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I have recently discovered Gil Hedley’s videos, just fabulous. This video, ‘The “Fuzz” Speech’, will change your relationship to stretching forever. Check out the fuzzed up left scapula compared to the unfuzzy right scapula about half way through, and then try to not want to move your shoulders.
Mayan skull deliberately moulded post birth
Here’s what a lifetime can do to your sacrum (thanks to Colin Dove):
Below are some interesting quotes on CSF flow from recent research using new computer modelling of CSF flow in the third ventricle from MRI scans. There are also some great images on the site of Dr Vartan Kurtcuoglu. (Many thanks to GP Visser, dentist and current student on the current CTET training, for pointing out the papers.)
‘Unlike the cardiac system, there is no dedicated pump, such as the heart, that directly drives the CSF flow. The CSF is propelled in a pulsatile manner, primarily due to brain motion caused by the expansion and contraction of cerebral blood vessels. Superimposed on this motion is flow generated by the secretion of CSF by the choroid plexus in the ventricles at the center of the brain and cerebrospinal fluid absorption, predominantly at the arachnoid villi in the subarachnoid space that surrounds the brain (Davson and Segal, 1996). Additional drainage into the blood-stream is purported to occur through the cerebral extracellular space (Greitz, 1993).’ (Kurtcuoglu et al 2007)
‘The CSF further serves as an intermediary between blood and nervous tissue, providing the latter with nutrients and removing waste products. Recent research shows that the cerebrospinal fluid flow is much more important than previously believed. For example, the pituitary gland and hypothalamus communicate through the CSF and new neurons follow the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the adult brain.’ (Kurtcuoglu 2011)
One of the more bizarre things in the body is the network associated with the visual sense. When you step back from the detail of the anatomy and look with simple eyes! you see the visual tracts weave through the entire depth of the cranium from the eyes themselves to the visual cortex at the back of the head. There’s a two neuron pathway that sweeps past the brain stem into the occipital lobe. I often wonder why? After all, the ears have their interpretive centre in the temporal lobe right next to the auditory system, therefore the vestibulocochlear nerves are short and the tracts from the brain stem to the temporals also short. That all makes sense and seems to be an efficient use of space and neurons. There must be all kinds of other possible organizations for the visual pathways. Why not put the interpretive centres just behind the eyes, say in part of the frontal lobe? Why have fibers reaching through the limbic system?
Look at the pictures and you will see how clever the shape of the trapezius is. It’s diamond shaped for a reason. It bring together the spine, shoulder girdle and cranium. That’s a smart and daring design which holds these relationships in biotensegrity. The shoulders are a major juggling act that need support ~ shoulder blades that float in muscle, shoulder joints that are spectacularly flexible and a whole upper limb configuration that hinges literally off the small sternoclavicular joint. You can see why the body needs the trapezius. And needs one that is functional.
Just came across the following Cochrane review on TMJ disorders (TMD) (Luther et al 2010). Cochrane reviews are the gold standard in evidence based medicine, they do meta-analysis of all the available data. Ben Goldacre (2008), author of Bad Science, pays a long homage to the importance of Cochrane reviews in his book. The text below is the summary from a review done in July 2010. They often come up with surprises (natural health approaches frequently get a kicking), great line at the end: ‘we do not know the real cause of TMD at present’. Not sure what to make of it all really, it certainly affirms how complex an area the jaw is to treat; alignment should not be the only goal of treatment. There may be a few unhappy dentists and brace wearers out there if they come across this review. I assume braces still work for straightening teeth but there is no evidence that they work if the goal is to prevent TMD. (Also just found there is a 2004 Cochrane review (Al-Ani et al 2004) saying there is not enough evidence for whether or not splints worn at night work – wow again. There is also a review saying grinding of teeth surfaces by dentists, ‘occlusional adjustment’, has no evidence to support it relieving TMD (Koh and Robinson 2003))
The bony thorax, made up of the ribs, thoracic spine and the sternum is frequently under appreciated. Two of my favourite chiropractic teachers were very keen on adjusting ribs. One of them used to tell a story, that has stayed with me, about a client with at least a two year history of persistent, intermittent, and distressing abdominal pain. There were lots of investigations via her doctor, unsuccessful medications and diet interventions. He described how one adjustment to the lower left ribs solved the problem.
Cells (blue) moving through a matrix of fibres (green)
http://www.zurichminds.com/videos/ruth_schwartlaender.html
Click on the link, or the picture, to see a 7 min video ‘Ruth Schwartländer: “Why Nano in Technology?”‘ Her talk describes how cells communicate with their environment by introducing forces into the surrounding complex 3D network of fibres. There is a short film in the video showing cells moving and shaping the surrounding matrix, the still above is from the film. I met Ruth at a social evening in Geneva and really enjoyed talking to her about her research. It was inspiring to meet someone so smart and who could explain some tricky concepts to someone not in her field.
The above picture was taken on a recent trip to a game park near Victoria Falls. This atlas (first cervical vertebra) of an elephant is so big you could stick your head through the central hole. What struck me looking at the bone was how familiar the shape was. It is just a scaled up version of a human atlas (a human atlas at the same scale is pictured in the bottom left corner, a human atlas would fit easily into the palm of your hand). In fact, lots of the other bones lying around from the skeleton were easy to identify as they were so similar to human bones. You could even tell that this elephant had some arthritis in its lower spine before it died due to the gnarly, misshapen facet joints and vertebral bodies of the lumbar vertebra.
Steve Haines
Ged Sumner
