There is a distinction between internal cleanliness and external cleanliness. It is a mistaken idea that because the external is clean, the internal will be correspondingly clean. Cleanliness is absolutely essential to health, but by this we mean internal cleanliness. There must be external cleanliness also, but perfect external cleanliness will not necessarily result in perfect health.
Vital resistance of the body is not determined by the degree of external cleanliness nor by the perfect sanitary condition of the environment. However, it can never be said that Chiropractic does not believe in cleanliness. Chiropractic, of all the sciences, lays great stress on hygiene and sanitation. Our greatest teacher in all things is Nature and if there is any one thing that Chiropractic insists upon more than any other, it is that we live according to the laws of Nature and the closer we live to Nature, the more normal will be our functions. When we study the laws of Nature, we find the secret of sanitation. Everywhere in Nature we find laws in operation which result in the destruction of waste material and in the purification of the environment.
From the standpoint of common decency we are interested in sanitation or cleanliness, yet an immaculately clean environment will not result in perfect health or in the cure of dis-ease. The streets and alleys of the city may be kept clean and in a sanitary condition, yet the inside of the homes may be filled with filth. So the environment of man may be in a perfect condition so far as sanitation is concerned, yet the body may be filled with all kinds of poison and refuse.
Sewerage System of the Body
The human body is a machine which performs certain functions and in order that these functions be performed there is a constant process of activity; this means that the tissues which make up the body are being constantly worn out the same as the part of any other machine. This necessitates a constant process of repair.
In order that this process of reparation be carried on, new material must be added to the machine; this is done by means of food. The food is taken into the mouth and properly masticated and mixed with the secretions of the glands of the mouth; it is then carried through the esophagus into the stomach. Here other digestive juices are added to it and thoroughly mixed by the vermicular motion of the stomach until the process of gastric digestion is completed; then this chyme, as it is now called, passes into the small intestines, where other secretions are added and chemical changes are brought about until this process of intestinal digestion is completed. This product is given the name of chyle.
During the time these processes have been going on, the process of absorption has been taking place whereby this digested food has been utilized in building up the tissue cells that are being constantly worn out by the activities of the body. The digested products are being taken up by the serous circulation and carried to every cell in the body. That which one cell gives off as an elimination, another may take up as food, finding just the chemical composition necessary to its life and development. Finally all of the waste material is collected and eliminated from the body through the organs of elimination. Innate Intelligence has provided a wonderful sewerage system for the purpose of taking care of the sewage of the body. This system is much more perfect than any system ever invented by man, but it is possible for it to get out of order. The remarkable thing about it is that the Intelligence within the body is capable of correcting the disorders if the interference with transmission to the affected parts is removed. All that is necessary from the outside is to remove that which is interfering with the transmission of the mental impulses.
As long as there is interference with the transmission of mental impulses we may apply all the laws and principles of hygiene and sanitation, yet the internal condition will not be hygienic or sanitary. We may, by an artificial means, remove the waste material that has accumulated, but this will not stop the process of accumulation.
In view of the fact that the above mentioned processes of absorption and elimination are taking place, let us assume that there is a subluxation at the kidney place (K.P.) impinging the nerves and interfering with the transmission of mental impulses to the kidneys. With decreased current the kidneys are unable to perform their normal amount of function and as a result the waste material, poisons, or in other words the sewage that is supposed to pass out through this channel of excretion, are retained in the body. The poison thus retained is spread over the entire body and there is likely to be excessive perspiration which will have a strong odor of urine. This is because the skin, in its excretory function, is called upon to throw off the waste material which normally should be excreted by the kidneys. Although there is no perspiration there will still be a very offensive and objectionable urinary odor from the patient’s body. From a hygienic standpoint it is necessary for that patient to bathe very often, but no matter how often he bathes, there is still that odor of urine and it is impossible for him to get rid of it. One may thoroughly and frequently cleanse that patient externally, but there will remain that unsanitary internal condition.
Trying to get rid of the odor of urine and to create a sanitary internal condition in a case of this kind by external bathing and by the observance of sanitary laws would be like trying to keep a boat from sinking by dipping the water out when it was running in twice as fast as one could dip it out. It would be better to stop the leak. If the roof of one’s house leaks he does not try to keep the house dry by mopping up the water and putting chlorid of lime about the rooms to absorb the moisture. This may be done as an adaptative measure to the condition that exists because of the defect in the roof, but to correct the condition one must go directly to the roof and repair it so that no more damage may be done the interior of the house.