nerve stress, germs or amoxicillin glands?

Why do we get sick? Is it bad luck? Or, are we victims to be preyed upon by the millions of germs floating in the air or lining surfaces everywhere? Is it the fault of our children, friends or co-workers? Why is it that most Americans receive their first antibiotic prescription within their first year of life? Is it because we were born without amoxicillin or penicillin glands? Why is it that some people are rarely ill or get over colds in no time? The real question is: is it the seed or the soil?

Louis Pasteur's "germ theory" became the controlling medical idea for the Western world late in the nineteenth century. Simply stated, the germ theory proposes that the body becomes infected when exposed to germs. In chiropractic, germs are not viewed as the sole cause of infectious disease, but rather opportunists. Viruses and bacteria exist everywhere, even within us. If our body becomes weakened, germs are allowed to flourish...seizing an opportunity. As an analogy, germs can be thought of as tomato seeds, and our body as either composted manure or a bed of salt. When resistance is strong representing the bed of salt, the seeds will be unable to grow. If the same seed dropped into a weakened body representing the manure, it would produce a fast growing plant. Our immune system’s resistance is the determining factor for illness, not the germs. Of course there are exceptions, but this explains why not all people exposed to the same virus or bacteria get sick. After all, nurses and doctors in hospitals do not continually get the same infections as their patients.

The ongoing and growing trend of chemically combating viruses and bacteria has led to enormous misuse and overuse. Many years of over-prescribing antibiotics has led to a dangerous increase in drug-resistant bacteria?[1] In a single year, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, physicians wrote 12 million antibiotic prescriptions for bronchitis and other respiratory infections against which antibiotics are almost always useless.[2] Doctors of Chiropractic agree with the many medical experts who recommend that antibiotics should be used with great restraint and not given to millions of people indiscriminately. Physicians should save the “miracle” drugs for those truly needing a miracle.

Which came first the chicken or the egg, the disease or the dis-ease and the dis-ease or the symptom? A disease is typically thought of in our culture as “what we have.” It may be an infection, an elevated substance in the blood, a mass, etc. It is viewed as a symptom or group of symptoms. A symptom is usually a sign that something is wrong… it is the result of something else. Sometimes symptoms are the sign that the body is healing, like when a scab itches. In chiropractic, disease is often referred to as “dis-ease” and is not seen as an entity, but as the loss of balance. “Dis” means without, and something at “ease” is in balance. When our bodies are dis-eased, they then allow for infections, masses, and other symptoms to develop. Treatment focusing on the symptom is often counterproductive when the underlying imbalance (dis-ease) is not addressed. It is like constantly repainting water stains instead of patching the roof.

Why is it that the children of chiropractors tend to get sick less often?[3] As a doctor of chiropractic who is also the son of a chiropractor, I can attest that these children follow a completely different lifestyle. The chiropractic lifestyle recognizes the importance of five key elements to optimum health and wellbeing. The equation to be healthy includes proper nerve function, exercise, rest, intelligent food choices and emotional health. Each of these parts may be broken down into thousands of subcategories.

Why is our nervous system so important regarding our health and quality of life? What does the nervous system do? The brain and the network of nerves control every part of the body, including every organ and the immune system. An article in the New York Times stated, "Scientists have found the first evidence of an anatomical connection between the nervous system and the immune system. Nerve cell endings in the skin and white blood cells of the immune system are in intimate contact, and chemicals secreted by the nerves can shut down immune system cells nearby." [4] This recent scientific finding confirms what the earliest chiropractors concluded over 100 years ago.

Why is patient satisfaction with doctors of chiropractic consistently high? [5] Perhaps it is because the primary focus of chiropractic is to help people regain and maintain their optimum level of health by addressing the “proper nerve function” component stated earlier. As spoken by Dr. Sid Williams, president of the world’s largest college of chiropractic, “chiropractic is the link between the internal wisdom of life and the body." The body is a self-healing and self-regulating organism that knows how to be healthy in the same way that it knew how to take two cells and create organs, glands, muscles, bones, a nose, hair, etc. This internal wisdom utilizes the nervous system to coordinate healing and control of all bodily functions. Doctors of chiropractic are the only health professionals that are trained to locate and correct nerve dysfunction caused by spinal misalignments called “subluxations.”

Subluxation may be a primary cause of immune system suppression. According to physiologist I.M. Korr, spinal "lesions" (analogous to the vertebral subluxation) are associated with exaggerated sympathetic nervous system activity. He further concluded that changes in nervous system tone may alter organ and tissue responses to hormones, infectious agents, and blood components."[6]

How does chiropractic help people? The chiropractor performs a specific examination designed to locate subluxations and to determine the extent of damage that it has caused. He or she then removes the imbalance by gently adjusting the spine into the proper position allowing the damaged nerve to work normally. At that point, the internal wisdom can once again regulate and coordinate the body and bring a higher level of health and wellbeing.

Contemporary research is beginning to shed light on the neurobiological mechanisms, which may explain the outstanding clinical results chiropractors have experienced when caring for patients with infectious diseases. Research has found that when certain chiropractic adjustments were made, the response of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (immune system cells) isolated from blood collected 15 minutes after the adjustment was significantly higher than blood collected 15 minutes before and 30 and 45 minutes after.[7] A small controlled study of HIV positive patients was conducted. Half the patients received chiropractic adjustments. The other half received a placebo (a fake adjustment). Over the six-month period of the study, the control group experienced a 7.96% decrease in immune system CD4 cell counts, while the group receiving chiropractic care experienced a 48% increase in CD4 cell counts over the same period.[8] Two hundred pediatricians and two hundred chiropractors were randomly selected to determine if there were any differences in their respective children as raised under different health care models. Nearly 43% of the pediatrician’s children had suffered from tonsillitis, compared to less than 27% of the chiropractic children. Lower antibiotic use and lower incidence of disease was also reported in the chiropractic children.3

Is the natural, balancing approach of chiropractic expensive and time consuming? A 1992 review of data gathered from over two million users of chiropractic care in the United States appeared in the Journal of American Health Policy. It stated that "chiropractic users tend to have substantially lower total health care costs." The data also indicated that chiropractic care reduces the need for both physician and hospital care. Like braces on a child’s teeth, it takes time to restore a person’s spine. People may start care frequently, several times per week, and then decrease their frequency as the doctor measures improvement. Many patients continue throughout their lives to be seen for maintenance, also called wellness, visits periodically to stay healthy. They may discontinue care at any time, but see what an important part of a healthy lifestyle chiropractic care plays.

If you are thinking what President George W. Bush said to a couple of Doctors of Chiropractic during his inauguration, "Wow, I could use an adjustment right now," then you have started on the path to natural health through internal balance and away from drug dependency. So, the next time you hear a friend complaining about the symptoms of a cold or the flu, ask them if they were born without amoxicillin glands.

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[1] Anita Manning, USA TODAY 08/14/97

[2] The Associated Press, September 16, 1997

[3] van Breda WM; van Breda JM. A comparative study of the health status of children raised under the health care models of chiropractic and allopathic medicine. J Chiro Res 1989; 5:101-3

[4] Kolata G: Nerve Cells Tied To Immune System. New York Times May 13, 1993.

[5] Spine 2002; 27(3):291-298.

[6] Korr IM: Andrew Taylor Still memorial lecture: research and practice--a century later. J Am Osteopath Assoc 1974 73:362.

[7] J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1992 15(2):83

[8] Selano JL; Hightower BC; Pfleger B; Collins KF; Grostic JD; The effects of specific upper cervical adjustments on the CD4 counts of HIV positive patients. Chiropractic Research Journal 1994