There are many conditions that have a genetic predisposition but with a healthy lifestyle and chiropractic care to improve nerve system function, the body can work to heal and function at its best.
What makes a health condition truly genetic, and what are some examples?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Well, that’s an interesting question. I guess we talk about health conditions and when people think of a health condition, they’re usually thinking of a sickness or a disease. Some of the things that I think are truly just genetic are these genetic anomalies where you’ll see something that causes something, let’s say for example, down syndrome, right, the Trisomy 21 where there’s truly a genetic alteration. These kids develop differently, right? Most doctors know well before a baby is born if it’s going to have down syndrome. They can look at some genetic markers, they can look at development when they do ultrasounds. Most parents know before that child is born that it has down syndrome. What’s interesting is there are certain particular facial and developmental features that are common among kids with down syndrome. Sometimes their mental capacities aren’t quite the same.
A lot of times when you meet these kids, when they’re older, even in their 20s, they just maintain that childlike innocence and they never really grow up, but they’re capable of love. And we have certain expectations of our kids, and we want them to be successful and be part of society. But not everyone has the same potential. A genetic alteration like that can certainly change the trajectory and the capacity of that child. But I see parents caring for these kids and the kids are so full of love and they’re cute and funny, and we sometimes have to adjust our expectations. So, something like that, I would say, is truly genetic.
But then as we get older and we look at all these other things that people come in and tell me about like, “Oh, I have arthritis because it’s in my genes,” is not necessarily true. A lot of research that came out of the MacArthur Foundation says that a lot of things are just about 30% genetic and 70% lifestyle, which gets me excited because that means that we have a strong possibility that we can rewrite our family tree if there are genetic conditions that kind of “run in our family.” So that’s really how I look at it. But if there truly is some type of genetic alteration, then we’ll see that thing.
And then there are other diseases like Tay-Sachs disease or sickle cell anemia, that we see a genetic predisposition, but it’s not purely genetic. So, there are some things, and there is difference in the research and depending on who you’re asking and talking to. I don’t want to be vague, but the truth is, there’s so much that we don’t know about genetics and the development of the human body that these questions are going to be answered over time. We’re always learning and learning more. But it’s kind of interesting in the long run that some people say it’s purely genetic when there are also a lot of outside factors, according to the MacArthur Foundation.
Could you name some health conditions that people commonly think are genetic but could actually be the result of environmental or lifestyle factors?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Absolutely. It kind of dovetails on the question before, because in my mind, I’m not convinced that there are too many things that are just purely genetic. Right? And again, if we cite the MacArthur Foundation saying that it’s 30% genetic and 70% lifestyle, well then, a lot of these things can be helped or improved and sometimes even prevented. It’s important to understand that you’ve got to have a healthy lifestyle, you’ve got to eat well, you’ve got to get enough rest, you have to exercise, and you need to keep your stress low. The other thing in chiropractic, what we really talk about, is you need to have proper connections. The brain needs to be connected to the body. When we look at a body, there is this life force or this energy or nerve energy and call it whatever you want, the kingdom of God within you, the soul.
We all talk about the same thing. There is truly something that flows across our nerve systems, that animates our bodies, that makes us different than a corpse, because a corpse doesn’t have life in it. And when you’re alive, your body will heal, it’ll run, it’ll regulate, it’ll regenerate. But a corpse doesn’t do that. And if I cut a piece of steak, it ain’t going to heal. But if I cut something that’s alive, it’s going to heal. That life force is going to do that. And all the information on how the body heals is stored in the brain and in the nerve system.
So, a lot of things can be mitigated and prevented by lifestyle, but you’ve got to do all those things. You can’t just do one thing. And I’m not saying that chiropractic is a panacea, but again, the more consistent flow and clear communication between the brain and the body, the healthier your body’s going to be, it’s going to make the right decisions and really help your body mitigate those things that we think are genetic, like the arthritis, cancer, heart disease, all these different things that we think are hereditary, but they really aren’t. They are, again, 30% genetic. So, you’ll have a predisposition, but the things you do in life can mitigate those things, even prevent them. And if you don’t do those things, sometimes these diseases or these processes can have a really profound effect on your life and health.
Are there any spinal conditions that are genetic? How would you help treat those?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: It’s a great question. Again, like we answered before, there are a lot of things that have genetic predisposition. I’ll give an example. My mom suffered from rheumatoid arthritis from probably late in her 30s. And rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease where your body’s own immune system is looking at the cartilage and looking at the joints and attacking it because it thinks that it’s foreign to the body. For some reason, the immune system is confused, it’s making a mistake, and it’s attacking its own joints. So there seems to be what they call a genetic predisposition. Now, I hope that’s not true because my mom started developing the arthritic conditions and pain associated with the rheumatoid arthritis in her late 30s, early 40s. I’m 58. And is that coming to me just because my mom had it? And again, I don’t know. I can’t say for sure, but I stack the deck in my favor.
I exercise, I keep my joints healthy, I see a chiropractor and get adjusted and maintain proper alignment and proper nerve flow. So, all these things can be mitigated or at least helped. But there are genetic things that happen to the spine. There is something called Klippel-Feil syndrome where two of the vertebrae fuse together. Some people have extra vertebrae, some people will only develop half a vertebrae, or there might be a defect where the front of the vertebrae doesn’t fuse with the back of the vertebrae. And these are genetic variations that are purely genetic, but they alter the mechanics of the spine. Chiropractors can help improve the mechanics of the spine and help mitigate the effects of these things. But if it’s truly a genetic variant in the spine where there’s only half a vertebrae or scoliosis, right, where they think there’s a large genetic predisposition to that, also those people can be helped by making sure the spine is in good alignment as the spine is developing.
We say in chiropractic, as the twig is bent, so grows the tree. So actually monitoring those kids and making the corrective adjustments to do the best they can to mitigate the effect of a scoliosis, those things are really important. So, there are a lot of things that are genetic related. There are some pure genetic malformations in the spine, and chiropractic is chiropractic. Maintaining good alignment, keeping pressure off the nerves will help that body heal, run, and regulate more efficiently and hopefully mitigate the severity of those disease processes or the results of the altered mechanics from some type of genetic spinal malformation.
Can you give an example of a patient with a genetic condition that you have helped manage with chiropractic care?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: I give lots of examples. The number one thing, and we talked a little bit about it just before, is truly about scoliosis. They believe that there is a genetic predisposition. But as those are forming, if we can correct the alignment and get the pressure off the growth plates, usually the spine will develop straighter. So those people we can help, right?
People with arthritic conditions which are genetic. By maintaining proper alignment, we can slow down the degenerative change. We can help mitigate some of the pain and discomfort that these people experience through chiropractic care. So, it’s very important, and it’s not always in chiropractic. We always talk about, can you help this person, or can you treat this condition? And chiropractic really doesn’t treat anything other than maintain proper alignment to the spine and optimize nerve system function. But doing those two things are so important because your nerve system is involved in how we experience life.
People hear me talking, it’s the nerve system. You feel your bottom in that chair, it’s your nerve system. You open your mouth to speak, it’s your nerve system that’s involved in that. It’s the master system. It controls everything else. And by maintaining and optimizing flow of the nerve system, by eliminating nerve interference, by correcting alignment, because those delicate spinal nerves exit in between two adjacent vertebrae, and if they’re not lined up right, they’re going to irritate those nerves. And with nerve irritation, there’s no way that the communication is proper in the body and then the body starts to break down or make mistakes.
So almost every condition and every person can benefit from chiropractic care, but it is not always specifically trying to cure a specific disease or disease process. And I know that’s hard for people to wrap around. And in my office, I don’t even like to use the word treat. We adjust the spine. And then once we do that, based on our principle, once the nerve system is released of interference, it just becomes more effective and the body’s better at healing, running, and regulating itself. So, we help lots of people and we help lots of people with conditions, but it isn’t about just helping a condition. I hope that makes sense.
What do you say to motivate people to try chiropractic care when they think there’s nothing anyone can do to help their condition?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Well, to motivate people to try chiropractic care, it’s interesting because a lot of people are motivated by pain, and very often people will come to a chiropractor’s office only after they’ve been to every doctor, taken every pill, potion, and lotion, and they’re like, “Nothing’s worked for me, no one’s been able to help me. Well, maybe I’ll try one of those crazy chiropractors.” Honestly, it’s very rare that someone will walk into my office and say, “Gee, Dr. Rubinstein, I want to keep my spine and nervous system healthy. Will you check me?” Most people are waiting for that crisis care, right? And in our society, we have this urgency, addicted, crisis care mentality when it comes to healthcare. Rather than maintaining our health, exercising, using a healthy diet, we wait until we gain 30 pounds and then say, “Oh, I have to start the diet.” Now we’re reacting to the crisis.
So, crisis care is the biggest motivator for people. When someone can’t stand up or a bride comes to me because she is under so much stress and she can’t turn her neck and she’s getting married in two days, well, that’s a pretty big motivator, right? And it’s interesting to me that when we look at society, people will brush their teeth whether they hurt or not. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “Gee, my teeth don’t hurt. I’m not going to brush them.” Or “My teeth don’t hurt. I’m going to skip my dental appointment this week.” We care for our teeth because somewhere along the line, we learned that maintaining our mouth and our teeth will enable us to keep our teeth throughout a lifetime. It’s the same with the spine. It’s made of the same stuff. It degenerates in a similar fashion, and if your spine is not cared for, it will break down.
We’ve all seen that 70 or 80-year-old guy all hunched over. He didn’t just wake up one day, look in the mirror and say, “Oh crap, what happened to me?” It happened slowly over time. I often joke with my patients, and I wish that their spines were on their faces because if they could see what was happening to their spine, they might be more apt to take care of it. But unfortunately, most people are really reacting to crisis.
So, what would I say to someone to motivate them to try chiropractic care? Pretty much what I just said, but it’s really a heavy lift. People are not really focused on maintaining their health in a way that keeps them healthy. They’re usually reacting more to crisis.
What I do is educate the public. That’s why we’re talking on these blogs. That’s why I go out and do public speaking and share this message. It’s hard to motivate people when they’re not motivated, but it really comes up to them. I just do my best to educate people and make sure that they know our principles and they know what chiropractic is, and they know what chiropractic is not.
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To speak with Dr. Gregg Rubinstein, visit www.ChiropractorMidtown.com or call (212) 977-7094 to schedule an appointment.
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