Adult male, age 42, was a chiropractic patient for a relatively short time prior to having a heart transplant. Eighteen months after the surgery, he returned to the chiropractor and resumed care on a regular basis receiving full spinal adjustments. He is taking a half dozen different medications for various side effects and complications of his heart problem including high cholesterol. He is also on Cyclosporene which is given to prevent rejection of the donor heart. After three weeks of regular care, the Cyclosporene level begins to drop to a dangerously low point. The patient is suffering from nausea and vomiting which the physician feel may be causing him to vomit the Cyclosporene before his system has an opportunity to absorb it.
Now the chiropractic question:
Is the innate intelligence of the patient’s body rejecting this “foreign heart?” If it is, are the chiropractic adjustments enabling the innate intelligence to better express itself? If so, then is chiropractic care contraindicated in this patient? A number of questions must be answered to come to a logical conclusion. Does the innate intelligence know that the heart is foreign tissue? Apparently it does or it would not begin the rejection process. But if it knows it’s a foreign tissue, it appears it does not know that the heart is a necessary vital organ. Is innate limited in its knowledge, knowing it is foreign but not knowing its importance? Is there a mechanism by which it can react to foreign tissue but the mechanism by which it would realize the necessity of the heart is either not there or not functional? Or is it aware but not able to do anything about it because of limitations of matter.
The philosophy is important to practice. Of course if all you are taking care of is bad backs and stiff necks, you do not even think about the ramifications of the adjustment. What is the likelihood that a heart transplant patient will come in the office? Very slight. But if we say every person is better off with a good nerve supply, we better explain how everyone, even though we have surgically created an abnormal situation, should go to a chiropractor. This case history is designed to make you think. If you would care to send us your comments on this situation, we would be happy to read them. In a future issue, we will consider the philosophical principles that relate to this question and attempt to present a practical answer.v5n3
