Chiropractic and the Immune System
The new mother was told that her twin babies had died after birth. However, the truth was far different: they were sent to an institute near Moscow to be studied. This was to be the fate of “Masha” & “Dasha”, one of the most unusual set of conjoined twins ever born. Conjoined or Siamese twins are formed in the same way as identical twins but the eggs, for some reason, don’t completely separate; instead, they remain partially attached. Because their circulatory systems are interconnected, the twins share each other’s blood. A germ that enters one twin’s bloodstream will soon be seen in the blood of her sister.
Surprisingly, illness affects them differently. Dasha is near-sighted, prone to colds and right-handed. Masha has a healthier constitution, higher blood pressure, good eyesight and is left-handed. The twins differing health pattern present a mystery. Why did one become ill with a childhood disease while the other did not? The measles “bug” was in both of their bodies, in their collective bloodstream; so why didn’t both get the measles? This phenomenon was seen over and over again with the girls (flu, colds, other diseases were all experienced separately).
If germs alone had the power to cause infectious diseases, why would one of the twins be disease-free while the other was ill? What was it in their makeup that differentiated one from the other. The answer was the nerve system. Although the twins had common circulatory, digestive, excretory, lymphatic, endocrine and skeletal systems (they were joined at the hips), they had separate spinal columns and spinal cords. This was a very important difference between the girls.
In these extraordinary twins, nature’s “laboratory” devised an experiment that no researcher could ever duplicate. The twins are an invaluable example confirming that there is much more to “catching” a disease than simply breathing in germs; germs can make you sick if, and only if, your body provides them fertile ground in which to grow. The state of your nervous system can determine whether or not (and how quickly) you will recover. By keeping your spinal column and nervous system free from subluxation stress, chiropractic care keeps you in a higher state of health.
There is no shortage of theories to explain the role of the subluxation in disease and the effect of the adjustment in relieving symptomatology. The autonomic nervous system (that part of the nerve system which controls vital function) may be effected by spinal dysfunction or subluxation causing a compromise in that function. Immunity is one such function which can be adversely affected. Recent investigations justify the attention which has been focused on this component of the nervous system. Recent neuroscience research supports this paradigm. Abnormal stimulation of spinal or paraspinal structures may lead to segmentally organized reflex responses of the autonomic nervous system, which in turn may alter visceral function. Click here to read this research