Nitric oxide as a possible mechanism for understanding the therapeutic effects of osteopathic manipulative medicine (Review)

  • Authors:
    • Elliott Salamon
    • Wei Zhu
    • George B. Stefano
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: September 1, 2004     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.14.3.443
  • Pages: 443-449
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Abstract

Throughout the history of medicine we have seen the progression of medical therapies from the empirical to the counter-intuitive, with much pressure being placed upon the scientific community to distinguish the two. This exercise has proven the effectiveness of numerous modern therapeutic techniques that have been adapted into modern medicine with remarkable success. While it is certain that many of these techniques yield beneficial results, the mechanisms by which these results are achieved have not been fully realized. In the present report, we consider the case of osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), which represents a therapeutic technique developed over a century ago as a means of non-invasive treatment for numerous ailments. Our intention is to use current findings from our laboratory, as well as those of our colleagues in the area of nitric oxide (NO) research to explain the mechanism through which osteopathic manipulations aid the patient. These reports demonstrate that fluidic motions applied to vascular and nerve tissue in a manner comparable to manipulations can cause a remarkable increase in NO concentration within the blood and vasculature. These findings combined with the overwhelming amount of research into the beneficial effects of constitutive NO provide a dynamic theoretical framework to explain the therapeutic effects of OMM.

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September 2004
Volume 14 Issue 3

Print ISSN: 1107-3756
Online ISSN:1791-244X

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Spandidos Publications style
Salamon E, Zhu W and Stefano GB: Nitric oxide as a possible mechanism for understanding the therapeutic effects of osteopathic manipulative medicine (Review). Int J Mol Med 14: 443-449, 2004.
APA
Salamon, E., Zhu, W., & Stefano, G.B. (2004). Nitric oxide as a possible mechanism for understanding the therapeutic effects of osteopathic manipulative medicine (Review). International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 14, 443-449. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.14.3.443
MLA
Salamon, E., Zhu, W., Stefano, G. B."Nitric oxide as a possible mechanism for understanding the therapeutic effects of osteopathic manipulative medicine (Review)". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 14.3 (2004): 443-449.
Chicago
Salamon, E., Zhu, W., Stefano, G. B."Nitric oxide as a possible mechanism for understanding the therapeutic effects of osteopathic manipulative medicine (Review)". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 14, no. 3 (2004): 443-449. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.14.3.443