SoSara

Neurology for Dummies?

CLIFTON PARK (March 7) — You need to understand that your brain and your nervous system totally control you — all of you. Every little bit. They control the function of every organ, cell and tissue; your brain and nervous system control every part of your being. They are comparable to a super computer that run the whole show.

In order for your brain to communicate effectively with your body, however, there must be a connection between the brain and your body. That connection is called the spinal cord — just part of your nervous system.

For those of you who are not very clinically oriented, think of the spinal cord as a telephone cable containing millions of tiny “wires” called nerves. They originate in your brain and travel along your spinal cord to different parts of your body. The body’s longest nerve is the sciatic nerve; it extends into your toes. It can be up to 7 feet long. That’s a lot of nerve.

The function of these nerves is to transmit information and messages between your brain and your body, so that you can execute your program and maintain normal function and health.

This message transmission is referred to as synaptic transmission. The nerve has to fire information across a tiny space — a synapse — located between the nerve and the end organ. This system relies on the release of neurotransmitter chemicals to affect message transmission. Synaptic transmission is the conventional thought when people envision a “pinched nerve.”

Very recent evidence, however, points to a system that utilizes nonsynaptic transmission to cause an effect on body function. This brand-new research deals with the idea of “wave propagation” and tone. It was discovered that messages sent by the nervous system could travel through wave-amplification centers and affect other neighboring centers through resonance. Sounds complicated? Not really.

Imagine holding a tuning fork that is vibrating in the proximity of one that is not. You’ll note that the vibration of one will start to affect the other. Thus information is transmitted throughout the body by nonsynaptic means — in waves.

To complicate matters even more, recent evidence points to a “chaotic construct” and individual cell neuronal synchronization — cell message centers. Now I am getting really complicated, so let’s leave that alone for the time being.

The bottom line is this: If the nervous system is allowed to function normally and transmit information from the brain to the body and from the body to the brain with nothing interfering in this process, then you should have the best health you’ve ever had. We simply call this normal.

Imagine, however, taking a knife and cutting the spinal cord in half between the neck and the shoulders. How many of you suspect that this would not be a good thing to do? You are right. We have just caused a serious breach in communication between the brain and the rest of you. It would mean instant death.

If on the other hand, we caused a small interference in the spinal cord — a tiny nick — making only part of your nervous system inoperative and leaving the rest transmitting information fairly normally, your body would then not function normally. In other words, your body would no longer be able to follow your program. It would malfunction.

Let’s look at this closer. Consider, for example, driving your brand new Lincoln. Instead of having it running on 8 cylinders, as it should, it is now only running on 5. The dashboard warning bells, whistles and lights are all on, there is smoke appearing in the back of the vehicle, and at every stoplight it stalls. But generally it is still drivable. That would be a good example of malfunction.

Your body is similar. It can still function to a degree, but you would not have good health. I call this survival or just simply getting by. It is not OK.

To many of us, though, this seems to be the normal operating state for a human being. We even expect this state of affairs when we “get older,” and over our lifetime we surround ourselves with things we are no longer able to do. It soon becomes a wall so high we are unable to see over it. That is not health.

What would be examples of malfunction in the body? Stiffness of movement (especially in the morning), numbness and tingling in the hands or feet, chronic cough, diarrhea, constipation, wheezing, dribbling in your underwear when you cough or sneeze (yes, the Depends people love you), ear infections, etc. There are thousands of examples of malfunction.

While I’m on this topic, allow me to say a word on the use of Depends or Attends. The simple problem of bladder incontinence affecting millions of people has been transformed into a “disease,” so that a diagnosis can now be made and a drug can now be prescribed.

This is now called “overactive bladder disease.” Have you heard of it? I’ll bet you have.

How bizarre is that concept? Your bladder decided to dribble all by itself? Without your permission? Who is in charge anyway?

I’ll cover how you develop disease, illness and symptoms in my next column — stay with me! I’ve received quite a bit of calls from you to learn more about these topics and your kids so feel free to call me (383.5595) or email me (forlifetimewellness@yahoo.com) with your health questions.

John Ferguson D.C. is a wellness chiropractor in Clifton Park and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

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