Getting to the Heart of Things
The heart, a symphony of life within us, commands a resounding significance in our physiological orchestra. It orchestrates a choreography of pulsations, ceaselessly propelling the blood through our intricate circulatory channels. When our heart stops beating, blood stops being pumped through the body, starving our brains of oxygen, usually resulting in death within minutes.
Yet, the reality is that each day witnesses the passing of an average of 118 Australians due to heart disease. The first warning sign of heart disease is usually a heart attack. Astonishingly, arterial blockages can mount to a staggering 90% without a whisper of symptoms. And in the face of this colossal killer, our prevailing response is often to merely 'treat' it once it manifests into a full-blown 'disease'. Consider the sea of prescriptions for blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications, and a surge of educational efforts aimed at decoding the early signs of heart attack. Yet, nestled within these interventions lies a tantalising proposition— can we not reshape our approach? Would it not be more beneficial for us, in every way, to know how to keep our hearts strong and healthy?
One of the best ways to measure heart health is to measure your heart rate variability. It turns out that healthier hearts DON’T beat in exact rhythm, in fact, if there is a slight fluctuation in the time between your heartbeats, that is considered a sign that your heart is better able to adapt to many kinds of changes, a great indicator of health! People with high heart rate variability are usually less stressed and happier. These variations are very small, adding or subtracting a fraction of a second between beats and are undetectable except with specialised devices.
The reason our heart rates vary is because of the direct control of the nervous system and it therefore is no surprise that many studies have shown a positive effect of spinal manipulation on heart rate variability. The areas that most commonly affect HRV are the neck (cervical) and upper back (thoracic) areas. Furthermore, a small study tracking people over 3 years found that regular chiropractic care reduced cardiac risk factors like cholesterol levels, another study found an increase in cardiac and lung abnormalities in people with a flat upper back (a lack of the thoracic curve).
There is surmounting evidence to show that a healthy spine equals a healthy body, which is why we believe that every person should be checked for vertebral subluxation!