Diseases of The Spine

• Vertebral Subluxation
  
  This is the misalignment in one or more of the 24 vertebrae in the spina column, which causes alteration of nerve function and interference to the transmission of mental impulses, resulting in lessening of the body's innate ability to express its maximum health potential.
• The Disc and Spinal Pain
  
  Learn about disc protrusion and prolapse, slipped disc, and organic disease (i.e. disc degeneration)

The Neurological Basis of Disease

      If you are still unclear about the connection between the spine and overall health, you need to know the story of Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova, one of the most unusual sets of co-joined twins ever born. When they were born, on January 4, 1950, their mother was told they had died shortly after birth. In fact, had been taken to a Soviet institution near Moscow for study, observation, and experimentation. For nearly forty years, they were isolated from their family and the world.

      Co-joined (Siamese) twins result when a single, fertilized egg doesn't split completely, as it does in the case of identical twins. Instead, the egg remains joined at some point and the children are born partially attached. Usually, these children are spontaneously aborted as embryos, but on rare occasions, they are born alive. If the connection isnt extensive, they can sometimes be separated successfully. In a 1993 case, one twin was sacrificed so her sister, the stronger of the two, could have a chance to live.

      In the case of Marsha and Dasha, the co-joining was so extensive that an operation to separate them would have killed them both. It was the unique way in which they were joined that caused the Soviet scientists to be so interested in them.

      The girls were born with four arms and three legs. They stood on two legs, one controlled by each twin and a vestigial third leg remained in the air behind them. It's not surprising that it took them until they were five before they developed the coordination to be able to walk. Their upper intestine were separate but they shared a lower intestine and rectum. They had four kidneys and one bladder and one reproductive system. From the waist up, they were two distinct persons with interconnected circulatory systems, so they shared each other's blood. When a virus entered one sister's bloodstream, it soon appeared in the other sister's blood as well. However, illness affected them quite differently. In fact, in an interview in 1989, Marsha complained they had always been treated as one person when their medical files were quite diverse.

      For instance, Dasha was near sighted, caught cold easily, and was right-handed. Marsha, who was left-handed, smoked occasionally but still had a stronger constitution than her sister, even though she had slightly higher blood pressure.

      The question that puzzled scientists was why one sister would get measles and the other wouldn't, even though the germ was in both bodies. Russian pathologist, A.D. Speransky, realized that the nerve system had a definite role in the development of disease. The healthier the nerve system, the more the body could fight off illness. In the case of Masha and Dasha, what was it that caused one to be sick and the other to stay well?

      The answer became apparent. While they shared their circulatory, digestive, excretory, lymphatic, and endocrine system, and had a common skeletal system from where they joined at the hips, they had separate spinal columns and skulls. They had separate spinal cords and brains. This was the only significant difference between them!

      These remarkable twins lived their lives as a waling laboratory in which scientists verified that disease and sickness do indeed have neurological basis. Because of them, researchers have proved one can't get sick simply from being exposed to germs. One's body has to supply those germs with a fertile breeding ground where they can multiply and grow. That's why one twin could be ill and the other wasn't.

      Each of us breathes in millions of germs everytime we inhale and we breathe out even more germs when we exhale. If the cause of illness were as simple as being exposed to bacteria, we would all be sick all the time.

      One last note about Masha and Dasha. In 1989, they were released from the institution, rejoined their mother and were looking forward to a happier future. However, as distressing as their first forty years of lives were, they could take some comfort in the knowledge that they have significantly advanced our understanding of how the brain and spine affect our general health.