The effects of a chiropractic care in recent stroke patients - Study 1/2

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Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. It is estimated that worldwide 17 million people per year suffer from a significant stroke with 5 million of those people experiencing long term physical disability following the stroke. The long term impaired nervous system function that accompanies many strokes means millions of stroke survivors around the world are reliant on care-givers to assist them with rudimentary activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and toileting. The burden of care is immense and has a significant impact on modern society. Numerous rehabilitative approaches have been shown to promote motor recovery after a stroke, but advanced strategies are constantly being developed and tested in an attempt to improve long term outcomes for stroke survivors. One possible intervention that may improve post-stroke motor recovery, but has to date not been adequately tested, is chiropractic care. Over the past two decades numerous research studies have shown that chiropractic care can significantly influence central neural function. Studies have shown changes in somatosensory processing, sensorimotor integration and motor control following as little as a single session of chiropractic adjustments. Sensorimotor integration is the ability of the central nervous system (CNS) to integrate sensory information from different body parts and formulate appropriate motor outputs to muscles. Effective sensorimotor integration is essential when learning new motor skills, or recovering from an injury. Another essential component for accurately movement, learning new motor skills, and/or recovering from an injury is the accuracy of internal representation of our body map, or body schema. It is essential for your brain to be accurately aware of the location of our limbs and core body in 3D space. The spine is linked biomechanically and neurologically to the limbs and yet, we know very little about how altered sensory feedback from the spine affects limb sensorimotor integration and motor performance. However, there is emerging evidence that altered spinal sensory input can alter central neural processing, possibly by impacting the brains inner body schema. There is also emerging evidence that improving spinal function with chiropractic care can rapidly alter central neural function in a variety of ways, and that these changes outlast the altered changes of input, i.e. that they are neural plastic changes. Neural plasticity is the name given by neuroscientists to any lasting change in structure or function within the CNS due to alterations in sensory input, basically the brain’s ability to learn and adapt to an ever-changing environment. The addition of chiropractic care to the treatment program for a variety of central nervous system disorders, such as stroke victims, may have a profound impact on these peoples’ ability to heal and recover central neural function.

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