Ah Chooooo!

Why do so many of our patients tell us that they get sick less often since receiving Chiropractic care?  Honestly, we don’t know the exact mechanism but research and science are giving us more and more clues.  None the less, our clinical experience in practice over the last 20 years has demonstrated this response from patients consistently.  Let’s dive in a little:

For proper immunity, we require a communication system that correctly perceives what’s going on in the body, and then an appropriate response to that information.  Numerous research studies have shown that chiropractic care impacts immune system function in a positive way. Here are just a few of the research papers to give you a taste. One study, “Enhancement of in vitro interleukin-2 production in normal subjects following a single spinal manipulative treatment”clearly demonstrated an increase in IL-2 levels and also in the function of T-cells, which are key players in the immune system’s army of cells, following chiropractic adjustment. The authors concluded that chiropractic adjustment can influence the biological immune response (click here for the article). In another study by Selano et al, “The Effects of Specific Upper Cervical Adjustments On The CD4 Counts of HIV Positive Patients'” (Chiropractic Research Journal 1994; 3(1): 32-39), the effects of six months of regular chiropractic care on the immune system function of HIV patients was measured. At the end of six months of care, the patients who had received regular adjustments had a 48% increase in the number of CD4+ T cells (p=0.06), whereas the patients who were not adjusted had an 8% decrease in CD4+ cells.
A series of studies published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Theraputics (JMPT) by Brennan and Triano showed that several types of immune system cells, including phagocytes, neutrophils, and PMNs, showed increased biological activity after chiropractic adjustment. These studies all again suggest that the chiropractic adjustment can enhance immune system function. Links to the PubMed abstracts can be found here and here.

I’m not going to dive into the history of the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918 and Chiropractic’s positive role in this blog but watch for it in the future as it is very interesting and encouraging.

While I know that many people don’t want to read research papers (like I do),  but I also realize that sometimes we chiropractors take for granted that people understand how the chiropractic adjustments we deliver impact their overall health.  The adjustments are impacting your nervous system health and therefore contribute to your life in so many ways.  We are thankful to be able to help so many people in so many ways!  In future blogs I will continue to provide you with the science behind the adjustment and what happens inside your body – its so cool!  Can’t wait to share!  In the meantime, make sure you follow our facebook and twitter pages for the most frequent information, and guide your friends to our main website page to contact us.

Dr. Lynne