02/02/2023
When health researchers look at health problems there is a tendency to view them as a bunch of separate items that are simply or accidentally noted. Good examples are poor sleep and low back pain. Consider the prospect of there being a process that generates both of these commonly linked issues. The question should be asked and persisted with, but perhaps the discussion can start with categorising. About 200 years ago there began a radical shift in the illnesses of importance. Instead of the three most important being (1) malnutrition; (2) infections such as pneumonia cholera or similar; (3) Trauma and by 1900 these were all pushed aside and replaced with heart and vascular disease; with Type 2 diabetes (3) inflammatory diseases typically the tissue layers that line blood vessels, gut, lungs.
This was not just a short-lived change but has consolidated and expanded.
It begs the question WHY? What happened and how did this come about.
These issues are complex, but let's just say as Western societies commercialised to***co alcohol and sugar, production and promotion volumes consumed climbed and so did these diseases. Diseases that were always here, but uncommon now became the biggest killers.
The earliest changes noted to happen in the womb, about 3 to 4 weeks into the pregnancy when the spinal cord is forming as a tube from its beginning as a 'plate' that is a rectangle of nerve tissue. When the curling up of this rectangle happens exposure of these tissues to to***co - alcohol - sugar as shown by members of a French research team using vertebrate (birds) eggs. They showed that if TAS exposure happens the 'stem cells' that were destined to form the cartilages of the nose and top jaw called cranial Neural Crest cells are simply expelled. Probably too immature to grow anything, so the facial bones are directed by other 'genes'. This results in a spectrum of impairment from a baby having no bones in their face so they are unable to breathe. The more commonly seen changes are less dramatic but none-the-less potent.
A smaller nose and top jaw is what the 'French-Team' reported and this is in line with archeology (Evenssen Olso) and also what other indicate. A Texas ENT Dr Costen in 1934 pointed to the jaw joint being the 'Great Impostor' as it was shown to be the culprit in many disorders. Maybe its time to start the conversation?
It is clear that there are two primary outcomes of a smaller nose and top jaw are that there is a mismatch between a smaller top jaw and a normal or near-normal lower jaw. The second outcome is the result of the adaptation to be able to eat, chew swallow and talk. A viable match is created when the lower jaw moves 'back' but there are two serious outcomes of this. First as the lower jaw moves back the tongue spends more time in the 'throat' (Pharynx) and this creates periods where the tongue covers partly or completely the entrance to the windpipe. This creates periods where there is no breathing and blood oxygen levels drop. The brain will encourage a change in tongue/jaw position and the airway is opened. This cycle of intermittent hypoxia is the trigger to start making chemicals that are the cause of inflammation.
Systemic inflammation is what lies behind all of the top 10 or more of today's killers.
But there is a second aspect to the relocation of the lower jaw. The blood vessels that feed the jaw joint are stacked in a very small area called either the 'retro-discal space' or sometimes the 'bilaminar zone'. Either way, when the ball (Condyle) presses against the socket (Glenoid) wall these blood vessels and the pain nerves also present are squashed. As these nerves are the same as on your eyeball, you can be assured that upsetting them is a lot worse that an eyelash in your eye. In fact, as Tokyo Dental School professor Otsuka showed deliberate compression for as little as 10 seconds, resulted in some of his students involved in his study abandoning the 10-second clench as they were emotionally overwhelmed by some reporting suicidation.
So what has this to do with me you ask?
All the above changes can be summarised into two paths. A) Systemic inflammation. B) high volumes of noxious signals entering the central nervous system.
A group of people asked the American TMJ (jaw joint) Association to talk on things that were linked to malfunctioning of the jaw joint. Here's their list. Vulvodynia; TMJ problems; Fibromyalgia; Chronic fatigue; Irritable Bowel, Irritable Bladder; Chronic Tension Headache; Chronic Migraine; Chronic Low Back Pain.
Lets look at these in detail and see if they fit the criteria linked to (a) inflammation chemistry (b) postural adaptation?
They do and this will be covered in the next blog.
