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Interestingly a research study done by Retzlaff  demonstrated how the cranial bones in the squirrel monkey could be affected by flexion and extension of the sacrum.

Another example of the way the body works as a single unit of function is seen in the function of the diaphragm.  A dysfunctional pattern in this vital muscle/tendon can gradually affect the function of the organs both above and below the diaphragm.  In fact,  a life is defined by breath;  a fundamental movement we make from the day we are born to the day we die. The first breath, and the manner in which it is drawn, can establish a long-term pattern of function.  Many times trauma, especially in road traffic accidents, can distort the movement of the diaphragm. A sudden intake of breath as trauma occurs combined with external force can leave part or all of the diaphragm 'frozen'.

Dr Still saw biomechanical and circulatory function (including the lymphatic system) as interrelated. He stressed the importance of thoracic motion particularly in the way the rib heads might influence the function of the spinal sympathetic chain of ganglia lying adjacent to them. Another way in which mechanical function may influence fluid systems has been revealed in research published in the last 20 years. Mechanically induced piezoelectric phenomena have been demonstrated in tendon,  cartilage and bone on deformation by Becker, Bassett,  Anderson,  Maroudas and others. Stretch or compression of these tissues can affect fluid function by virtue of these piezoelectric phenomena.  Becker was able to show that there is a bi-directional flow of direct current within the body which creates a weak magnetic field.  Although he spoke little about this, and did not refer to it in his writings at  all,  Dr Still could see the bio-electromagetic field around his patients, giving him additional clues about his patients' conditions.

Dr Still felt that the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was the 'highest known element'  within the human body.  He felt that the central nervous system (CNS) imparted an 'x factor' to the CSF which was necessary for health. He encouraged his students to pursue this idea. One of his students, Dr William Garner Sutherland, spent 30 years studying the cranium.  Dr Sutherland concluded that the CNS has an involuntary motility,  that the CSF fluctuates within its closed cavity and that the dural membrane functions under reciprocal tension that guides the cranium in its motion which is accommodative to the motility of the CNS.

The notion that the cranium has motion is not accepted within allopathic medicine, yet from the osteopathic point of view, distortion of this motion is the cause of many health problems.
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One example concerns a boy who was two and a half years old when I saw him. The child had suffered from intermittent moderate to severe colic since birth. He had also not had normally formed stools since birth; his mother described his stools as having a porridgey consistency and being foul-smelling.

The child's grandfather was an anaesthetist who had encouraged his parents to see first a paediatrician and subsequently a gastroenterologist in an attempt to establish the cause of his persistent symptoms.  A number of tests had been performed over the two and a half years since his birth.  These included skin scratch tests and provocative food tests,  more than one RAST test,  an endoscopic examination,  a CT scan and finally a duodenal biopsy.  At the time that I saw him he was on a diet which excluded wheat and dairy products. None of the dietary approaches suggested previously had had any effect.

The boy was good-natured and affectionate and not given to any displays of hyperactivity or other behavioural abnormality.

His mother gave a history of a prolonged second stage in labour which required low forceps to assist the delivery. There was no external sign of bruising or swelling at the time of birth which was regarded as unremarkable.  As a baby he had suckled normally.  But he had soon displayed the symptoms described above.

Intraosseous lesions of the occiput primarily concern the condylar parts or lateral masses of the occiput which have been compressed into the converging  facets of the atlas during labour resulting in slight positional alteration.  Both the basi-occiput and the squamous part may not escape and some distortion involving the pre-osseous elements here influencing development and function of the associated soft parts may occur.

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