A text-book on hygiene and pediatrics from a chiropractic standpoint

by J. H. Craven

Caisson Dis-ease

The greatest risk to health and life occurs during the time the individual is coming from the high to normal pressure after the decompression has entirely taken place. This may produce a condition known as caisson dis-ease. It may be several hours after the workman has been taken from the decompressing chambers before the symptoms appear. Gradual decompression is the only thing that will prevent the manifestation of these symptoms. When the workman shows any symptoms of caisson dis-ease he should be rushed back into the compression chambers and kept there a short time until Innate has a chance to establish equilibrium in the pressure of the body, and he should then be taken very gradually through the decompression chambers.

The symptoms that appear after decompression are vertigo, nose bleeding, nausea and vomiting. The most common symptom is the severe pains in the muscles and joints which is known by the layman as bends. There may also be temporary or permanent paralysis called diver’s palsy. In the more severe cases there will be unconsciousness, and even death.

When the workman is taken too quickly from the high pressure there is formed gas and air emboli. These may form in the labyrinth of the ear, in the spinal cord, in the brain, in the heart, or in any other vital part of the body and not only be distressing but may even prove fatal.

It must be remembered that the conditions produced by changes in the air pressure may be classed as traumatic, immunity from which is not entirely a question of uninterrupted transmission. If there are subluxations in the spine at the time the workman goes into the caisson, or if subluxations are produced at the time of decompression, the interference thus produced will interrupt the process of intellectual adaptation. Such subluxations should be adjusted, but it must be remembered that if emboli are formed or if bends occur the result or the relief is a question of the natural processes of Innate in the body, and the results will depend entirely upon the ability of Innate to cope with the traumatic condition. Innate Intelligence operates through the body according to law, and it is possible for the body to become so affected and deteriorated that it becomes a physical impossibility for her then to repair it and restore it to normal.

We have seen that the normal air pressure at sea level is fifteen pounds to the square inch. In order that the body will not be crushed by this weight it is necessary to have an internal resistance to equal this weight. This internal resistance is maintained in the body by the tone of all of its parts; it is maintained by the expression of mental impulses in the tissue cells.

We have also observed that the combining of chemicals is influenced by the pressure exerted; therefore, in order that the chemical combinations of the body be constant there must be equilibrium established between the external pressure and the internal resistance. This is maintained through the adaptability of the expression of Innate in the body. As the change takes place externally there is a corresponding adaptative change taking place internally and this all requires time. Therefore, in passing the body from one air pressure to that of another degree, there must be a sufficient amount of time intervening to allow Innate Intelligence to bring about the necessary adaptation.

The changes that take place under differing degrees of air pressure are not purely the result of chemical changes in the body as is maintained by some, but in all these processes we see the evidence of intelligent action which we believe is the result of the reasoning of the intelligence in the body. One evidence of this is that when the workman is brought gradually from an increased air pressure to the normal air pressure the gases that have been absorbed by the tissues under the abnormal condition will be given off through the normal channels, and less injury will be done. It is interesting to note that in Nature, man is not exposed to a greater air pressure than that at sea level; it is only under artificial, man-invented environments that the body is called upon to withstand a greater pressure than the normal. It may also be noted that without the inventions of man it requires quite a little time for man to be transported from the air pressure at sea level to that of the higher altitudes as on the mountain tops. This gives Innate Intelligence an opportunity to bring about an adaptation to this change, since the change in the pressure takes place so gradually. But with man-made inventions, such as the automobile and aeroplane, one may transfer himself from sea level to great heights where the pressure is less in a very short time. This does not allow sufficient time for adaptation to take place and is much different from the slow process of climbing the mountains.

So we see that, after all, most of the necessity for immediate adaptation of the body to changed environmental conditions is the result of the work of the educated mind of man, and not the result of the laws of Nature. In Nature we seldom see the necessity for sudden or extreme adaptation. But under our present artificial means of living there are such cases, and these necessitate a study of the artificial conditions as well as a study of the Innate laws of adaptation that there may be as far as possible an educated adaptation to the environment.