Jeff Langmaid breaks down a rat study showing spinal manipulation can speed up herniated disc reabsorption and reduce pain by activating the JNK signaling pathway. The mechanism links mechanical therapy to reduced inflammation and tissue repair, though human trials haven't happened yet.
So the title of this study is Spinal Manipulative Therapy Promotes Nucleus Pulposus Reabsorption and Alleviates Pain in a Rat Model of Lumbar Disc Herniation via JNK-Dependent Regulation of Inflammation and Tissue Remodeling. Man, that is a mouthful. Now you probably heard a couple keywords there. One, spinal adjustment, spinal manipulative therapy. Two, reabsorption of nucleus pulposus and pain reduction. And rat model. So this is not a human model yet, which is why this is emerging research, but it is really, really, really promising. What's even more interesting is that the researchers identified a specific molecular signaling pathway— that's that JNK pathway— that appears to play a really central role in this entire process. So today, again, we're going to talk about this study, talk about what it means clinically, and I'm going to say most importantly, how you can communicate these findings to your patients in a true and ethical manner.
