn syrup in regular sodas is currently the number one source of calories for Americans, so eliminating it will go a long way toward improving your health. Artificial sweeteners in diet sodas are even worse.

However, if you’ve switched to bottled water in hopes of avoiding the perils of drinking unfiltered tap water, you have some fine-tuning to do. Americans increasingly are turning to bottled water, making it a $4 billion-a-year business in the United States. Millions of us are willing to pay 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than we do for tap water — though we probably rarely think of it that way.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) conducted a study of 103 brands of bottled water (over 1,000 bottles were tested in all) and found that one-third contained synthetic organic chemicals and bacteria. One sample even contained arsenic levels above state health limits.  The NRDC maintains that city tap water is required to undergo more rigorous testing and has higher purity standards than bottled water.

Another important reason to avoid plastic water bottles is the fact that our overuse of them is pushing the health of planet earth in the wrong direction. The plastic bottles in which bottled water is typically sold are made of plastic polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. The manufacture of these bottles can release phathalates, which have been found to cause birth defects in animals, into the environment. The International Bottled Water Association says that the bottles are recyclable and are reused up to 100 times before being made into other products.

If you want to make sure your water is safe, I recommend using a reverse osmosis filter, which enables you to rely on your own well or municipal source for safe, clean water and give up bottles for good.  Keeping your body well hydrated with safe water, a healthy diet, and regular Chiropractic adjustments is going to increase your quality of life and keep your nervous system happy and healthy.  So….get adjusted and drink up!

Chiropractic and the Immune System

Posted by Dr. Heuser on Jul 28, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

Most people visit chiropractors for treatment of acute pain (e.g. back pain, neck pain, headaches, etc.), but chiropractic treatment can also contribute to general well-being in less apparent ways. An example of this can be seen in the effect that chiropractic treatment can have on the immune system. At first, it might seem odd that physical adjustments could alter something like the immune system; the link that makes it possible is the nervous system. Your entire body is directed by your nervous system. Even things like breathing, heartbeat, digestion, and the immune system are regulated by the autonomic nervous system (a subset of the nervous system that is responsible for all of the automatic functions in the body). Therefore, anything that affects the nervous system can in turn affect any of these bodily functions, and that is exactly what some spinal irregularities do. Vertebral subluxations or lesions can put pressure on nerves in the spine, thus reducing their ability to function properly.

Chiropractors can treat these spinal irregularities to relieve nerve pressure, which can lead to greater immune system competency. Several studies have been conducted showing this to be the case. One showed that there is an almost immediate spike in the strength of the immune system after a chiropractic adjustment, with white blood cell count (WBC) rising within 15 minutes after treatment. Another study showed that people who had received regular chiropractic treatment over a 5-year period had immune system competency that was on average 200% higher than those patients who had not received any treatment. A third study examined the effect of chiropractic on the immune systems of HIV patients. After 6 months, the WBC of those who had received chiropractic treatment had increased by 48%, while the WBC of those who had not received chiropractic treatment decreased by 8%.

Many other factors may also affect immune-system health (e.g. exercise, posture, stress, and nutrition), and chiropractors can offer guidance in these areas as well. Whether you are plagued by allergies, frequent illness, or auto-immune disorders, chiropractic can help strengthen your immune system to fight these problems and promote better health.