According to a study published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, chiropractic care may influence basic physiological processes affecting oxidative stress and DNA repair—in other words, how the body heals itself.

The study titled “Surrogate Indication of DNA Repair in Serum After Long Term Chiropractic Intervention—A Retrospective Study” conducted at the University of Lund (Sweden), compared 21 subjects who underwent short-term chiropractic care to 25 subjects who underwent long-term chiropractic care, and a control group of 30 subjects who did not undergo any chiropractic care.

The researchers measured serum thiols levels, which are primary antioxidants and provide a surrogate estimate of DNA repair enzyme activity, or how the body heals itself.

The results showed a significant difference in the serum thiol levels of the three groups. The levels were lowest in patients with active diseases and in the short-term chiropractic care group. The levels were highest in the long-term care group. Symptom-free or primary wellness subjects under chiropractic care demonstrated higher mean serum thiol levels than normal wellness values.

“Going through life, we experience physical, chemical, and emotional stress," says Christopher Kent, DC, one of the authors of the study. "These stresses affect the function of the nervous system. We hypothesized that these disturbances in nerve function could affect oxidative stress and DNA repair on a cellular level. Oxidative stress results in DNA damage and inhibits DNA repair.”

"I remind my patients that chiropractors apply spinal adjustments to correct disturbances of nerve function and that chiropractic care appears to improve the ability of the body to adapt to stress and therefore heal itself faster and to a greater degree," he continues.

So what does Kent tell his patients when they ask him how to stay healthy?

"Get adjusted," he says