The Winsor Studies: An Early Look at the Connection Between the Spine and the Body

The Winsor Studies: An Early Look at the Connection Between the Spine and the Body

More than a century ago, physician Dr. Henry Winsor set out to investigate a question that was central to the emerging science of chiropractic: could changes in the spine be associated with disease elsewhere in the body? In a series of cadaver dissections involving 75 human and 22 animal specimens, Winsor compared diseased internal organs with the regions of the spine associated with their sympathetic nerve supply. He reported a striking correlation between spinal curvatures or vertebral abnormalities and disease affecting organs supplied by corresponding spinal nerve segments.

For example, Winsor reported associations between upper thoracic spinal changes and conditions involving the lungs and heart, mid-thoracic changes and conditions involving organs such as the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen, and lower thoracic and lumbar changes and conditions involving the kidneys, bladder, and reproductive organs. His observations helped draw attention to an important anatomical principle: the spine is not simply a collection of bones and joints. It is intimately connected to the nervous system, which communicates with and helps regulate every tissue, organ and system in the body.

The Winsor studies remain historically significant because they explored an important question that continues to be relevant today: can changes in spinal structure and function influence the nervous system’s communication with the rest of the body? Chiropractic care is founded on the recognition that the nervous system plays a central role in coordinating the body’s function. By carefully evaluating and addressing spinal dysfunction, chiropractic seeks to reduce interference and provide the body with the best possible opportunity to communicate, adapt, regulate, regenerate and function at its highest potential.

Historical reference: Winsor, H. “Sympathetic Segmental Disturbances—II: The Evidences of the Association, in Dissected Cadavers, of Visceral Disease with Vertebral Deformities of the Same Sympathetic Segments.” The Medical Times, November 1921.