Scoliosis
In over 85% of cases the cause of scoliosis is unknown and the vertebrae, discs, ligaments, tendons and muscles all appear to be normal (although as the scoliosis worsens one or more of these parts may develop abnormalities). In more than 10% of the cases the cause of scoliosis is tumor, infection, a neuromuscular disease such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrphy, a birth deformity of disc problems. Further deepening the mystery of scoliosis is the fact that no one knows why some minor curves get worse where as about 90% do not. However, it should be pointed out that it is not true, as commonly thought, that poor posture is a cause of scoliosis or that women with scoliosis have more poroblmes carrying babies to term than women who do not have the disease.
Most people with scoliosis can lead a normal life never even knowing that they have teh condition. No one dies from scoliosis. But in severe cases scoliosis sufferers can have breathing or hear problems, though this is seldom a health problem in scoliosis of 30 degrees or less.
Chiropractors do not treat disease, scoliosis included, but they do correct the vertebral subluxation complex (a condition that interferes with the proper functioning of the nervous system and the body as a whole). A body without subluxations is in a better position to resist abnormalities and diseases of all kinds, including scoliosis. Recent research suggesting that scoliosis may be caused by a neurological defect reinfornces the validity of the chiropractic approach; the nervous system must remain free of structural damage in order for the body to be healthy.
