A German cardiologist, Kunert, presents patients medically diagnosed as having heart disease or respiratory block but found at his hospital unit primarily to have vertebral (spinal) dysfunction. He concludes:

"We have records of numerous cases… in which a definite connection appears to exist between a functional disorder in an internal organ and a spinal lesion… lesions of the spinal column are perfectly capable of simulating, accentuating, or making a major contribution to (organic) disorders. There can, in fact, be no doubt that the state of the spinal column does have a bearing on the functional status of the internal organs." W. Kunert (Cardiologist) 7

Animal model experiments have confirmed that mechanical stimulation of vertebral (spinal) structures produces reflexes that influence heart function,8,9 but the exact clinical effect of these reflexes remain unknown.