Scientific Basis for Chiropractic

Is there any Scientific Basis for Chiropractic?
Anatomy and Physiology as it relates to chiropractic paradigm (last update 09-19)
 
I have written this section for my patients who over the past 30 years have wanted to
 
understand how chiropractic care works. I have been very fortunate to have a diverse
 
patient base, including teenagers, manual labors to college professors and other
 
healthcare providers. All people who wanted to understand the science behind the
 
chiropractic paradigm. To do this, it is necessary to understand that most of the
 
information that now is understood about anatomy and physiology has been updated
 
and revised by current research. Much that I am relating has been published in many
 
different forums from research to clinical observation. I know that some think or believe
 
that most health care interventions are as well grounded in science as what I am
 
presenting in these notes. Remarkably, less than 20% by some conservative
 
estimates of what is currently used routinely in healthcare has double blind
 
studies to substantiate the intervention.
 
The information below is from generally available references and links that can be
 
found in the library or on the web. There are extensive textbooks and articles on these
 
topics available, but these are usually only found in the bookstores and libraries of
 
chiropractic colleges. (Not a lot of students, other than chiropractic students study the
 
different names of all the joints and articulations involved in the spine or have an
 
interest in the names for each of them.)
 
So here some of the science of today! (Follow the Blue links or UNDERLINED on
 
PAGES to the science references)
 
The two joints on the back surface of vertebrae are called a facet or zygapophseal
 
.
 
(Back View of the spine-typical)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
These joints (facet or zygapophseal) are the ones which are involved
in guiding stability of the back and were believed to have a passive role in back activity such as walking and almost everything else.
 
(Side View of spine-typical)
 
 
 
 
 
This is one of the earlier models of how the back worked and it is called "The Box Theory".
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The problem with this model is that the energy expenditure of walking was possible, but the energy of running did not make fit this model.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The world's fastest runner would have to look like this person, if the model was accurate.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is a part of one of the model's that is used currently to describe the back during a static posture position. ( Harrison Model )
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just as the ear has specialized receptors that process sound into information that is stored in the brain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And the eyes have specialized receptors called rods and cones-
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The joint capsular ligament, with its innervation forms a receptor field. The capsular (facet-zygapophseal) receptor fields also have impact on secondary location distant to the facet - zygapophyseal joint . The chiropractic term for the neurological aspect of this effect was originally subluxation . Then the term subluxation complex was added to better describe the different aspects (vascular, neurological, lymphatic, skeletal, etc.) Later the term, for the neurological aspect, was updated to Dysafferentation .
 
 
 
 
 
It has a primary effect on the Multifidus muscles of the spine. Joint fixation, induces atrophy and fatty infiltration of these muscles. The disuse of the spinal muscles produce sarcopenia .
 
Upton Sinclair quotes "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
 
The typical human spine has 48 joints called facet or zygapophseal joints. Here is the start of some of the more traditional medical doctors explanation of the spine.
 
The medical description of this phenomenon was described in " The Human Spine in Health and Disease " by Georg Schmorl (5th German edition by Herbert Junghanns). The description was more of a staging of the process of subluxation than an anatomy and physiology description.
 
The initial localized problem was called an Inefficient Motor Segment (Intervertebral Insufficiency) Definition
 
Group 1 - Changes and complaints in the immediate vicinity of the disturbed motor segment.
 
Group 2- Symptoms which are conducted through neural and vascular pathways and which also have been termed as symptoms (spondylogenic) of syndromes of spinal cause.
 
Group 3- Spondylogenic disease which have become independent and have developed originally from the second group.
 
The neuroanatomy of the facet or zygapophseal joint was first partially described as
 
the note that there was a nerve that innervated the joint capsule recurrent meningeal
 
nerve or the recurrent nerve of Von Luschka .
 
 
This evolved into the frame work of describing a complete classification of the nerve
 
ending (receptor types) that innervate the joint capsule of the (facet or zygapophseal)
 
joint.
 
Today, the neurological parts of these joints take on a totally different importance; not,
 
just it's a chiropractor invented term "subluxation" to be dismiss. The claims of several
 
detractor of chiropractic, is that it has no basis in scientific writings. The follow
 
information may lead the cause of the honest intelligent scientist to re-examine that
 
position.
 
Articular neurology is the classification system devised by BD Wyke.
 
The next major step is to understand that the joint capsule is a (primary and
 
rudimentary) receptor field and what the implications of that realization means. To
 
begin with a background of receptor field processes is needed to follow the importance.
 
The idea that we have five senses and the receptor fields are separate and distinct is
 
one of those learned scientific truths that may more accurately describe a built in
 
scotoma (blind spot). The first example that seeing is only with the eyes was
 
challenged with the skin as a surrogate eye study . Then further studies produced this
 
paper the all seeing tongue-taste the light . Exploiting the idea to vision from the tongue
 
has produced Brain Port for vision and after my own heart, balance training with a
 
 
complexities of the nervous system connection, to which the eyes did not need to be in a complex organism.
 
 
Box jelly fish . Another interesting aspect of the jelly fish species is the movement patterns of complex behavior tied into each of the 24 eyes .
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The next idea was what happens if the facet joint receptor field is disconnected from the upper brain. The U Tube of the chicken without a head as seen on Believe it or not .
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Realizing, that we now know, that the spinal cord and cerebellum (rethinking the lesser brain) play a critical part of complex behavior patterns; it requires a major shift in our thinking as to how information is obtained and integrated into our body. Also, Frontiers in Brain Research and Paul Bach-y-Rita concept of Neuroplasticity has altered the reality of understanding how the brain functions. As this U-Tube video from the BBC shows .
 
 
 
 
 
 
The ability to condition (Pavlov) internal organs all that is required is a receptor field which can be an interconnected to another receptor field. ( Cerebral cortex internal organs ) (This book is available in many university libraries.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Then the idea that the Psychoneuroimmunology is a real field of study pioneered by Robert Ader PhD makes one begin to consider the possible mechanisms how some of the remarkable occurrences that have been purported to be noted with spinal adjustments.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The typical human spine has 48 joints called facet or zygapophseal joints. The above
 
information can be simple state as the following: The capsular ligament(s) when
 
viewed with an electron microscope reveals the existence of receptors. These
 
receptors classified by Dr B Wyke MD as articular receptors (three different types
 
receptors are in the capsular ligament of spinal facet joints). These rudimentary
 
receptor fields display the same properties, as most receptor fields, and can be
 
conditioned aka Pavlov, convey information to the spinal cord and cerebellum (aka Sc
 
Am. Rethinking the Lesser Brain). Several different mechanisms can influence the
 
function of these receptor fields to generate spasm, splinting and/or pain. Sensory
 
substitution in rehabilitation has since the original research taking on a whole new
 
dimension with its implication for patient directed care. Then the TM Joints (jaw joints)
 
also have receptors ( forming a receptor field ) which can produce significant problems
 
for patients (most dentists and Otolaryngologists (ear, noise & throat specialist) have
 
seen patients with this problem). If you are a researcher, make sure to read the full
 
PDF of this article, to understand the impact of the joint receptor fields on the muscles
 
involved in mandible function. I am certain that joint function follow parsimony in
 
biology and this is representative of most joint capsule function. This is my current
 
working model and I am providing this information for clarity.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nerve signal appear to play a significant role in the development of a fetus and even
 
continues to a less degree as we grow into adults. Bioelectric signals (resting
 
 
 
 
 
What is even stranger is the Bad field signaling theory may be a precursor to disease
 
 
Cancer is no more a disease of cells than a traffic jam is a disease of cars. A lifetime of
 
study of the internal-combustion engine would not help anyone understand our traffic
 
problems--
 
D. W. Smithers
 
 
It is almost amusing that you hear, some professors, at some university, call
 
chiropractic voodoo science.
 
 
 
 
 
 
This has produced new insights into many fields of study, including physiology. Forces
 
exerted on a cells structure is propagated through the microstructure architecture and
 
 
 
The implications of connects between different systems of the body is through an
 
elaborate precise system of feedback. This begins to lay the foundation for
 
understanding of how many different procedures such as: acupuncture, different
 
chiropractic techniques and light effects tissue(s).
 
Here is a recent addition of information on Articular Neurology and Manipulative
 
Therapy from Donald E. Ingber MD, PhD, at Harvard Medical School
 
One explanation of how manual therapy works is provided by Donald E. Ingber MD,
 
PhD, at Harvard Medical School (2008) who argues for the concept of cellular
 
mechanotransduction, the process by which cells sense mechanical forces and
 
transduce them into changes in intracellular biochemistry and gene expression. Based
 
on a prolific, federally funded research program over a number of years, Dr. Ingber has
 
been studying cells on the nanometer scale. He views the cytoskeleton as an
 
architectural structure that actively generates tensile forces and distributes them to
 
other components inside the cell. Ingber (2006) suggests that in the living body the
 
process of cellular mechanotranduction might be more a phenomena of structural
 
hierarchies and biological architecture than the action of any single
 
mechanotransduction molecule. This has significant implications for the field of manual
 
therapy. Ingber (2006) states that to seek out and study individual biological parts in
 
isolation without considering contributions of multiscale architecture and invisible
 
internal forces means we will never be able to fully understand how physical forces
 
influence biological form and function.
 
The cellular/tensegrity research of Ingeber (2008), connective tissue research of
 
Langevin et al. (2001 and 2002), and the fascial research of Schleip (2003) are critical
 
in our understanding of connective tissue and its applications in the manual therapies.
 
Wykes mechanoreceptor research (1980) has been instrumental in understanding the
 
effects of the manual therapies and in particular joint mobilization/manipulation. Schleip
 
(2003) explains the importance of fascial mechanoreceptors, and with manual
 
changes can occur in the viscosity of the ground substance and a lowering of
 
sympathetic tonus. Schleip (2003) has also found smooth muscle cells in fascia that
 
appear to be involved in active fascial contractility and have only been reported in large
 
fascial sheets. Pacinian corpuscles are also found in the peritoneum (Stilwell in Schleip
 
2003 page 15) and can be influenced by manual therapy (Schleip 2003}.
 
Mechanoreceptors have been found in the visceral ligaments (Schleip, 2003). The belly
 
(enteric) brain (Gershon in Schleip 2003 p. 17) contains more than 100 million neurons.
 
Many of these sensory neurons function as mechanoreceptors.
 
 
 
 
 
 
These joint receptors also seem to impact neural plastic changes in the nervous system. Producing a stronger contraction and appears to reduce muscle fatigue.
 
Spinal manipulation can reduce muscle splinting and spasm.
 
We know that the effects of immobilization, on joints are not good!
 
We also now, know the idea of continuous passive motion in the treatment of de-conditioned (out of shape- fat- sickly patients) is not a good match for good outcomes.
 
This even take a stranger path with the idea of Pain control, treating depression and other problems: without having to enter the Matrix : Choosing the Red Pill and not the Blue Pill!
 
Next I will discuss the other issues:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Failed back surgery syndrome" is a common problem with enormous costs to patients, insurers, and society. The etiology of failed back surgery can be poor patient selection, incorrect diagnosis, suboptimal selection of surgery, poor technique, failure to achieve surgical goals, and/or recurrent pathology.
 
 
A.M.D.G.