Dr. Cheryl McFarland-Bryant, Better Health, 02/21/12

Just recently, I was asked why we don’t have a cure for arthritis. In order to address a cure, we need to look at the commonality in all forms of arthritis inflammation. Then we need to examine the causes and contributing factors of inflammation.

There are acute and chronic states of inflammation with different causes. Both states can be brought about by a hereditary auto-immune response.

These states can be managed with preventive diet, exercise, chiropractic and anti-inflammatory agents, such as prescription steroids, analgesics which are non-steroid and by herbal anti-inflammatory supplements.

When you saw chiropractic mentioned, hopefully that drew your attention.

New studies have shown that chiropractic adjustments/manipulations have reduced the inflammatory states in both people and in rats. One such study was performed by Dr. Xue-Jun Song at Parker Chiropractic College in which the physiology of the rats changed in response to instrument adjusting to their lumbar spine.

The study demonstrated chemical and vascular changes after adjustments to the lower lumbar spine of the rats. Rats have a great deal in common with humans and medical studies using rats can indicate how the human body will respond. This study was publicized in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.

A similar study was performed on people at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College.

This human study showed that spinal manipulation/ adjustment in asymptomatic subjects displayed gradual reduction of two inflammatory cytokines: tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin factor 1 beta.

This work was later extended to include the reduction of another pro-inflammatory interleukin-6 after spinal adjustment. Then the study focused on patients with chronic/recurrent neck pain using 27 chronic neck pain patients and 13 asymptomatic control people. This study also used nitric oxide production as well as blood levels of the above-mentioned cytokines. Cytokines are chemical mediators used as markers for biophysiology.

This study was also published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.

As an aside, the latest study of neck pain comparing results for different types of intervention was released in Jan. 2012 and funded by the National Institute of Health. This study compared the use of medication, physical therapy, exercise and chiropractic for patients having neck pain for between two weeks and three months duration. The study suggests that chiropractic manipulation and simple neck exercises that imitate a chicken bobbing its head back can alleviate neck pain.

Inflammation comes as a result of some type of assault as well. This can be chemical from chemicals found in cigarette smoke, food additives and even medications. The assault can be mechanical as in the case of an injury or micro trauma as in repetitive motion syndromes.

Here, lifestyle changes are needed for prevention such as avoiding smoke, eating a natural diet instead of prepackaged food and limiting medication use to the greatest extent. Food allergies trigger or increase the inflammatory response. Avoiding foods that you are sensitive or allergic to is important. Getting up frequently from your desk or chair and exercising helps, as does stretching.

For people who work using tools, the need for stretching fingers, wrists and shoulders is of greatest importance. People who often squat need to stretch their hamstrings. Changing your work station or methods may be necessary to improve your posture and body mechanics.

Learning to use your non-dominant hand more may help relieve stress on the dominant side.

There are many ways to decrease or avoid inflammation. Simply relying on medication to decrease inflammation is not a good idea, as all medications have side effects and put extra stress on your body. That’s because the liver must detoxify your body as a result and your kidneys must clear the medication from your body.

Whether or not you have an auto-immune disease, be proactive and do all that you can to prevent or reduce arthritis.

Contact Dr. Cheryl McFarland-Bryant at 352-795-8911 or visit www.crystalriverchiropractic.com.