Patients with both Type I and Type II diabetes have long benefited from Upper Cervical chiropractic care given the fact that the nervous system controls and coordinates all bodily functions, including the pancreas.

Can Upper Cervical Help Diabetes?

The most common misperception about Upper Cervical Chiropractic is that it only helps back and neck pain. Although our doctors can certainly help those who come to us seeking relief from back and neck pain, these patients represent a small percentage of those helped by Upper Cervical chiropractors. Patients suffering from a variety of conditions, including diabetes, have had their health restored through Upper Cervical care. Upper Cervical doctors recognize that the body is a self-healing organism controlled and coordinated by the central nervous system, which is protected by the skull and spine.

Upper Cervical Care – A Simple Concept

Upper Cervical care is based on the universal law of cause and effect. For every effect or symptom, physical or mental, there must be a cause. Upper Cervical chiropractors focus on locating and removing interference to the nervous system that can be the cause of the health condition. Removing this interference allows the body to heal itself naturally without drugs or surgery. An Upper Cervical correction is very controlled; there is no pulling, tugging, or jerking of the head. This precise yet gentle touch allows the head, neck, and spine to return to the proper position, thus removing the interference and restoring balance to the body.

Types of Diabetes

There are two types of diabetes. Type I is commonly referred to as juvenile or insulin dependent diabetes which typically develops in children prior to puberty. Type II diabetes usually develops after age 40 and is often associated with obesity. An estimated 16 million people in the United States suffer from Type 1 or Type II diabetes.

In Type I diabetes, the destruction of the insulin producing cells (islet cells) in the pancreas leaves the body without insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. Severe complications, even with daily insulin injections, may include blindness, limb amputation, kidney failure or death.

It has been generally accepted that Type I diabetes occurs after a severe malfunction of the immune system which causes insulin-producing cells in the pancreas to be destroyed. However, current research suggests the immune system isn’t the only culprit; the nervous system plays a pivotal role, as well.

Looking at the nervous system as a possible cure for diabetes is a new concept, but one that is research based and gives hope to millions. The idea that a component of one body system can have a positive impact and even prevent disease in another body system is gaining wider acceptance.

Groundbreaking Diabetes Research

Research conducted at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Calgary discovered there is a “control circuit” necessary to retain the health and normal function of the cells that produce insulin located in the pancreas between insulin-producing cells and nerves. This “control circuit” has long been known within the Upper Cervical profession as the “brain to body communication circuit,” the same brain to body communication that was recently studied by the medical profession to determine not only the cause or contributing factors associated with diabetes but other diseases as well. As part of the study, scientists “knocked out” specific nerve cells and discovered that doing so created an interference with the brain to body communication. These nerve cells had a direct and profound effect on the pancreas, diabetes, and blood sugar levels, and the research concluded that the nerves are critical in the development of diabetes.

This helps explain a condition that diabetics often suffer from called peripheral neuropathy, a numbness or pain described as a burning sensation or a feeling like “pins and needles” being stuck in the arms or legs. The research suggests that neuropathy may be more than a result of diabetes; it may be related to the nervous system’s role in the whole disease process.

Commenting on the research project published in The Scientific Journal, cell immunologist, Dr. Terry Delovitch, said the work illustrates the importance of not viewing one system of the body in isolation. “It’s an excellent example of system biology, where different systems interact and cross-regulate each other’s activity.” Delovitch is a diabetes and immune system specialist at Robarts Research Institute.

Upper Cervical Care for Diabetics

Another study conducted in 2001 demonstrated that Upper Cervical care stabilized the blood sugar levels during the initial 3-hour fasting period. Patients with both Type I and Type II diabetes have long benefited from Upper Cervical Chiropractic care given the fact that the nervous system controls and coordinates all bodily functions, including the pancreas.