“Optimizing your Nervous System”
Your heart beats. Your lungs breathe. Your immune system keeps
you healthy. You walk, or play the piano, or bend to lift a child.
What system is controlling all of these functions? Here are some
facts and tips.
Doctors specialize in a wide variety of fields, from cardiology
(hearts) to pulmonology (lungs) to orthopedics (joints) and
oncology (cancer). Specialization is a modern phenomenon that’s
here to stay. But what system is the master system controlling all
systems? That would be the nervous system. It controls
everything… and it’s very complex.
Fruit flies have about 100,000 nerve cells (neurons). Pretty
impressive! But that’s nothing compared to you and me. Humans
have roughly 85 billion nerve cells, with roughly 25% of these
nerve cells in the brain.1,2 The central nervous system (brain and
spinal cord) give off nerve branches, much like a tree gives off
branches and roots. Your nerve branches feed every organ,
muscle, blood vessel, and part of the human body. The brain is
like your “central computer,” with the nerves very much like its
communicating “wires.” When the nervous system functions at its
best, your potential for health is optimal. When poor motion patterns, trauma, inflammation, or a host of
other common issues interfere with nervous system function, then injury, illness, and living less than your
best are high likely.
Doctors of chiropractic have chosen the nervous system as their focus and specialty. This may surprise
those who thought chiropractors focused on the spine, or on muscles and joints. Though chiropractors are
very highly trained in spinal anatomy and function, their main focus is on optimizing your nervous system.
This may mean adjusting joints that are moving improperly, which “afferentates” (stimulates) nerves, in
effect waking them up for duty. Spinal nerves branch directly off the central nervous system (spinal cord),
and the surrounding spinal bones, ligaments, muscles, and discs have a profound effect on these nerves
and their targets. Wherever your chiropractor’s hands and focus are, he or she is highly likely to be
focused on your nervous system and your whole body’s well-being, not just a part of it.
Please, do take advantage of the opportunity to live… well… with chiropractic care. Our role is to help you
feel and FUNCTION at your best — whether you are in pain, feeling better, or feeling great. For more
information on ways to help your entire family live better, give us a call.
Dr. Misty Paul, DC
Basics First Chiropractic
1509 Dodona Terrace, Suite 100
Leesburg, VA 20175, 703-777-2532, www.BasicsFirstChiropractic.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_by_number_of_neurons
Note
that
some
sources
suggest
the
average
human
brain
http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/feb/28/how-many-neurons-human-brain
1
2
has
about
86
billion
neurons.