THE nervous and immune systems are hardwired and work together to create optimal responses for the body to adapt and heal appropriately. Neural dysfunctions due to spinal misalignments are stressful to the body and cause abnormal changes that lead to a poorly coordinated immune response. Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to boost the coordinated responses of the nervous system and immune system.

The autonomic nervous system is hard-wired into the lymphoid organs such as the spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, and bone marrow that produce the body’s immune response. Growing evidence is showing that immune function is regulated, in part, by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.

Subluxation is the term for misalignments of the spine that cause compression and irritation of nerve pathways affecting organ systems of the body. Subluxations are an example of physical nerve stress that affects neuronal control. According to researchers, such stressful conditions lead to altered measures of immune function and increased susceptibility to a variety of diseases.

Inflammatory based disease is influenced by the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Nerve stimulation directly affects the growth and function of inflammatory cells. Researchers found that dysfunction in this pathway results in the development of various inflammatory syndromes such as rheumatoid arthritis and behavioural syndromes such as depression. Additionally, this dysfunctional neuro-endo-immune response plays a significant role in immune-compromised conditions such as chronic infections and cancer.

Wellness-based chiropractors analyse the spine for subluxations and give corrective adjustments to reduce the stress on the nervous system. A 1992 research group found that when a thoracic adjustment was applied to a subluxated area the white blood cell (neutrophil) count rose significantly.

In 1975, Ronald Pero, PhD, chief of cancer prevention research at New York’s Preventive Medicine Institute and professor in Environmental Health at New York University, began researching the most scientifically valid ways to estimate individual susceptibility to various chronic diseases. He has conducted a tremendous amount of research in this area that includes over 160 published reports in peer-reviewed journals.

Pero and his colleagues discovered that various DNA-repairing enzymes could be significantly altered following exposure to carcinogenic chemicals. He found strong evidence that an individual’s susceptibility to cancer could be determined by these enzymes. Lack of those enzymes, Pero said, “definitely limits not only your lifespan, but also your ability to resist serious disease consequences”.

Pero was fascinated by the relationship cancer-inducing agents had on the endocrine system. Since the nervous system regulates hormone balance, he hypothesised that the nervous system had to also have a strong influence on one’s susceptibility to cancer.

To support this argument he found a substantial amount of literature linking various kinds of spinal cord injuries and cancer. Pero found that these injuries led to a very high rate of lymphomas and lymphatic leukemias. This understanding led Pero to consider chiropractic care as a means of reducing the risk of immune breakdown and disease.

Pero’s team measured 107 individuals who had received long-term chiropractic care. The patients were shown to have a 200 per cent greater immune competence than people who had not received chiropractic care, and a 400 per cent greater immune competence than people with cancer or serious diseases. Interestingly, Pero found no decline with the various age groups in the study demonstrating that the DNA-repairing enzymes were just as present in long-term chiropractic senior groups as they were in the younger groups.

Pero concluded, “Chiropractic may optimise whatever genetic abilities you have so that you can fully resist serious disease… I have never seen a group other than this show a 200 per cent increase over normal patients.”

Additionally, research in the 1990s published a paper demonstrating that upper thoracic spinal manipulation resulted in markers indicating significant increased phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes.

Another study concluded that data suggests spinal manipulation, elicits viscerosomatic responses that affect both neutrophils and mononuclear cells phagocytic activity.

And a 1994 study 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 per cent over the six-month duration of the study. Killer T-cells are known to attack cancer.

These increases in immune response can not only help sick people, but can also make healthy people healthier and prevent sickness and disease. The Power that made the body heals the body when interference is removed in the spinal system, freeing the nervous system to operate at its optimally intended levels.

Don’t forget to “Ask Your Chiropractor” every week where your questions may be published and answered in subsequent articles. Address questions to: Dr Chris Davis, the Spinal Mechanic and lead doctor, at movethebone@gmail.com; or, Dr Michael Harvey, director, at dr.michael_harvey@yahoo.com.