Recent research reported in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health - Chiropractic revealed improvement in symptoms related to multiple sclerosis in a woman undergoing chiropractic care suggesting that chiropractic may play an important role in managing people with such disorders.

The 51 year old woman reported on in the study also suffered from gastroesophageal reflux disorder (often called GERD), asthma and a number of other problems which were all helped through chiropractic care. The research includes a review of the literature on the role of chiropractic in such disorders.

"Research is revealing that there is a relationship between abnormalities in the spine, the nervous system and brain," stated Dr. Ben Lerner, lead author of the paper. "Researchers from different fields are now showing that trauma, problems in the upper neck and problems with blood flow to and from the brain may be playing a significant role in multiple sclerosis."

Research has shown that in many cases people who have multiple sclerosis have a history of head and/or neck trauma and researchers studying this in chiropractic suggest that this trauma also cause misalignments of the bones in the neck. The trauma along with the misalignments can lead to compression of nerve structures as well as alterations of blood flow leading to the degenerative conditions and other problems associated with multiple sclerosis.

"It makes perfect sense when you think about it" stated Dr. Sheri Lerner, a co-author on the paper. "Our study is one more example of how people with these debilitating conditions can be helped through specific chiropractic adjustments to restore normal spinal and nervous system function."

According to Dr. Matthew McCoy, a chiropractor, public health researcher and editor of the journal that published the study, "Chiropractors have been talking about these links for some time now and I think research in this area will soon reach a critical mass because its not just chiropractors saying this any more. You have researchers in several different fields coming to similar conclusions. The real challenge with these models is going to be showing what works best and chiropractic has a respectable foundation of research in this area" stated McCoy.

In the case reported on in the article the initial application of chiropractic was followed by nutritional advice which included eliminating sugar and grains from the patient's diet. Correction of the spinal and related neurological interference was the first priority however. Abnormal position or movement of the spinal vertebra can develop and this can lead to nerve and vascular interference. It is this interference, called vertebral subluxations, that chiropractors correct.

The woman reported on in the study suffered from a number of health challenges including multiple sclerosis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), asthma, osteoarthritis, and scoliosis. She also had complaints of neck pain, back pain and jaw pain. She had been under the care of several healthcare professionals prior to presenting to the chiropractic office. These practitioners included the family medical doctor, a neurologist, allergist, rheumatologist, gastrointestinal specialist, cardiologist, and dermatologist. She was taking several medications.

The patient began to report improvement in pain levels throughout her body after just 12 visits, had better mobility and was able to increase her physical activity. Her lung function and posture improved and she was gradually able to discontinue all her medications. Follow-up x-rays revealed an improvement in the crucial curve in her neck.

The authors of the study call for more research on the role of chiropractic care in these types of disorders.