Chiropractic Improves Stress (PET Study)

Stress Causes and Contributes To So Many Health Problems

It’s often said that stress kills… and there’s a lot of truth in that statement particularly when we’re talking about chronic stress.

A 2008 research paper found that up to 90% of all primary care doctor visits dealt with a stress related health problem.

Stress related diseases cover a huge spectrum of health problems ranging from obesity to diabetes, heart disease, asthma, headaches, depression, anxiety, stomach problems like reflux and IBS/irritable bowel syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, premature aging, and death.

Millions of people turn to prescription medications to help their stress related symptoms.

It’s always better to address the problem rather than the symptom. This is safer and generally leads to a lot better outcome.

Reducing stress and working on things that improve your body’s/brain’s ability to handle stress is something that can help so many people.

Some of the most harmful effects of stress first happen in the brain.

This is important because the brain is in charge of everything else that happens in the body.

The effects of chronic stress on the brain are what causes many stress related conditions and symptoms as it changes the brain.

Chiropractic Found To Reduce Stress In The Brain.

The PET scan involves injection of a radioactive dye.

Tissues in our body absorb the tracers which allow the scanner to look at function while measuring many different things like blood flow, oxygen use and glucose uptake.

PET scans are often used to test for cancer and look at the function of the heart, brain, and nervous system.

The 2017 study looked at the effects of a Chiropractic adjustment using the PET scan technology on a group of 21 people.

The researchers found that brain function increased and stress levels decreased in every person in the study.

The PET scan also found other beneficial changes in brain activity.

Movement, posture, emotional, learning, and memory centers of the brain all improved after the Chiropractic adjustment.

Brain processing showed a reduction in fight or flight activity.

This related to other changes… relaxation in the brain and reduced tightness in muscles.

The researchers also measured pre and post adjustment salivary cortisol which is a stress hormone.

They found a decreased level of cortisol post-chiropractic treatment in the saliva

The PET scan showed that Chiropractic adjustments reduce stress by changing the brain.

These findings are highly supportive of Chiropractic Care’s ability to reduce stress which is a major contributor to many serious diseases.

Regular Chiropractic care improves the body’s natural defense against chronic stress and disease.

The 2017 study adds another page into an ever growing compilation of evidence-based research proving the positive impact made by regular Chiropractic adjustments on hormones, emotions, cognition, and memory… all measured in the study referenced below.

Chronic stress begins in children and is related to disease and sickness at all ages.

Stress continues to be the single largest reason for doctor related visits today related to our busy lifestyles.

Chiropractic plays a vital role in helping men and women of all ages overcome the negative effects of stress without drugs or surgery.

References

Life Event, Stress and Illness.
Malays J Med Sci. 2008 Oct; 15(4): 9–18. Mohd. Razali Salleh
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341916/

https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/10-fixable-stress-related-health-problems#1

Glucose Metabolic Changes in the Brain and Muscles of Patients with Nonspecific Neck Pain Treated by Spinal Manipulation Therapy: A FDG PET Study
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2017, Article ID 4345703