Does Chiropractic play a Role in Anti-Aging?
Chiropractic care helps relieve pain and helps to prevent future injuries. But what can it do for the anti-aging community?
Oxidative stress plays a huge role in early aging caused by various internal and external factors to the body. An accumulation of oxidative stress destroys the body's innate ability to heal. Some factors include:
Chronic pain
Chronic Inflammation
Life Stressors
Smoking
Poor diet
Obesity
Drinking alcohol
Taking certain medications
Chiropractic treatment/care work to remove these factors by reducing chronic pain and inflammation through chiropractic adjustments, nutritional guidance, and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Chiropractors aim to:
Reduce stress
Chiropractic care can help relieve stress, which can contribute to the degeneration of the spine. Reducing stress can help you feel better and function better.
Improves joint health
Chiropractic care can help keep joints healthy by releasing pressure and reducing pain. This can help reduce the risk of painful conditions like arthritis.
Strengthens the body
Chiropractic care can help you build muscle, which can help you stay active and mobile.
Improves communication within the body
Chiropractic adjustments can improve communication between cells and tissues, which can lead to increased focus, better performance, and a slower aging process.
Can be combined with other lifestyle choices
Chiropractic care can be combined with other healthy lifestyle choices, like exercise, proper sleep, good nutrition, meditation, and reducing tobacco and alcohol use.
The central nervous system plays a crucial role in regulating all bodily functions and facilitating healing. It channels nerve energy from the brain to approximately 75 trillion cells, orchestrating their activities. The brain depends on information about movement received from receptors in the skin, joints, and muscles—collectively known as "proprioception." Optimal brain function relies on accurate proprioceptive feedback. However, physical nerve stress can arise when spinal vertebrae are misaligned or twisted.
Such misalignment can result from significant traumas, like falls, car accidents, or sports injuries, as well as from minor traumas such as poor posture, repetitive motions, and inadequate sleep. This physical nerve stress disrupts effective communication between the brain and body, leading to increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which interferes with the body’s healing processes.
Chiropractic care offers a solution to alleviate this accumulated pressure on the nervous system, promoting natural healing. Research supports chiropractic treatment as an effective strategy for improving overall wellness and combating aging. A pivotal 2005 study in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR) demonstrated that chiropractic adjustments can reduce oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress occurs when free radicals outnumber the body's antioxidants, causing damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA.
Alarmingly, studies show that one in three proteins can become dysfunctional due to unchecked free radical damage. Thiols, sulfur-containing compounds, act as antioxidants by neutralizing free radicals. The levels of thiols in the serum reflect the body’s DNA repair capacity and can indicate aging and disease status, according to researchers from Biomedical Diagnostic Research, Inc.
A 2003 study published in the Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine found low serum thiol levels across various illnesses. The JVSR study involved 76 participants divided into three groups: one received short-term chiropractic care, another underwent long-term chiropractic treatment, and the third received no chiropractic intervention. Participants were matched for age, gender, and nutritional supplement use.
Results showed that those who received long-term chiropractic treatment for two years or more had higher serum thiol levels compared to individuals with various diseases, with some patients showing thiol levels exceeding those typically associated with good health.
Chiropractor Dr. Christopher Kent noted, "Oxidative stress, which generates free radicals, is widely recognized as a key factor in aging and disease development." He emphasized that throughout life, we encounter physical, chemical, and emotional stress, all of which impact nervous system function. The hypothesis is that disturbances in nerve function could influence oxidative stress and DNA repair at the cellular level. "Chiropractic care seems to enhance the body's ability to cope with stress," Dr. Kent concluded.
Thus, chiropractors provide more than just pain relief; they empower the body to heal and maintain optimal health!
More studies are need for correlation but current evidence shows Chiropractic care MAY be a piece of the anti-aging puzzle.