Chiropractic and the Immune System

In the midst of flu season and the H1N1 virus, it is important to maintain a strong immune system. When your body encounters a virus, your immune system produces antibodies to fight it and maintain balance within your body. If your immune system is compromised, your body’s ability to ward off viruses is decreased. This explains why a class of 20 children can be exposed to the same virus and only 10 of them get sick. It is not the virus causing the illness, it is the environment in which the virus encounters.

Think about a pile of garbage with flies around it. We could kill all the flies there at that moment, but it doesn’t solve the problem of the stinky garbage. Flies will keep coming back until we clean up the garbage. Imagine that the flies are germs and the garbage is the immune system. As long as the immune system is weak, it will attract germs such as the flu virus.

Now that we know how to get to the source of the problem, we must determine how to strengthen the immune system. The first thing to do is get checked for subluxations. Because the nervous system controls all systems, organs, tissues, and cells in the body, it is important for the signals from your brain to the organs that control your immune system (the thymus and spleen) to be clear. Stress is also an important factor in managing the state of the your immune system as chronic stress can decrease your body’s ability to heal itself. Chiropractic has been shown to decrease overall stress in the body leading a higher functioning immune system.

A study conducted in 2006 showed that chiropractic adjustments can boost your immune system. Immune panels were measured on each patient's blood work over a 9 month period while receiving chiropractic care. Another study performed on HIV patients showed a 200% increase in their immune response while under chiropractic care.

There are other things you can do to maintain a strong immune system such as eating healthy, exercising, and decreasing stress in your life. These are important to keep in mind but will not have much of an effect if your nervous system is not functioning properly.