On Aging
Challenging Assumptions, Empowering Conversations
From breastfeeding to bedwetting, cross-country meets to mid-life crises, home birth to hospice care, the breadth of the conversations I have with my practice members is profound. Aside from the role of chiropractic in supporting the natural state of an adaptive nervous system, one of the few things these conversations have in common is the element of aging.
According to the World Health Organization, the best way to measure cognitive and physical capacities in later life is to classify these domains as either showing or not showing decline. This means that functional assessment tools for seniors reinforce the assumption that aging means decline, and it’s not worth asking about the possibility of improvement. A new study published in the journal Geriatrics outlines data recorded over more than decade that challenges this assumption and the medical consensus.
Many of the seniors I work with in practice report and demonstrate improvement in both cognitive and physical domains in response to chiropractic care. I can identify at least three reasons for this. First, an understanding of the Triad of Change. Second, when the nervous system is clear, these improvements are expected. Third, the outcome assessments that I use have a floor, but not a ceiling.
First, the Triad of Change is a tool developed by Donald Epstein, the developer of Network Spinal, to help understand how change and reorganization occurs in systems. In our case, we are looking at the systems of the body, in particular the central role of the nervous system. The Triad describes three elements - Perception, Behavior, and Structure.
Epstein defines Perception as a chosen perspective - the manner or mode that describes how we focus our attention. Perception is the metaphorical lens through which we view ourselves, the environment, and meaning.
Behavior is an observable pattern of action. Behavior is what we see on the outside, which reflects the internal state. Epstein also notes that Behavior includes purposeful movement toward a goal or objective, even if it is ‘‘unconscious’’ and not immediately apparent.
Structure refers to any form serving as a carrier of information or energy. Structure is where the interaction between the physical and energetic systems of the body takes place.
When two sides of the Triad are congruent (in balance and energized), they will “entrain” (raise up and help sync) the third side. This is in part why we see significant and predictable improvements in function (Behavior) when positive health beliefs (Perception) are present. The aging Structure of the body becomes supported by the uplifting energy of the Perception and Behavior sides of the Triad.
Second, improvement in physical and cognitive function is the expected effect of facilitating the ability of the nervous system to do its job. This is precisely why chiropractors focus on the nervous system in both theory and practice. The fact that most people most of the time function better, feel better, and get better when receiving chiropractic care is not a coincidence.
Third, the outcome assessments I use in practice to measure autonomic nervous system function have a floor, but not a ceiling. We can show where critical stress is held in the neurospinal system. We can also show where and when restorative and reorganizational changes occur in the nervous system. Using objective, valid, and reliable instrumentation, we can measure how efficiently the autonomic nervous system is working.
Assessing how postural energy and temperature are being coordinated, as well as the coherence in the rate and rhythm of the heartbeat, we can have personal, data-driven conversations about nervous system care. And then we follow up. We can track changes in the Perception of health outcomes, the Behavior of how limited or resourced people are in their activities of daily living, the Behavior of how the nervous system is regulating within the body, and the Structure that holds the relationship between the physical and energetic systems of the body.
In closing, exceptional cases disprove a rule. The point of the “Aging Redefined” paper is not that there are a few exceptional people who age better than others. The point is that in a national study of more than ten thousand people over more than a decade the authors:
“discovered that 45.15% of the participants, who were 65 years and older, showed improvement in cognitive and/or physical function over a period of up to 12 years from baseline. If this finding was extrapolated to the entire US population, it would suggest that more than 26 million older persons are experiencing an improvement in functioning.”
Assimilating positive age beliefs will not alter the biological reality of aging. However, it seems that in both the ideal realm and the practical realm, positive age beliefs are a major factor that can tip the balance in favor of improving physical and/or cognitive health. Reframing the language (and thereby the thought pattern) around aging and decline performs better than placebo, has no negative side effects, and costs zero dollars.
Bridging the connections between Perception, Behavior, and Structure, chiropractic helps empower people. At the center of the chiropractic perspective is the the principle that we possess an inborn wisdom that maintains health, regulates bodily functions, and facilitates self-healing. Chiropractic supports our ability to re-member and be re-minded about this inherent relationship in body and in mind.
When a conversation has the possibility of adding life to years, it is one worth having.
Dr. Dan’s Takeaways from Aging Redefined: Cognitive and Physical Improvement with Positive Age Beliefs
Standard outcome assessment tools for evaluating physical and cognition changes related to aging in seniors does not consider the possibility for improvement.
There is medical consensus that aging is described as process of loss.
Participants who had assimilated more-positive age beliefs were more likely to show improvement in both cognitive and physical function.
Having more-positive age beliefs was predictive of improvement. This improvement was not only due to participants with deficits recovering to a normal level of functioning, but also occurred for those who started at normal levels of functioning.
It seems this improvement pattern associated with more-positive age beliefs is picking up on a cognitive and physical reserve that is available to the general population of older persons.