Chiropractic Research – How the Spine Affects the Rest of the Body

By Dr. Kevin Wafer

October 10, 2012


In the early 1920s, a medical doctor decided to test the claims of chiropractors who reported their patients who suffered from organic disorders, such as stomach ulcers, kidney and heart disease, recovered without drugs or surgery, but through chiropractic care.

In order to determine the validity of these claims, Henry Winsor, M.D. designed a study in which he would examine both human and animal cadavers to determine whether a correlation existed between spinal health and and any diseased organs that were found.

Dr Winsor conducted a series of 3 studies at the University of Pennsylvania, in which he dissected a total of 75 human cadavers and 22 cat cadavers, during these studies he discovered a total of 221 diseased organs. After the study was concluded Dr Winsor wrote: “Of the 221 diseased organs, 212 were observed to belong to the same sympathetic (nerve) segments as the vertebra in curvature…These figures cannot be expected to exactly coincide… for an organ may receive sympathetic filaments from several spinal segments.”

In other words, Dr Winsor found that almost 100% of the diseased organs were directly related to a “minor curvature” of the spine. Some of Dr Winsor’s findings are listed below:

*Stomach Diseases
All nine cases of spinal misalignment in the mid-thoracic area (T5-T9) had stomach disease.

*Lung Disease
All 26 cases of lung disease had spinal misalignments in the upper thoracic spine.

*Liver Disease

All 13 cases of liver disease had misalignments in the mid thoracic (T5-T9)

*Gallstones
All five cases with gallstone disease had spinal misalignments in the mid thoracic.

*Pancreas
All three cases with pancreas disease had spinal misalignments in the mid thoracics.

*Spleen
All 11 cases with spleen diseases had spinal misalignments in the mid thoracics.

*Kidney
All 17 cases with kidney disease were out of alignment in the lower thoracics.

*Prostate and Bladder Disease
All eight cases with kidney, prostate and bladder disease had the lumbar (L2-L3) vertebrae misaligned

*Uterus
The two cases with the uterine conditions had the second lumbar misaligned.

*Heart Disease
All 20 cases with heart and pericardium conditions had the upper five thoracic vertebrae (T1-T5) misaligned.

In conclusion, spinal misalignments can cause much more than just neck and back pain. A healthy spine is essential for your body to function at its maximum capacity, it can make a difference between health and disease.

Reference:

The Winsor Autopsies. Koren Publications

Dr. Kevin Wafer

About the author

Dr. Kevin Wafer was born and raised in Spring, TX. Since his mother worked as a chiropractic assistant, he spent much of his childhood in a chiropractic clinic and was adjusted for the first time at only 3 months of age. Click Here To Read Full Bio

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