Entries from August 2009

Testing urine can provide many clues to overall health.  The kidneys remove waste material, minerals, fluids, and other substances from the blood for elimination in the urine.   Therefore, urine can contain hundreds of different bodily waste products.  Many factors (such as diet,  fluid intake, exercise, and kidney function) affect what is in urine. More than 100 different tests can be done on urine.  However, a routine urinalysis usually involves the following tests.

Energetic Balancing Energetic balancing with the MSAS-Professional system is done using the BioEnergetic Evaluation. Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA) is used to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of a person’s energetic health and balance.  This process involves measuring electrical conductivity at responsive points (meridian points) on the skin – typically on the hands and feet.  The locations of the test point generally correspond to those of acupuncture points.  These measurements are recorded to help provide a profile of a patient’s present condition.

At Advanced Chiropractic of Virginia, Dr Pinto utilizes many objective tools to assess the health and wellness of his patients.  The results of these tests can better  guide him in devising the right treatment plan for his patients.  During an initial consultation in our office, a patient will be given a heart rate variability test.   This test is painless and only takes a few minutes.   It is looking at the overall general health and wellness of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the portion of the nervous system that controls the body’s visceral functions, including action of the heart, movement of the gastrointestinal tract and secretion by different glands, among many other vital activities.   It is well known that mental and emotional states directly affect the ANS.   Many of the IHM’s research studies have examined the influence of emotions on the ANS utilizing the analysis of heart rate variability, or heart rhythems, which servse as a dynamic window into autonomic function and balance.   While the rhythmic beating of the heart at rest was once believed to be monotonously regular, we now know that the rhythm of a healthy heart under resting conditions is actually surprisingly irregular.   These moment to moment variations in heart rate are easily overlooked when average heart rate is calculated.  Heart rate variability (HRV) derived from the electrocardiogram (ECG), is a measurement of these naturally occurring, beat-to-beat changes in heart rate.

The spine is formed by 24  interlocking bones called vertebrae.  Between each pair of vertebrae is a disc, which is a capsule composed of an outer layer of tough connective tissue surrounding a soft, jellylike center.  The discs absorb shock and provide flexibility within the spine.  Normally the disc is under pressure and its outer surface bulges slightly. Spinal discs break down with age, becoming drier, less flexible, and more easily damaged.  Injury and prolonged overuse or misuse can speed the formation of tiny tears in a disc’s outer covering.  Deterioration is accelerated and much more common in smokers. Excessive pressure on a weakened disc can cause some of the jelly like matrial in the center of the disc to squeeze through the tears in the capsule causing the disc to rupture into the space that surrounds a nerve root or the spinal canal.   This condition is known as a herniated disc.  A herniated disc can interfere with nerve function, leading to weakness, numbness, or pain in the legs and arms

Today we will conclude our blogging series on viscerosomatic reflex by discussing the bottom 2 vertebrae of the spine; the sacrum and the coccyx.    The sacrum has a correlation to the hip bones & buttocks.  Some imbalances that may occur with a misalignment to this area include issues of sacro-iliac conditions as well as spinal curvatures.    The coccyx bone is related to issues of hemorrhoids (piles), pruritus (anal itching), and also pain at the end of the spine on sitting.