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The cool part of this is that Chiropractors had had some success with ulcers. But by no means is anything proven, if anything Chiropractic's success is largely anecdotal and we have very little understanding of why we are effective some of the time. What we do know is that a Chiropractic adjustment of the spine affects the Autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for things like gastrointestinal motility (moving your food from your stomach to the small intestine, then to the large intestine and colon), and most (if not all) the functions of your body such as heart, liver, kidneys, sexual, etc. functions. But the problem is this is very hard to study in patients and come up with many conclusions. There is some research on the subject, check it out: The Good: Upper cervical adjustments appear to have an influence on
gastric function. Use of spinal manipulative therapy in the treatment of
duodenal ulcer: a pilot study. In this preliminary study, the use
of spinal manipulative therapy resulted in pain relief after 1-9 (average 3.8)
days and clinical remission an average of 10 days earlier than traditional care
(meaning drugs). The contribution of clinical observation to neurological mechanisms in
manipulative therapy. The reflex effects of spinal somatic nerve stimulation on visceral function.
Somatovisceral reflex responses were examined at various sites in
anesthetized animals. Specifically, pinching of the abdominal skin was
found to inhibit gastric motility in the rat. The interplay of the autonomic nervous system and its divisions
(sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric) are described in regard to the
gastrointestinal tract.
The Bad: Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs are
associated with both upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The
authors here conclude that NSAID use is strongly associated
with these GI bleeds. Gastric erosions induced by nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory
drugs: clinical significance, pathogenesis, and therapeutic perspectives.
This is a review paper in which the authors suggest taking a drug called
misprostol with NSAID therapy to prevent gastric erosions from the latter (and
which drug will you take to ward off the side effects of the misprostol. Role of Helicobacter pylori in ulcer healing and recurrence of gastric and
duodenal ulcers in long-term NSAID users. While H. Pylore, a bacteria, is
the causative agent in ulcers, there must be a predisposing factors for them to
cause damage. The damage NSAIDs do to the protective coating of the
stomach/duodenum is what gives the bacteria the opportunity to cause damage.
In this study in particular the authors found that H. Pylori eradication does
not confer any significant advantage on the healing of gastric and duodenal
ulcers associated with long-term NSAID use. Meta-analysis of risk factors for peptic ulcer:
Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, Helicogbacter pylori, and smoking.
According to this article between 89% and 95% of peptic ulcer-related serious
upper GI events may be attributed to NSAID use, H. pylori infection, and
cigarette smoking.
And The Ugly: Gastrointestinal injury, and cytoprotection. This is a
review paper. Gastrointestinal toxicity caused by NSAIDs is the
most frequent drug side effect in the United States. NSAIDs are
implicated in the development of complicated peptic ulcer disease and injurey to
the small bowel and colon. NSAIDs interfere with prostaglandin-mediated
epithelial defense mechanisms and also cause direct epithelial toxicity. In the USA 100,000,000 (this number is NOT a misprint)
prescriptions for NSAID’s were dispensed in 1986 (4% of all prescriptions).
You can be sure that this number has greatly increased in the last 12 years. 30% of patients taking NSAID’s who have persistent GI
symptoms are likely to have a chronic peptic ulcer. Adverse events (such as death or major illness) occurred in
21% of USA patients taking NSAID’s and 25% of UK patients. 12,000 tons (approximately 40 billion tablets) of aspirin were
sold over the counter in 1986. Aspirin is not an NSAID but comes with it's
own set of problems.
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