On February 25th Dr Raymond Perrin came to Israel to talk to the Israeli Osteopathic Association about his research into chronic fatigue syndrome/ ME and the osteopathic approach to it.

The lecture began with a discussion about the anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system (CNS), the lymphatic system and the autonomic nervous system.

Dr Perrin spoke in detail about lymphatic drainage and the idea that the lymphatic system has a pump. Perrin demonstrated the relationship between the sympathetic nervous system and the the lymphatics - going back to the early principles of Andrew Taylor Still and John Martin Littlejohn.

One of the theories suggested was that if the autonomic nervous system controls the lymphatic function, then osteopathic treatment of the spine to removing somatic dysfunction one can indirectly improve the function of the lymphatic drainage.

Key words: אוסטאופת אוסטאופט אוסטאופתיה אוסטאופטיה

Mervyn Waldman's lecture attempted to provide information regarding studies of the therapeutic importance of passive motion used in osteopathy. Passive motion used by the osteopath has been shown to be beneficial to different aspects of repair, both in acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Waldman explained that one of the main physiological affects of passive motion is that it provides the mechanical signals that are necessary for stimulating and directing the repair process in spinal facet joint, ligaments, muscles and tendons. The lecture also pointed out the fact that the spinal disc being a connective tissue structure may also benefit from low stress passive movement for repair.

Furthermore, that passive movement may also help drain inflammatory swelling within the canal resulting in pain and nerve root irritation and that some benefit may also be provided by inducing low stress neural glide within its sheath.

On Monday 7th August Dr Stephen Sandler delivered a lecture to the IOA called “Osteopathy and Obstetrics”. The lecture was divided into 2 parts. The first part was theoretical:

Dr Sandler spoke about the physiological and mechanical changes that occur during pregnancy and applied osteopathic concepts to these changes. This helped us to understand how osteopathic philosophy and technique can aid healthy physiology and hence ease the patient’s symptoms.

Dr Sandler discussed case-history taking and differential diagnosis of back pain in the pregnant patient.

Dr Sandler explained how the mechanical changes during pregnancy effect the labour process and how osteopathy can aid the labour process through gentle but accurate osteopathic techniques.