Searching for the fountain of youth is arguably a tale as old as time itself. The beauty industry has capitalised on our quest to look young, while the health and wellness industry turns its eyes on the diets, exercises and pharmaceutical interventions that might support this quest as well. Meanwhile, here in the chiropractic profession, we have said that we aim to add years to life and life to years, but one part of this is hard to prove.
But there’s been a case report sitting back in the archives that might show that we can do that in a very tangible way. It’s a case report, so it’s only one patient, but boy does this one give insights that demand more investigation.
It’s time to talk about telomeres
Telomeres are found at the ends of our chromosomes and they work to prevent the ‘decay’ or loss of important DNA during cell proliferation. Without getting too technical, when cells undergo division, DNA is replicated through a multi-phase process. This process of duplicating DNA can be imperfect and often results in the loss of information at the end of chromosomes. Telomeres act like a buffer at the end of chromosomes that can get shorter and shorter each replication, without causing much disruption to the quality of the information copied. They support chromosomal stability and prevent degradation of chromosomes. In essence, the telomeres are sacrificed so that we don’t lose any important DNA. As telomeres get shorter with each replication, they act as a valuable indicator of the age of tissues and cells – ultimately, the age of you! Cells that have telomeres that are too short are unable to replicate and will eventually die.
There are processes, more specifically the enzyme telomerase, that can prevent the shortening of telomeres. The expression of telomerase is an important factor in the ability of cancer cells to become ‘immortal’, promoting further tumour development as cell death happens at a much lower rate than usual.
Lifestyle factors, including diet, smoking status, and alcohol consumption, can all affect telomere length and contribute to premature telomere shortening. The effect of chiropractic care on telomere length has not yet been investigated, until this case report.
So telomeres, at the end of the day, are the body’s age marker. Now lets talk about the case study.
The Case
As with many cases, the individual in this case report presented for care with the primary complaint of neck and back pain. She had been experiencing pain for 5 years, since a head-on motor vehicle collision. Another concern of the patient’s was her need to wake up multiple times during the night to urinate (polyuria). She had previously experienced 3 prior collisions, in which she was rear-ended. During the two weeks after the head-on collision, the patient was taking doses of ibuprofen 2-3 times a day.
Lifestyle factors that the authors (Curtis Fedorchuk, Douglas Lighstone, Matthew McCoy and Deed Harrison) noted included the patient consuming 3-5 mountain dew soda drinks per day.
Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Activity Index measures were obtained, and indicated increased sympathetic nervous system activity. Health and Wellness Score results were also taken during this first evaluation, along with a blood test to indicate the patient’s telomere value.
What was found
The patient attended 36 visits over five months and received chiropractic care, utilising Chiropractic Biophysics Technique protocols. Care was targeted at correcting the cervical hypolordosis (low neck curve) and forward head translation. The patient was also advised to complete Mirror Image exercises 3 times a week.
After the 36 visits, the patient was re-assessed and reported that her neck and mid-back pain were reduced from 5/10 to less than 1/10. This is a significant change over a short period of time! There was also improvement recorded in her Heart Rate Variability and Health and Wellness Score measures, with the patient reporting improvements in all quality of life domains. The patient noted that she was virtually pain-free and was now able to sleep through the night without waking to use the bathroom. Telomere length was assessed again and the telomere value was found to have increased by 8.23%.
This is a measurement that the vast majority of chiropractors do not use during their examinations, and thus its not one that can be compared to many other chiropractic case reports. But it does signal to the immense potential chiropractic may have in terms of supporting anti-aging as well as improved outcomes as a patient ages. Just how important is wellness or maintenance care?
This case report is a first signal that it may be more important than we know. More research is needed to support and confidently claim this, but it is an exciting beginning indeed.
Reference
Fedorchuk, C., Lightstone, D. F., McCoy, M., & Deed Eric Harrison. (2017). Increased Telomere Length and Improvements in Dysautonomia, Quality of Life, and Neck and Back Pain Following Correction of Sagittal Cervical Alignment Using Chiropractic BioPhysics® Technique: a Case Study. J Mol Genet Med. 11(2). DOI: 10.4172/1747-0862.1000269
