Along with helping to lower the costs of health care, findings show that chiropractic care (as well as other wellness-based care) is able to positively influence behaviors and well-being. However, it was not until recently that information surfaced about how chiropractic adjustments could influence the chemistry of biological processes on a cellular level. As a result, chiropractic has entered the field of genetics.
According to one study, chiropractic care acts upon physiological processes that determine oxidative stress and DNA’s ability to repair itself. Such findings scientifically explain the positive effects that chiropractic patients experience. Despite the fact that more research is needed to further support the chiropractic role in countering biological processes, current evidence in favor of chiropractic care is very promising.
The research focused on looking at serum thiol levels of patients who were not under chiropractic care versus those who were receiving either short-term or long-term chiropractic care. Serum thiols are primary antioxidants that measure human health status. Its test offers a substitute estimate of DNA repair enzyme activity that is shown to coincide with lifespan health and aging factors. The results from these studies show that patients who have been receiving chiropractic treatment for at least two years have maintained normal physiological states. Patients with an ongoing disease had lower mean serum levels than those patients who did not show symptoms while receiving chiropractic care. The patients without symptoms also had greater serum thiol levels (even more than the normal wellness values).
Throughout a person’s lifespan, one experiences chemical, physical, and emotional stress which affects the functioning of the nervous system. It has been shown that nerve function has an effect on oxidative stress and cellular-level DNA recovery. A widely accepted theory claims that oxidative stress, which comes in the form of metabolically-generating free radicals, is how we age and develop disease. Through oxidative stress, DNA is damaged and prevented from repairing itself. When the DNA is able to recover on its own, it can repair environmental harm.
Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, chiropractors, genetics
