Parkinson's Disease and the Upper Cervical Spine

In the upper cervical spine, there are four main structures to focus on. They are:

1. The Foramen Magnum of the Occipital bone

2. The Atlas vertebra (1st cervical bone)

3. The Axis vertebra (2nd cervical bone)

4. The Brainstem of the Nerve System.

The Brainstem exits from the Foramen Magnum. The Atlas and Axis bones protect and surround the Brainstem. The Brainstem connects all the nerves from the brain to the nerves of the body.

Regarding Parkinson’s Disease, the secondary focus is on the Substantia Nigra of the Basal Ganglia.

The Basal Ganglia are involved in many functions such as voluntary motor movements, procedural learning, habit learning, conditional learning, eye movements, cognition and emotion. The Substantia Nigra is part of the basal ganglia. The Substantia Nigra produces dopamine which is important in movement control, cognition and emotional functions.

The Nerve System in general does four main things:

1. It controls all the movements we make

2. Senses everything we feel

3. Regulates all our body organs

4. Relates us to the outside world

When nerves get stressed, it effects their sensitivity, perception and behavior to perform these functions. The stresses are physical, chemical and emotional in nature. These stresses create nerve tension and spine imbalance.

One specific job of the brainstem is to adapt to these stresses and help bring the spine back into balance. If the stresses are too great for the brainstem to adapt, compensations arise. One particular compensation that occurs in the upper cervical spine is a Vertebral Subluxation.

A vertebral subluxation will cause the Atlas and Axis bones to lock in a misaligned position. This lock will sustain Nerve System tension and spine imbalance. This tension leads to abnormal sensitivity, perception and behavior of the brainstem and surrounding nerves.

Over time, this disruption can lead to symptoms. The usual symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease are:

• Tremors

• Slowed movement (bradykinesia)

• Rigid muscles

• Impaired posture and balance

• Loss of unconscious movements

• Speech changes

• Writing changes

If we reference the Substantia Nigra of the Basal Ganglia we can see that it associates with Parkinson’s Disease symptoms.

The goal of Chiropractic is not to medically treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. The aim of Chiropractic is to correct nerve tension and spine imbalance. Chiropractors correct this by adjusting the vertebral subluxation of the upper cervical spine.

Correcting the subluxation better optimizes the function of the brainstem and associated nerves. The Nerve System overall can sense, perceive and behave at a greater potential when a subluxation is corrected.

- Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP

Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.