This month, I begin correlating specific spiral subluxation patterns with increased nutritional needs. Previously, I stated that "the science of nutrition is the study of food, how it is ingested, digested, absorbed, transported, utilized and eliminated." With that in mind, let's begin our look at chiropractic and nutrition from the area of digestion. While ingestion obviously comes before digestion, I am going to defer discussion of diet selection.

In a prior column, I outlined a time-honored method of identifying possible visceral involvement based on a chiropractic palpation of the spine, identification of spinal involvement, palpation of the peripheral areas innervated by that spinal nerve, and correlating this with the patients symptoms. Correction is made by:

*** Adjusting the subluxation, which removes the muscle contraction at the spine and periphery.

*** Supplying the proper nutrition to the stressed organ/system.

*** Removing the habit pattern that originated the challenge to homeostatic maintenance.

This system of practicing clinical chiropractic is scientifically sound, based on accepted neurology, physiology, and biochemistry. It is easily and quickly integrated into any practice, and above all it allows the doctor to be incredibly accurate in diagnosis (identification of the cause of the patient's symptoms).

This system is vastly different from the one mandated by politico-economic entities which demand practitioners list the patient's symptoms and placing a name on them. The name then denotes the drug(s) to be used to suppress those symptoms.

Because the symptoms of digestive disorders are so ambiguous, identifying the organ of involvement is almost impossible using the medical model.

Take gas and bloating, for example. Are they caused by inadequate: HCI acid in the stomach, flow of bile to emulsify the food, enzyme production from the pancreas, bicarbonate secretion by the pancreas to activate the enzymes, sugar digesting enzyme production by the small intestine, or intestinal flora?

You can readily see the problems of using symptoms to make a differential diagnosis of digestive disorders. In addition, medicine lacks objective laboratory testing for making an accurate appraisal of the situation. This is the major reason so many over-the-counter remedies are available. Over $80 billion are spent each year on drugs to relieve heartburn, excess acid, bloating, gas, and other symptoms of indigestion.

Using the chiropractic model as a means of differential diagnosis makes the job much easier.

The primary abdominal organs of digestion are the stomach, biliary system, pancreas. They receive their sympathetic nerve supply, generally, from T5 to T9. Therefore, a patient experiencing gas and bloating following meals will demonstrate muscle contractions and misalignments in that area of the spinal musculature. Turning the patient on his or her back and palpating the abdomen will usually identify the incompetent organ.

*** Esophagus, stomach, and duodenal ulcerations, gastritis, etc., will present pain and soreness in the epigastric area, immediately below the xiphoid process.

*** Biliary incompetence will present muscle contraction beneath the right anterior costal arch.

*** Pancreatic and jejunal enzyme incompetence will present muscle contraction and tenderness beneath the left anterior costal arch.

My next column will explore why the usual remedies of HCI, bile salts, and pancreatic enzymes are not capable of correcting these problems.

Remember that in order to properly correlate muscle contraction at the spine with the periphery, the body must be challenged at the time of examination. In other words, do not expect to find muscle contraction under the right rib cage unless the biliary system is experiencing problems providing adequate bile while you are examining.

There are several other areas involved when digestive inadequacies are suspected.

Digestion actually begins in the mouth with the secretions of the salivary glands. The parotid glands secrete amylase, and there is a sublingual lipase and protease secreted as well. The sympathetic nerve supply to the glands originates at T1 and T2 and is transferred up the neck through the anterior cervical ganglion. Muscle contraction can be found in these areas as well as beneath the tongue and mandible when the salivary glands are unable to adequately provide their secretions.

Intestinal colic is seldom seen by our profession in adults, but it is a very common digestive problem that's found in babies. Many of your patients have children with this problem and are very appreciative of any help you can give them.

The current medical therapy is to prescribe Valium. When my daughter informed me that her pediatrician had recommended this for her second child, I asked her if the Valium was for her or the baby.

Infant colic is usually (though not always) caused by the inability of the infant to digest the form of protein being presented to it. This is usually easy to diagnose since the pain is poorly localized around the umbilicus. It is an area where you can seemingly perform miracles by correcting the protein source, be it mother or formula, and providing appropriate enzymes that will act in the stomach of the baby.