The Cream of the Crop

From NUCCA and Dr. Marshall Dickholtz

C1-THE BASIC SUBLUXATION

Throughout the history of chiropractic, the tendency has been to locate and adjust the "major" vertebra, or vertebrae thought to cause neurological harm to spinal nerves. This procedure was called "full spine adjusting" and is still widely practiced. In the 1920's B. J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, concentrated his research on the upper cervical spine as the predominant subluxation. This research was conducted at the Palmer Chiropractic Clinic at Davenport, Iowa for several years.

The move of chiropractic to the cervical spine (neck), although not too widespread in the profession, is justified if only for the reason that vertebral malposition in this area can detrimentally affect the brain stem and the upper spinal cord. This leads to detectable signs of postural defects in the subluxated body. If normal nerve supply cannot pass from the brain down through the brain stem and spinal cord, it is not logical to adjust lower vertebrae to restore this nerve flow at the top. The properly aligned Atlas (C-1) is the gateway to this restoration of nerve flow.

NUCCRA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research Association) research findings confirm that the top vertebra, called the Atlas or C-1, of the spinal column is the predominant subluxation (Figure 2). The reasons for C-1 being the predominant subluxation are numerous.

SUMMARY

The NUCCA doctor's work is based on the Restoration Principle. This is his/her concern for the patient. While medical doctors base their treatment on making an exact diagnosis, the NUCCA doctor bases his/her services to the patient on an accurate analysis of the Atlas subluxation and its restoration to normal position, a process that helps the sick body to effectively combat its disease processes. This is the process of self-healing and is evident in every and any disease which the body contracts.

It has been truly said that man is his nervous system. He feels with it; sees with it; hears with it; detects and identifies odors with it; thinks with it, it relates him to his environment; it shapes his personality; he digests his food under its control; circulates his blood under its regulation; breathes because of its influence; it regulates his heart action; causes his organs to work and his body to move; its gray matter is the source of his life. In short, the extent to which man functions and the degree to which he lives depends on the activity of his nervous system.

Misaligned cervical vertebrae at the base of the skull change the electro-chemical flow of impulses through the nervous system, harmfully affecting normal functions at all levels of the body and causing bodily distortions and disease. When these misalignments occur, interfering with the normal electro-chemical nerve energy flow, their correction is essential to a patient's ability to heal.

The examination, analysis, and restoration of these misaligned vertebrae and their harmful effects on the body constitutes the service rendered by the NUCCA doctor.

HYPERTENSION AND NEUROLOGY

BY GILBERT SCHMIEDEL, D.C.

Blood pressure of 140 mm Hg systolic and 90 mm Hg diastolic is now considered by many authorities to be high blood pressure—hypertension.

Why? Is this a condition unto itself or is it compensation or a normal reaction to the demands of the body? Certainly the blood pressure (controlled ultimately by the nervous system) will elevate to accommodate exercise or increased body activity or other body needs. The blood pressure is often elevated during periods of stress or anxiety. However, increased blood pressure is often associated with pathological conditions that increase the body’s demands for increased circulation; vascular disease, kidney or respiratory conditions, obesity and hormone disturbances invariably place an abnormal demand on the heart. Many of these conditions and others are, of themselves, often responsive to Upper cervical care and therefore, concomitantly, high blood pressure may be alleviated. Some of these conditions may be the subject of future articles.

I would like to specifically address what might be called idiopathic hypertension—with no apparent etiology. Toward that end, let’s consider the neurological implications of cardiac control. The heart is one of those organs mutually innervated by two major components of the autonomic nervous system: vagal and sympathetic elements.

The autonomic elements of the vagus nerve arise from the nucleus ala cinerea in the medulla oblongata. Fibers from these neurons synapse with neurons in the cardiac plexus (at the base of the heart). The fibers from these neurons are generally inhibitory for the myocardium and constrict the coronary arteries.

The sympathetic elements arise from intermedio lateral cells of cord levels T 1-4. These fibers are conducted out of the neural canal through intervertebral foramina formed by upper thoracic vertebrae and ascend via the cervical part of the sympathetic gangliated trunk to the superior cervical ganglion (lies alongside C 2-3 vertebrae), middle cervical ganglion (at juncture of C 5-6 vertebrae), and stellate ganglion (at C7–T1 vertebrae). Fibers from these cells pass through the cardiac plexus and carry impulses that are the accelerators for the myocardium and cause dilation of the coronary arteries.

In addition to the autonomic (visceromotor) elements given above, there are vaso afferent structures that reflexively influence cardiac activity. The carotid body (glomus caroticum) located near the juncture of the common carotid artery and carotid sinus, which is a dilation at the commencement of the internal carotid artery, are respectively concerned with chemoreception (CO2 and O2) and baroreception (blood pressure reception). Other chemoreceptor cells are located in the heart wall. The glossopharyngeal, vagus and sympathetics supply these specialized receptor cells. The nucleus of the tractus solitarius (which receives impulses from the baroreceptors and chemoreceptor cells), nucleus ala cinerea and reticular formation (which carries autonomic impulses from the brain centers of the hypothalamus to intermedio lateral cells of the spinal cord) are found in the medulla oblongata, specifically that part of the medulla oblongata supplied exclusively by the lateral branch of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (a branch of the vertebral artery).

Atlanto occipital complex is most directly related to the neurovascular elements influencing cardiac function. Misalignment of the atlas or occiput may physically affect the medulla oblongata and the neuronal elements concerned with cardiac function; including the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (ala cinerea), nucleus solitarius (which receives vaso afferent impulses from blood pressure receptor cells and chemo receptor cells), and the reticular formation (of which some fibers synapse with intermediolateral cells in upper thoracic cord levels).

Along with neuronal elements directly affected, the vascular elements may be compromised, including the posterior inferior cerebellar artery, the lateral branch of which is the only source of blood to vital parts of the medulla oblongata. In conclusion, high blood pressure is often the consequence of many other predisposing factors—many of which are amenable to Upper Cervical care. High blood pressure may, however, be due to interference with the complex control system of the heart. In this case, interference at the atlanto occipital level is most likely and should be especially scrutinized by the Upper Cervical doctor.

It Just Makes Sense

by Dr. Daniel Clark

Head/Neck misalignment may be the direct or indirect cause of most health problems because it can disrupt or distort the normal flow of brain health and healing messages to the body.

Upper Cervical Corrective Health Care is an effective and scientifically proven procedure in the chiropractic profession.

It is designed to restore Head/Neck alignment (body balance) to remove interference at the point where the head and neck join, in order to re-activate normal brain to body communication.

For the moment:

Forget everything you know about Chiropractic

Forget everything you know about Medicine

Chiropractic and Medical experts agree that electrical and chemical messages (health and healing) control, monitor and maintain all body functions. They also direct all body healing.

These messages leave the brain by way of the brain stem, (extension of the brain) pass through the neck, down the spinal cord and over the entire nervous system to all parts of the body.

Head/Neck misalignment can cause interference at the point where the head and neck join, and disrupt or distort the flow of these vital health and healing messages to the body.

Disrupted or distorted brain messages will allow pain and/or health problems to develop in the body.

All Upper Cervical Doctor’s have the same objective, restore Head/Neck alignment (body balance) to re-activate efficient flow of brain health and healing messages to the affected part of the body so its natural self-healing process can regain and maintain optimal health.

When Head/Neck misalignment is corrected and body balance is restored so healing messages can flow uninterrupted to the affected area, immediately muscles begin to relax, blood and oxygen circulation is increased, the immune system is enhanced and the body’s natural self-healing process begins.

Therefore, it would be logical to say, “The proper diagnosis for health problems that respond to the Upper Cervical Correction is Head/Neck Misalignment.”

When there is pain and sickness, check for Head/Neck misalignment (body Imbalance) to determine if the brain is communicating efficiently with all parts of the body.

Any part of the body not receiving sufficient brain communication will begin to develop health problems.

Can Upper Cervical Care Ease Colic?

by Deb Donovan and Bob VanMetter

Almost all infants develop periods of fussiness. This is often referred to as colic. It has been defined as periods of irritability, fussiness and inconsolable crying in a healthy baby (that lasts for at least three hours a day, at least three days a week). But colic is actually a default diagnosis.

Pain from sources other than the gastrointestinal tract can be improperly diagnosed as colic. If a baby is crying inconsolably, it is very difficult to know if he is actually suffering from a digestive disturbance. There is a strong possibility, especially when there has been a history of birth trauma, that these babies are suffering from head and neck pain due to misalignments in the upper cervical (neck) area.

In a study looking at babies receiving upper cervical care for colic, 94 percent of parents saw improvement in their baby's behavior within two weeks of initiation of care. A little over half of these babies had already been unsuccessfully treated, usually by pharmacological means (Klougart et al., 1989). Another study found 91 percent of babies experienced a reduction in colicky behavior following as little as two upper cervical corrections (Nilsson, 1985).

PART TWO: Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome: Purple Feet and a Pounding Heart

By Alice Teisan

In October 1999 when I was still experiencing CFIDS symptoms, a friend recommended I see Dr. Marshall Dickholtz, Sr. He is a National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA) specialist. In Chiropractics, NUCCA is a specific form of chiropractic adjusting, focusing on an atlas vertebra relationship to the head and the rest of the cervical spine at the brain stem level. Having just completed a year of unsuccessful yet intensive Chiropractic treatment, I listened apprehensively, and prayed that my hopes wouldn’t be dashed again by yet another ineffective, all-consuming treatment option. After researching the treatment and discussing the findings with my internist, she then prescribed the treatment. I realized it met all my criteria - including being affordable, non-invasive, having a high success rate, and being respected within the western medical framework.

Prior to the appointment with Dr. Dickholtz, Sr., I completed an extensive health history profile. One of the first questions on the health history was, had I ever had a head injury? I thought, "Who hasn’t hit their head?" Then I remembered four memorable head injuries throughout my life. The most serious one took place a year prior to CFIDS and the most recent one occurred six months before seeing Dr. Dickholtz, Sr.

My initial appointment with Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. was extensive. After looking at the completed health history, he did six different kinds of tests to determine the problem. He asked me to sit in a chair, while he used a neurocalometer that measured the temperature difference of each side of my cervical spine (from the shoulders to the base of the skull). He also performed a supine leg check, which measured leg length differences in relationship to muscle spasms that occurs on each side of my body. Another test involved standing on an anatometer, which looked at a posture scan in relationship to my hip level and pelvic rotation position. There was a horizontal line chart that showed the level of the ears in the standing position relative to the talking of three X-rays, when seated, of the cervical spine and skull that were taken lastly.

After all the tests were performed, Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. examined and measured the X-rays and determined the proper adjustment needed to return my spine and head to a balanced position. Through the X-ray measurements, he was able to return the C1 (atlas) and the rest of the vertebrae to within a quarter degree of their proper positions.

Once the specific chiropractic adjustment was performed, it took my body time to acclimate before standing without feeling faint. When able, I walked the length of the exam room a couple times allowing my body to rebalance itself from the adjustment (correction). Before the four-hour appointment was completed, all six of the above tests were performed again and post X-rays taken to make sure that the adjustment was correct.

Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. describes the adjustment as equivalent to major surgery done on the body. Recovery time of a month is necessary before experiencing benefits. In my case my heart palpitations, tachycardia and irregular beats subsided immediately.

Follow-up visits include periodic checks to make sure the adjustment is holding.

Within a month of being adjusted I began to feel my neck, shoulder and back muscles loosen. Many aching, arthritic type pains, severe CFIDS-type headaches and the beet-red color in my face and neck subsided.

The ideal is to have the first adjustment be the only one needed, which many of his patients have experienced. My adjustment’s average holding time is three to four months.

The initial adjustment held four months before I hit my head, knocking my alignment out of place. Not totally believing the chiropractic treatment was helping I waited until my next scheduled appointment, two months later. At the time I didn’t realize that my NMOT symptoms along with exacerbated CFIDS symptoms begin almost immediately after my alignment was no longer holding.

Also during the two months that my adjustment was out from December 2000 to February 2001, after having worked three and a half years part time, I began to experience exacerbated CFIDS symptoms. The increased fatigue, inability to concentrate, increased tremors, and a heart rate over 140 when standing, along with fevers and the inability to perform simple daily tasks, resulted in my third total disability. However, within a week of having my neck readjusted, my heart rate dropped under 100 when standing. When my adjustment is holding, I experience great relief even though I am still disabled.

Dealing with CFIDS requires patience, persistence, stamina and a hope in Heaven to complete the journey well. How glad I am that I found a NUCCA Doctor, even though it has not provided the ultimate cure. It has provided restoration of new life to my body and a lessening of many CFIDS related symptoms, along with a continued hope for further healing. When my chiropractic adjustment is holding, the day-to-day pain and difficulties with CFIDS are much more manageable and less painful, allowing me to have a focus on something more enjoyable than my severe suffering.

For more information, contact the author, Alice Teisan, at alicemt2@juno.com. Dr. Marshall Dickholtz, Sr., can be contacted at dmarshallsr@worldnet.att.net.

Upper Cervical Care Cuts Blood Pressure

The article below is a great example of the power of an Upper Cervical correction:

Study Finds Special 'Atlas Correction' Lowers Blood Pressure
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

March 16, 2007 -- An Upper Cervical Correction can significantly lower high blood pressure, a placebo-controlled study suggests.

"This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination," study leader George Bakris, MD, tells WebMD. "And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems," adds Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center.

Eight weeks after undergoing the procedure, 25 patients with early-stage high blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure than 25 similar patients who underwent a sham upper cervical correction. Because patients can't feel the technique, they were unable to tell which group they were in.

X-rays showed that the procedure realigned the Atlas vertebra -- the doughnut-like bone at the very top of the spine -- with the spine in the treated patients, but not in the sham-treated patients. Compared to the sham-treated patients, those who got the real procedure saw an average 14 mm Hg greater drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure count), and an average 8 mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure None of the patients took blood pressure medicine during the eight-week study.

"When the statistician brought me the data, I actually didn't believe it. It was way too good to be true," Bakris says. "The statistician said, 'I don't even believe it.' But we checked for everything, and there it was." Bakris and colleagues report their findings in the advance online issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension.

Atlas Adjustment and Hypertension

The procedure calls for adjustment of the C-1 vertebra. It's called the Atlas vertebra because it holds up the head, just as the titan Atlas holds up the world in Greek mythology. Marshall Dickholtz Sr., DC, of the Chiropractic Health Center, in Chicago, is the 84-year-old Upper Cervical doctor who performed all the procedures in the study. He calls the Atlas vertebra "the fuse box to the body."

"At the base of the brain are two centers that control all the muscles of the body. If you pinch the base of the brain -- if the Atlas gets locked in a position as little as a half a millimeter out of line -- it doesn't cause any pain but it upsets these centers," Dickholtz tells WebMD.

The subtle correction is practiced by the very small subgroup of chiropractors certified in National Upper Cervical Chiropractic (NUCCA) techniques. The procedure employs precise measurements to determine a patient's Atlas vertebra alignment. If realignment is deemed necessary, the chiropractor uses his or her hands to gently manipulate the vertebra.

"We are not doctors. We are spinal engineers," Dickholtz says. "We use mathematics, geometry, and physics to learn how to slide everything back into place."

What does this have to do with high blood pressure?

Bakris notes that some researchers have suggested that injury to the Atlas vertebra can affect blood flow in the arteries at the base of the skull. Dickholtz thinks the misaligned Atlas triggers release of signals that make the arteries contract. Whether the procedure actually fixes such injuries is unknown, Bakris says.

Bakris began the study after a fellow doctor told him that something strange was happening in his family practice. The doctor had been sending some of his patients to a chiropractor. Some of these patients had high blood pressure.

Yet after seeing the chiropractor, the patients' blood pressure had normalized -- and a few of them were able to stop taking their blood pressure medications. So Bakris, then at Rush University, designed the pilot study with 50 patients. He's now organizing a much bigger clinical trial.

"Is it going to be for everybody with high blood pressure? No," Bakris says. "We clearly need to identify those who can benefit. It is pretty clear that some kind of head or neck trauma early in life is related to this. This is really a work in progress. It is certainly in the early stages of research."

Dickholtz has been teaching, practicing, and studying the NUCCA technique for 50 years. He says high blood pressure is far from the only thing an Atlas misalignment causes.
"On the other hand, if people have high blood pressure, there is a tremendous possibility they need an Atlas adjustment," he says.

http://www.webmd.com/hypertensionhigh- blood-pressure/news/20070316/chiropractic- cuts-blood-pressure?page=1

Editor’s Note: In 2006 WebMD was awarded best medical website by WebAward.org. The significance of just such a move for chiropractic cannot be fully seen in the present but if this publicity continues to grow, the world is going to need a lot of specific upper cervical chiropractors in the near future.

Published: May 2007

Upper Cervical Care and Foot Pain

Aberrant Upper Cervical Arthrokinematics can cause Foot Pain

Male, Age 29, Case of Achilles Tendonitis, Uneven Running Gait

This 29‑year‑old runner had run during high school and college, but had to stop in recent years due to chronic achilles tendonitis. He had tried many forms of treatment but was unable to alleviate the pain unless he stopped running altogether. He also described himself an having an "uneven gait" when he ran. He claimed that he felt like he struck harder on one leg compared to the other side.

During his initial examination, a spinal injury was discovered, with the primary site located at his upper neck. The neck injury was causing his spine and pelvis to shift into a stressed, weakened posture, that was putting greater pressure on one leg compared to the other. After having his neck injury corrected, all Achilles pain healed and remained absent so that he was able to once again resume running 60 miles per week.

(Remember the old song, “…your foot bone’s connected to your shin bone and your shin bone’s connected to…” Eventually you start to see that the whole body is connected. An area as profound neurologically for balance mechanisms as the upper cervical spine makes it very clear how a problem here could be a factor in someone’s foot problems.)

What Is Upper Cervical Care

The Blair Chiropractic Society wrote the following when asked what upper cervical care is:

“The Upper Cervical technique is a specific system of analyzing and adjusting the upper cervical bones of the spinal column. These bones can misalign in such a way as to interfere with the brain stem and spinal cord as they exit through the floor of the skull and into the neural canal. Special attention is given to the first two bones in the neck, the atlas and axis, as they are the most freely moveable bones in the spinal column and the ones most commonly misaligned.

After many years of research and study of all the techniques that were developing at the time, Dr. B.J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, realized that the only place a person could truly have interference to the nervous system was at the level of the base of the skull; and the atlas and axis. There are no discs between the skull and the atlas, or between the atlas and axis. Most movement of the head and neck occur at this level. The joint surfaces in this area move more on a horizontal plane rather than a vertical plane as in the rest of the spine. This area is not supplied with the abundance of supporting ligaments that are found in the rest of the spine. As a result of these characteristics of the cervical spine, it becomes the weakest link in the chain when exposed to the forces of trauma such as the birth process, falls, auto accidents, stress etc.

Dr. Palmer conducted studies in Germany on cadavers and found that the brain stem or medulla, extended into the spine to the level of the second bone (axis) in the neck, at which point it becomes the spinal cord extending downward. The brain stem has been referred to as "Houston Control". It is the area where nerve cell centers are located that control many of the major functions of the body such as heartbeat, respiration, digestion, elimination, our heating and cooling mechanism, constriction and dilation of the veins and arteries, muscle coordination, etc. Most of the functions of the body that we don't have to consciously think about are controlled at the brain stem level.

The brain stem at the level of the atlas consists of approximately ten billion nerve fibers sending messages through the spinal cord to the cells of the body and from the cells back to the brain. These nerve fibers are arranged in small bundles called nerve tracts. These nerve tracts are either sensory or motor. The motor nerves allow us function of the organs and systems while moving the body about its environment, via the musculoskeletal system. Gray's Anatomy states, "The nervous system is the master system of the body controlling and coordinating all the functions of the body and relating the individual to his environment."

The atlas and axis are the only parts of the backbone in proximity to the brain stem. When they misalign to the extent that they irritate the brain stem and or spinal cord they interfere with the vital messages being sent to and from the brain to all parts of the body. If for example the atlas is irritating the part of the cord that sends messages to the left hand, that individual may experience a numbness, burning or tingling sensation in that hand. If the nerve tracts at the brain stem level that go to the heart are being irritated that individual may experience high blood pressure, palpitations or an irregular heartbeat. Any part of the body can be affected when there is irritation in the brain stem or spinal cord because almost all of the nerves have to pass through this area before reaching the part of the body they innervate.

When the atlas or axis misaligns to the extent that it interferes with nerve tissue and reduces the mental impulses it is termed a subluxation. A subluxation may be present for months or years before producing any outward signs such as pain or symptoms, causing the body to break down.

The purpose of the Upper Cervical technique is not to diagnose or treat diseases or conditions, but to analyze and correct vertebral subluxations in an accurate, precise and specific manner to allow the body to mend, repair and maintain health from within.

The Upper Cervical technique utilizes neurological tests, heat sensitive instrumentation and other means for detecting when the vertebral subluxation is present or absent. The adjustment is administered only when nerve irritation is present. The Upper Cervical technique utilizes precise x-rays of the upper cervical area to determine which way the vertebra has misaligned so that a precise and specific adjustment may be tailored and administered to that individual.”