We as chiropractors often underestimate how many different factors can act as interferences to the body healing itself and maintaining itself in a state of health. Naturally when these interferences are removed, the body has greater innate healing power. The ability to remove these interferences is to a large degree the reason for the success of medicine. Much of medicine is merely the relief of symptoms with less concern for the cause of the disease. But some of the practice is also aimed at removing an interference to the healing process. For example, under certain circumstances microorganisms in sufficient quantity may create a disease process. (We as chiropractors understand one circumstance to be a state of DIS-EASE.) Often the removal of the microorganism by an antibiotic removes sufficient interference to the body’s ability to move toward a homeostatic situation, hence homeostasis begins to return, enough so that the disease symptoms disappear either temporarily or permanently. The patient is not well for no one can ever be totally well unless all interference to innate expression is removed… including the nerve interference. The patient, however, is well enough to give an appearance of health and to sing the praises of modern medicine. The more successful medicine becomes at removing these interferences, and they are improving all the time, the more effective they are in accomplishing their disease treatment objective. Admittedly, they have not improved upon an individual’s health in a true sense of the word as Ivan Illych, for example, defines health. For according to Dr. Illych, health care is that which enables an individual to live more autonomously. The physician, on the contrary, has created a less autonomous individual. It is similar to rearing a child and removing every unpleasant obstacle in his or her life. By the time the child is an adult he or she is totally unprepared to function in society. The secret to rearing children is to remove only those obstacles that are life-threatening and give the individual the opportunity to adapt to the others so they become well-adjusted adults. The secret to good medicine similarly is to remove life-threatening interferences and allow the body to develop the ability to adapt to the others. Wisdom in medicine and parenting is the ability to know the difference.
Causative Interference and Influencing Factors
It is necessary to distinguish between causative interference and influencing factors. A causative interference will always reduce the health of an individual although it may very well be imperceptible. Vertebral subluxation is a causative interference. It always reduces the body’s ability to function in a homeostatic state. How do we know that? We know by a process of logic called deductive reasoning. If the body is designed to work in an intelligent and organized manner, and it is; and if the nervous system is charged with the responsibility of coordinating all body parts and actions, and it is; then it logically follows that an interference in the nervous system will affect the coordinated function or health of the entire body.
Genetic or congenital defects, without exception, reduce the body’s ability to function at its maximum potential. If a cell, tissue or organ has a “built-in” limitation, it cannot expect to reach 100%. That is not, however, a condemnation to a life of sickness. By removing other interferences, both causative and influencing factors, the individual’s body may have the ability to lead a fairly normal life. An individual with a genetic defect that causes the beta cells in the pancreas to produce insufficient insulin may lead a relatively normal and symptom-free life providing he or she is kept clear of vertebral subluxation (causative interference) and given a proper diet (influencing factor). Notice, it is not a normal life because there are restrictions (dietary) on that person, taking them out of the realm of normal. Normal people have no restrictions, except those which are self-imposed by common sense.
Trauma is also a causative interference. It always reduces the body’s ability to function in a harmonious state. The body has mechanisms to remove these interferences. It can mend a broken bone, heal a laceration and correct a vertebral subluxation. However, all these mechanisms are limited by limitations of matter.
A congenital defect is another causative interference. An individual born with a kidney missing or a non-functional organ will never attain maximum health. The body may adapt, however, in the presence of these interferences. They will not be totally healthy but the body may adapt sufficiently to lead an almost normal or symptom-free life. People get along with one kidney, broken bones, and vertebral subluxations.
Influencing factors are never a cause of the body’s lack of ability to function at its fullest potential. However, in the presence of causative interference they can influence health. For example: there are normal aspects of our environment that do not ordinarily cause a problem unless there is a causative interference present. The air we breathe, water we drink, bacteria and viruses, and ragweed pollen are all examples of environmental influences. Lack of rest as well as a poor diet are influencing factors. Components of the food we eat such as cholesterol, salt, and sugar, in certain quantities may influence our health. Medicine is finding new ones all the time. Their preoccupation with these influencing factors is almost humorous. Relating them to a disease and placing more importance upon them than they rightly deserve has created a situation in which “eating, drinking, and breathing may be hazardous to your health.” It appears that in the presence of a causative interference almost anything can be an influencing factor. Understanding these as only influencing factors and not causative interferences greatly reduces the fear of life. This brings us to another influencing factor–stress. Some people are not affected by stress while others develop all kinds of physical and emotional disorders. A body with a good nerve supply is better able to handle the stress factor. An individual with a genetic interference or with vertebral subluxation may succumb to the stress of life.
Influencing factors are ones that do not normally cause a lack of health. However, if they are present in combination with a causative interference then what the medical profession terms “disease” may result. We have already mentioned microorganisms. They do not cause disease but given a body with a causative interference such as vertebral subluxation and illness may result. Bacteria on the skin do not cause a problem, but a cut (trauma, a causative interference) may create a situation in which infection can result. The physician gives an antibiotic to destroy the influencing factor, the body heals the cut and medicine gets the glory. Odd, isn’t it? Under normal circumstances disease cannot result from an influencing factor. There must first be a causative interference. Ragweed pollen is an influencing factor. It does not cause hay fever. But expose an individual whose body is not working properly due to nerve interference and the disease results. Take away the ragweed pollen (in the winter months) and enough of an environmental influencing factor is removed so that symptoms disappear. If you do not remove the causative interference, the disease or symptoms may disappear but the individual is not really healthier. If you remove the causative interference, then the influencing factor will have no effect.
There is one more important principle to understand on this subject. An influencing factor under abnormal circumstances can become a causative interference. For example, an injection of a microorganism into the blood stream (an abnormal situation) will cause bodily malfunction even if there is no causative interference. Going for days without rest would cause an influencing factor to become a causative interference. Going for extended periods of time without vitamin C (as did 18th century sailors) could cause scurvy without causative interference being present. In this case diet would become a causative interference. Ingesting polluted water or breathing poisonous air can change what may normally be only potential influencing factors into causative interferences. But these situations only occur in unnatural circumstances. This is for the chiropractic antagonist who sarcastically says “You mean if you were subluxation-free and I gave you a pint of botulism toxin, your innate intelligence would take care of it?” Of course not. We cannot confuse principles with absurdities. Vitamin B is a normal even necessary component of food. Overdose by injection will cause sickness in the body.
Chiropractic Application
We in chiropractic direct our attention to one causative interference, that is, nerve interference due to vertebral subluxations. Trauma and genetic factors we have no control over. Influencing factors are so subjective and so elusive that attempting to address them meets with constant frustration. We would do well to avoid that frustration as a profession.v6n3