Chiropractic Care and Immune System Health

The Effect of Chiropractic Care On Your Immune System

Chiropractic physicians work on your body from the inside out. Allow your body to achieve better balance and an improved immune response by aligning and fine-tuning your spine. Your immune system uses nerves to relay messages to your brain. When nerves are inhibited, your immune system suffers.

Do you find that you get sick often and can't find a reason why? A consultation with one of our chiropractic physicians is the first step to feeling great over the long term. Properly aligning your spine has positive ramifications for your overall wellness. Chiropractic care combats a variety of immune-system-related issues including:

• Allergies
• Arthritis
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Fibromyalgia
• Headaches
• Obesity
• Hypoglycemia
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Osteoporosis
• Thyroid issues

The Nervous System and Immune System

The New York Times on May 13, 1993, reported in an article entitled: "Nerve Cells Tied to Immune System," the first discovery of an anatomical connection between the nerve system and the immune system. For the chiropractic patient, this discovery further supports the need to pay attention to how the nervous system is operating to enable proper immune system defense and overall wellness.

Balancing Overactive Immune Systems

Some illnesses and reactions are caused by an overactive immune system (such as allergies). Your brain, spinal cord, and the nerves that travel through your body control and regulate your immune system. Unhealthy lifestyle habits, stress, poor posture, and irritated nerves can cause an exaggerated immune system response. Chiropractic care isolates and treats your triggers for a healthy, balanced immune system.

The Endocrine System and Your Immune System

Your endocrine also contributes to immunology. It employs epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), norepinephrine, and cortisol. These molecules are produced in the adrenal glands by way of a division called the sympathetic nervous system. Cortisol is a stress hormone that limits the effectiveness of your immune system. If your sympathetic nervous system is too "turned on" due to stress and subluxation, it can boost the adrenal glands' synthesis of cortisol, negatively affecting your immune system.

Spinal Adjustments, Lifestyle Changes and Your Immune System

Careful spinal adjustments and appropriate lifestyle modifications can reduce joint inflammation and nerve irritations in your body that are sabotaging your immune system's potential for defense. Misaligned joints and muscles place extra strain on your joints increasing inflammation. Chiropractic care returns your spinal bones to proper alignment to normalize your neurological response. This realignment process allows your immune system to operate at full capacity.

In today's online world there is a plethora of articles and blogs out there sharing information about what foods and herbs used to help boost the immune system, and many offer great information. What is not so common to find is how chiropractic care can boost the immune system.

Most people are aware of the benefits of chiropractic care for back and neck care, however, there are many other advantages that are not so common including improving the immune function. Our immune system is the body's line of defense to fight viral and bacterial infections. The immune system relies on many factors in order to maintain optimal health including nutrition, exercise, posture, being well rested, and having a healthy spine.

Our nervous system runs through the spine and it works with the immune system in order for the body to adapt to various conditions and heal appropriately when required. Spinal misalignments can cause neural dysfunctions and these are stressful to the body which that lead to a weak immune response. Chiropractic adjustments have shown to boost the immune system.

Subluxation is the chiropractic term for misalignments of the spine that cause compression and irritation of nerve pathways affecting organ systems of the body. Think of each vertebra in your spine as Lego blocks; a healthy spine would have these Lego blogs ever-so-slightly sitting on one another. An unhealthy spine would have these blocks tightly pressed together, and this is the gateway to many health ailments.

The inflammatory-based disease is influenced by the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Nerve stimulation directly affects the growth and function of inflammatory cells. Researchers discovered that dysfunction along this pathway results in various inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and mental health issues such as depression. A dysfunctional nervous, endocrine, and immune response also plays a significant role in immune-compromised health ailments such as chronic infections and cancer.

Every system in our body including the immune system is coordinated and controlled by the nervous system. Immune organs include the spleen, lymph nodes and the thymus are all in communication with the brain and nerves connecting them all. This communication process occurs so that they all talk with one another to coordinate the body's response to what may be happening in the body; without this process, we fall ill. If our nervous system is not functioning properly then the immune system cannot function properly; this makes our body susceptible to viruses, bacteria, and other illnesses that it can normally fight off.

Getting a chiropractic check-up will determine if you have spinal misalignments so you can get them corrected. Studies have proven that an adjustment causes an immediate immune boost. In fact, disease-fighting white blood cells increase significantly within minutes of a chiropractic adjustment.

Other Ways to Keep the Immune System Healthy

Vitamin D is a key player in a healthy immune system and the best way to get it is from the sun. For those of us in northern latitudes, there is only a small window of opportunity to get the sunshine we need every year. Many sources will state different but on average it seems we must get a minimum of 15 minutes of sun with 40 per cent of our skin is exposed in order to meet daily requirements. What is not mentioned is that once mid-August comes along the sun is too far south in order for us to get what we need and D3 supplements become necessary. Spinach is an excellent vegetable to eat because it contains other nutrients which increase the absorption of vitamin D3.

Vitamin C is has been known for years to aid to the body while fighting a cold. Although citrus fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin C, they are acidic and the more acidic our body becomes, the more opportunities for illnesses to creep in. If you increase citrus consumption, then it is critical to eat lots of alkaline vegetables to help keep the body's pH level balanced. Red peppers are a good source of vitamin C and are alkaline. When consuming vitamin C from vegetables and fruits, it's important to remember that vitamin C begins to denature at 160 degrees Fahrenheit; eating fresh produce is best.

Sugar is simply not good for our body and that includes the immune system. There is no shortage of information that indicates sugar is a contributing cause to many diseases and in the case of cancer, it feeds cancer growth. Stay away from simple sugars and refined grains, if you're feeling rundown.

Your body heals when it is at rest. Getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep is recommended by many doctors but this may vary between individuals; bottom line, listen to your body.