The Posture Theory, Book On Posture and Health

"The Posture Theory, Summary of a 1000 page book on posture and health"
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Posture Theory Index Since 23-11-2001

Posture Theory examination
A child's skeleton deformed by Rickets due to vitamin D deficiency. The weakened spine has collapsed forwards due to the infants own body weight.
THE POSTURE THEORY

by M.A.Banfield
This website is an introduction to a 1000 page book called "The Posture Theory" which brings a lot of scattered, uncoordinated, and diverse information into one unifying source to cover every aspect of posture and health.
ordering information
main index
Definition of posture Causes of poor posture and curative posture Diagnosis of posture abnormalities Prevention Treatment Myths about poor posture
The compression and distortion of internal organs caused by tight waisted nineteenth century corsets produced a very similar large range and number of symptoms and illnesses to those of poor posture. see more here
and
here
Posture Theory Origin Posture Theory Diagram Posture training for visceroptosis Types of postural abnormalities
An adult skeleton that has been deformed by poor nutrition during growth. The spine is stooped, disposing to neck and back aches, and the postural compression also disposes to chest and abdominal pains, and the legs are bowed, which would dispose to additional problems of pains in the hips, knees, and feet.
and here
Posture experiments start here and here
Posture Related topics Cosets also altered the shape of the spine, and permanently changed the chest from a widely open shape to a very tightly closed funnel shape which made normal breathing impossible. The movement of the diaphram was restricted and breathing was shallow.
Abdominal distention Abdominal pain and here Abdominal veins Adrenal glands Alexander Pope Alexander Frederick Matthias Alexander technique Anthropometa morphosis Appendicitis Back pain Beauty and posture Belts - tight Benjamin Franklin
Scroll in and out of the diagram repeatedly to see how leaning forward to read and write repeatedly compresses the internal organs of the chest and abdomen.
The theory and diagram are derived from an essay that was first published in June 1980, and this website started in about 1993
Sideways curvature of the spi9ne) here
The word 'posture' in most common usage almost exclusively refers to the way a person sits or stands, and is generally termed 'good posture' or 'bad posture'. Good posture is generally understood as standing with the head balanced effortlessly above the spine which is straight
The Definition of the word Posture:
http://users.chariot.net.au/~posture/#CauseOfPoorPosture[8/25/2011 4:40:06 PM]
and vertical except for the slight natural curves in the lower back and neck. i.e. it has a slight S-shape. Such a posture is widely recognised as being associated with good appearance, good health, strength, athleticism, and stamina. By contrast the term bad posture is most commonly used to describe the human position in which the head and shoulders are placed forward of the spine with the spine curved into an excessive S-shape, or a C-shape, and it is widely referred to as a slouched, or hunchback posture. Bad posture is commonly regarded as a poor appearance, and is associated with backaches of all types, poor health, poor breathing, tiredness, and ready fatigability. The posture theory examines all causes and all effects. M.B. see also here
Birthing chair Breastbone angle
and here
Breathing abnormality Breathlessness
and
here
Forward curvature of the upper spine places the head and shoulders forwards, where the individual would fall in that direction if it was not for the strain being taken by the spine and back muscles to prevent that, which, in the longer term, disposes to various backaches. Such a posture in infancy can also put downward pressure on the chest disposing to chest wall deformities, such as flat or backward chest shape. The forward posture places the weight of the head and shoulders over and above the chest, and puts downward pressure on the chest to cause a variety of musculoskeletal and other chest pains. The forward posture also places downward pressure on the lungs and respiratory muscles which disposes to breathlessness, and can affect their structure and breathing pattern to add to the aspect of breathlessness. That posture also places pressure on the air in the chest to impair the flow of blood from the feet to the brain, and dispose to faintness. Over a period of years it can also affect the strength of the blood vessels below the chest, and possibly the pattern and regulation of blood flow, causing weak circulation to the brain which disposes to faintness and abnormal tiredness, and more generally, to an impaired capacity for physical exertion, where faintness, and other symptoms occur at higher levels of exercise. Such a posture also places pressure on the stomach to cause stomach pains, indigestion, and poor digestion, which can impede growth. The forward position of the head and shoulders also, in some chest shapes, puts downward pressure on the dagger shaped sternum, or breastbone, where the lower tip is pressed into the upper abdomen, to cause soreness or pain in that local area, and dispose to injury which would add the the problem. The forward and downward pressure can also displace internal anatomy and dispose to aches and pains as a result of that secondary effect. Such a physique also pushes the kidneys and adrenal glands forwards, resulting in congestion and symptoms related to those factors, and cause strain on the back in that area. The forward position of the weight of the head and shoulders also puts strain on the neck and throat, and disposes to neck ache, sore throat, and laryngitis, coughs, colds, and voice problems - hoarseness, and or, temporary voice loss. That posture also alters the angle between the head and neck which impedes the flow of air and fluids along the mouth, nasal passages, and Eustachian tubes, causing congestion in those structures, and it strains the jaw joint, disposing to jaw and facial pains, and it pushes the lower teeth forward against the upper teeth, or vice versa, disposing to dental and gum problems. The symptoms are not likely to occur each and every time a person leans forward, but are the result of the repetitive, constant, or long term affects of that physique. Regardless of any questions about the individual aspects of the theory, such a physique disposes to a large range and number of ailments in the manner which I have described. Those problems can be prevented in the early development of children where the spine is pliable, in much the same way as such a curvature can be prevented in a young tree. Forward curvature of the spine places the weight of the head and shoulders forward and downwards, to strain the spine and dispose to backaches, and compress the chest to cause chest pains, and put pressure on the lungs and respiratory muscles to cause breathlessness, and compress the air in the chest to dispose to faintness, tiredness, and physical fatigue, and compress the stomach to cause stomach pain etc. The Posture Theory is a very clear idea. For my YouTube video on The Posture Theory See here For my YouTube video on breathing see here See also reference 73 by scrolling down here YouTube Video on the health problems of the hunchback poet Alexander Pope here YouTube Video on the cause of poor posture here and Part 2 here and Part 3 Unknown causes? here YouTube Video on the cause and prevention of scoliosis (sideways curvature of the spine) here See Posture Pals on YouTube here and links here
The Posture Theory - an overview
Bright's disease Chairs Posture Charles Darwin Chest deformity Chest muscle cramps Chest pain Chest shape and posture
and and and and
here here here here
Childbirth: painful here Children and posture
and
and here and here and here

Circulation of blood Colds Colon shape Computer posture Corsets and posture and pressure Cramps Curative posture Deep chest Dental chairs Diaphragm and posture Diet and posture Digestion Diverticulitis Dizziness Education and posture
A quick summary:
and here and here

Effort syndrome Enteroptosis Epi-gastric pain Ergonomics
and here
Esophageal achalasia Evolution and
"The Posture Theory, Summary of a 1000 page book on posture and health" human posture
and here
The Posture Theory Search Engine Eyesight and posture Fainting rooms Faintness
Exercise
and treatment
Fatigue Gadgets powered by Google
and here
Floating kidney Floating liver Floating spleen Foot deformities
The Posture Theory Website Index

Posture Da Chronic Related Health Costa's Wikipedia Fatigue to biographies Posture Syndrome syndrome
The Posture Theory and Darwin's Theory of Evolution CHRONiC FATIGUE Research and the Posture Theory DA COSTA'S SYNDROME palpitations, chest pains, breathlessness, and fatigue Criticism of two of Wikipedia's editors ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, Fanny Stevenson, & Alexander Leeper health biographies Napoleon's health
and
here
The Posture Theory
Funnel shaped chest Gastroptosis Genetic posture GERD Guinness Book of Records 13 inch waist Heartburn Hemorrhoids High heel shoes and here and here Hippocrates and posture History of posture ideas History of visceroptosis Hunchback poet Hunchback posture Indigestion Injury and posture Irregularity Irritable bowel syndrome
The Causes of poor posture
The Posture Theory Controversy
GRADED The Da Costa's BIAS and EXERCISE essay deleted CENSORSHIP Undetectable IFRT research abdominal pain from Wikipedia in Wikipedia for CFS 1982-84 Hypochondria
Children, Education and Posture
CORSETS also compress the internal anatomy to cause illnesses PREGNANCY and pressure caused by the enlarging womb Posture, ergonomics, and chairs ANGINA - the vegetarian diet cure & weight loss webpage
Symptom Differences Posture, musculo skeletal chest pains, and angina LIES about CFS research history in Wikipedia Other factors which compress the abdomen
DA COSTA'S SYNDROME and CFS History
Lies and statistics in Wikipedia
Semmelweis and lessons from empirical theory
Prevention & treatment of poor posture Posture and BACK PAIN The Posture Theory Test
Posture and Agoraphobia
Famous people and posture related health problems Abdominal pain and posture About the author See also here
Visceroptosis
and
The Banfield The Banfield report on Cancer Shirt to breathing avoid chemo YouTube side-effects video
References
here Jaw joint Kidney aches and stones Kidney displacement
and here
An explanation of The Posture Theory diagram

designed in 1980 The parts of the diagram
Kyphosis (hunchback) Larynx and posture Leg length
and here
Left sided chest pain Leaning forward Liver displacement Lordosis
The Posture Theory diagram summarises an idea that took
five years to develop (between 1975 and 1980) and it aims to give an instant, and reasonable understanding of the concept. It depicts a man sitting at a desk and leaning forward to read. The left side of the diagram contains straight dashed lines and a curved line which show the movements that occur when leaning forward, and the external pressures that are created. The large dot in the middle represents the position just below the tip of the breastbone, and is like an axle about which the upper body rotates when the person leans forward and backward while slouched at the waist. The lines inside the man are there to give an impression of the way mechanical pressure affects internal structures as he leans forward. The column of words on the right side show the sort of symptoms that can result.
Low back pain Lung infections Male corsets Measurements of posture pressure Military corsets Military exercise prograqmmes and posture Military recruits and posture Motion sickness: sea sickness etc. Movable kidney Mucomembranous colitis and here Muscle cramps Napoleon Nasal congestion Neck ache Neck stoop
The vertical line in the middle represents a position parallel to the spine when the person is sitting upright. The next line to the left of it represents the distance that a particular individual leans his head and shoulders forward if he has a stooped spine or a slouch. The angle between the two lines is called the stoop angle.The next line represents the extra distance he would lean forward to get his eyes close enough to a page so that he could read the text. He will naturally sit up after he has read the text, and lean forward when he needs to read or write again, so it is called the angle of oscillation, i.e. the angle made as he repeatedly leans to and fro about that axis. The final line from the axis to a position in front of his feet is used to show how much relative pressure is created by leaning forward. It is an inverse angle because the worse a persons stoop, and the more they lean forward, the greater the pressure, and the smaller that angle will be. Another way of determining the amount of pressure could be to add the stoop angle and the angle of oscillation, in which case the larger the angle, the greater the pressure.
The angles of pressure
and
here
The words to the right of the man in the diagram above show the various effects of postural pressure on the spine and internal organs, starting at the top with "distortion of sinus cavities and ducts". When the head is upright and the neck is vertical the air passes freely through the nose and down the windpipe. However any forward or backward bending of the neck alters the angles and pressures at the top of the throat and disposes to inflammations and swellings, and congestion of the ducts or tubes in that area, such as nasal congestion . The distortion is more pronounced when the neck is stooped forward, and the person lifts their head to talk to someone directly in front of them. Similarly with the spine bent forward the neck pushes the lower jaw bone forward, which in turn pushes the lower teeth forward against the upper teeth which is a type of 'clenching' of the teeth that can cause deformities to the shape and position of the teeth, especially in growing children. It can also cause tenderness in the gums and strain on the jaw joint which may result in referred pains to parts of the face. When the spine is stooped forward and the is head tilted up and back the extra bend in the neck puts abnormal pressure on the discs in the middle section of the neck, and strains the muscles, ligaments, and nerves in that area, which disposes to neck ache and possibly contributes to headaches. The middle bones of the neck also push forward which stretches and compresses the front of the throat, and disposes to tenderness or sore throat and colds. The forward and, or backward movement also affects the larynx or 'voice box', and can cause voice problems, as in hunchbacks who tend to talk in a husky fashion. That pressure can also affect other structures such as the Eustachian tubes which lead to the ears, and, the valve like junction which separates the foodpipe from the windpipe. (You can slouch forward, and then move your own head forward and back to feel some of the effects temporarily for yourself, and try pushing your head all the way back until you can feel the pressure under the back of your head, and the stretching of your throat, and then push your chin down and back toward your neck until you can feel the pressures at the top of your throat. It won't become a problem unless you have a permanent stoop, or constantly sit in an unhealthy slouched position). More obviously, when the shoulders are slumped forward they go over and above the chest causing the weight of the head and shoulders to press down on the cavity in the chest, which contains the heart, lungs and breathing muscles. The pressure on the heart can make the heartbeat more easily felt and dispose to palpitations, and pressure on the breathing muscles can cause them to cramp, and also impair the upward movement of the diaphragm so that the breathing requires more energy and is shallower and less efficient. The shallow
The list of symptoms in the diagram
Nephroptosis Nervousness Nervous system Neurasthenia Obesity and posture occupational posture orthostatic intolerance Osteoporosis Palpitations Passenger jet seats Pavarotti Luciano Pelvic bone deformity
and here
Pelvic spleen Plato Pointed toe shoes Portrait of poor posture Posture Chairs Pot Belly Pott's disease Pregnancy and posture and here Pressure on the lungs Public speaking Quasimodo Radio announcing Reflux Repetitive
breathing can cause a stagnation of some of the air in the lobes of the lungs and dispose to lung infections. (You could gain some understanding of this by forcing yourself to do deep breaths while you are in a relaxed upright posture, and then when you are in a forced slouch, and feel the differences i.e. when you are sitting upright, and you inhale, your diaphragm will rise up into your chest and your chest will expand outwards, but when you are in a forced slouch your diaphragm will rise to your lower ribs and stop. You will then feel upwards and outwards pressure in that area, and your upper abdomen will expand outwards, but your chest won't move). The pressure on the air in the chest can act like a tourniquet and impede the flow of blood from the feet to the heart, and through the chest to the brain to cause difficulty concentrating, or thinking, and faintness, and fatigue. The forward movement of the head also pushes the weight of the shoulders over and above the twelve sets of ribs at the front of the chest. That pressure puts strain on the structures between them, which become tender, especially between the lower ribs of the right side, but sometimes on the left and in other areas. The person may not be aware of any soreness unless they press on the tender spots with their fingers, or unless they get occasional sharp stabbing pains in those areas (like a pinched nerve). The forward position of the shoulders can also dispose to mild or severe cramps in the muscles at the far left and right side of the chest. The chest also contains a breastbone in front, which has the shape of a broad dagger with a blunt tip. In people with flat chests who lean forward from the waist (instead of the hips) the broad part presses backwards and compress the heart, lungs, and air in the chest, which increases the effect of the downward pressure from the shoulders. The tip of such a breastbone would also press into the general area where the foodpipe joins the stomach, which can affect the efficiency of the valve like structure between them and cause some backflow or reflux of stomach acid. The upward flow of acid can make the inside of the foodpipe sore and tender, and the pressure and irritation can cause spasm of the junction which is called esophogeal achalasia (more accurately a failure of that section to relax properly).The tip of the breastbone also stabs into the area of the solar plexus which is a bundle of nerves that controls many abdominal functions. The forward leaning also pushes the lower ribs downwards to press on the colon which is a long tubular structure that carries food residue from the stomach to the rectum. A section of that tube goes up the left side of the abdomen, across the top, and down the right side. The lower ribs tend to press on the bends on the left and right side, and in other sections to impair the flow of material which disposes to irregularity, constipation, and spasm of the colon, and to blockage of the appendix and appendicitis, and to the formation of small pressure ruptures or pouches in the colon wall called diverticula, which may become infected to cause diverticulitis. The rounded curve of the back also places strain on the muscles of the mid spine, and pressure on the kidneys which filter used blood to produce clean blood and urine. Pressure on the kidney can impede the blood flow and the filtering process and may be a cause of an excessive concentration of salts which results in kidney stones. Pressure on the adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys may contribute to unstable or high blood pressure and an irregular or excessive output of adrenalin, and general secondary irritability of the nervous system. When sitting upright the weight of the head and chest is transferred evenly down the bones of the spine, but when leaning forward the muscles of the lower spine are stretched, and take some of the weight, which disposes to aching in the lower back. Treatment: The most practical and effective way of relieving all of those symptoms, which I developed gradually over a period of thirty years, was to go from a sitting and writing position, to standing and typing at a computer, with the keyboard at waist height, and the screen at eye height, so that it isn't necessary to lean forwards. See here . Other practical and useful methods which I studied and used are discussed elsewhere on this website. e.g. see here M.B. A reference for the measurements of pressure on internal cavities: On November 5th 1887 The New York Medical Journal included a study of scientific measurements of the pressure created on the internal anatomy by corsets and posture. Some relevant information can be seen by scrolling down to Figure 15 here http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Corset Female movie stars will often report how breathless and exhausted they were when wearing corsets as part of their role in movies about nineteenth century society, and they report how glad they were to get out of the corset so that they can breath properly again. Some more experiments to test the effects of postural or other mechanical pressures on the human body: You could try breathing while a belt is strapped tightly around your waist or chest, or your could try wearing a tie around your neck which is extremely tight, or you could put a blood pressure cuff on your arm and pump it up with air until the flow of blood to your hand stops and you start feeling a sensation of pins and needles in your fingers, or
strain injury Rib deformity Rib cage and abdominal pain Rickets Ribs compressed Roller coasters and faintness and here School children
and here
Scoliosis
and
here
here
and
here
and
Sedentary work Shakespeare Shallow breathing
and chest
deformity Shallow chest Scheurmann's disease Shoulder Shoulder blade Sideways curvature of the spine Sighing respiration Singing and posture
and
here Sir Thomas Lewis Sitting correctly at desks and computers
and here
Skin temperature Sleep problems Sliding hernia Solar plexus Spinal shapes by design Spinal deformity Spleen displacement Squatting posture in childbirth Sternum angle
and here and here and here

Stomach displacement Stomach pain
and here
you could apply a very tight garter, or a tight rubber strap around your leg. Prolonged use of leg garters can cause varicose veins. As you can appreciate, if tight collars can block blood flow through the neck , and tight garters can block blood flow to and from the feet, then tight belts, girdles, or corsets around the waist can block blood flow between the feet and the brain, and postural pressure on the abdomen can have the same effect. When doing the experiments described in this essay, bear in mind that the effects will vary from person to person because the shape of the spine and the shape of the chest will determine the angles of pressure and the effect on your body. Such differences are discussed in more detali in other parts of this website.
Strapping of shoulders Surgery for visceroptosis Swingboards Swollen feet Thomas Edison Thoracic stomach Tilt table
and
the test here
1. Good posture involves an upright spine with slight natural forward curves in the neck and lower spine, and broad and straight shoulders. Significant increases in the curves or other changes in shape are listed below. 2 . Poor posture is the term used to describe an abnormal forward curve in the upper spine due to slouching while standing, and a C-shaped curve along the entire spine which can be seen from the side when a person slouches forward in the sitting position. Hence it is often referred to as the slouched posture. 3 . Kyphosis is a more extreme forward curvature of the upper spine and is due to an abnormality in the structure of the spine and is generally referred to as the hunchback posture. It is usually accompanied by a corresponding forward curve in the lower spine so that it looks like a reverse S-shape when seen from the side. 4 . Scoliosis is the medical term for sideways curvature of the spine which usually results from a person using one hand to do most of their tasks because most people are either left or right handed. it can also result from one leg being longer than the other. See a scoliosis X-ray here 5 . Lordosis is an excessive forward curve in the lower spine and is usually associated with a hunchback posture. Common causes are obesity or pregnancy where the weight of the abdomen drags the lower spine forward. 6 .Swayback is the backward curvature of the lower spine 7 . Flatback is where the normal slight curves of the spine are not present and the back is abnormally straight. 8 . Kypholordosis is the combined abnormality of a forward stoop in the upper spine (kyphosis), and a forward curvature of the spine (lordosis), and usually occurs because the stoop puts the weight of the persons head in front of the centre of gravity with a tendency to fall forwards, so the instinctively push their lower spine forward to restore the centre of gravity and maintain a counterbalance upright position. A side view of the body shows a spinal colum with an S-shape. 9 .Kyphoscoliosis the combination of a forward curvature of the upper spine (kyphosis), and a sideways curvature (scoliosis), where multiple abnormalities commonly occur because they may be due to poor nutrition which weakens the bones or muscles, and affects every part of the human skeleton in a variety of ways. 10 . Kyphocostosis is the combination of forward curvature of the upper spine (kyphosis), and Extreme deformities of the rib cage (costosis) which involves abnormalities of the chest, such as one that Lordosis is abnormally flat and shallow, or deep and barrel shaped. 11. Neck stoop can be seen from the side view in a person with a deep chest where the rib cage forms a triangular structure which prevents the spine from collapsing into a C-shape, so it remains straight, but the neck bends sharply forwards. This information was first posted on 1-1-11 and most of it is derived from my book published between 1994 and 2000
Types of posture
Tonsillitis Transverse colon Tuberculosis of the spine and lungs Twisting the sternum Typing and posture Unstable circulation Varicose veins Valsalva's maneuver
and here and here

Visceroptosis
Viral infections and posture Vitamin D deficiency Voice problems
and here and here

Womb positions Women's posture Writing and posture Wrong posture
Chronic fatigue syndrome

Abnormal response to exertion Chronic fatigue syndrome CFS history Da Costa's syndrome Graded exercise
The following suggestions give a concise summary of how to diagnose the different types of posture abnormalities. Most people have mild postural problems but are not aware of them because they generally only see themselves from the front view in the mirror, but, for example, the forward slouch is only obvious when viewed from the side. 1. Forward curvature of the upper spine can be identified by looking at the way a shirt or a coat hangs on the shoulders. If the person is sitting with an upright spine the shirt will hang flat. However if they have a slouch or a stoop the cloth may be wrinkled into folds. The forward curve can then be seen by looking at the person from the
Diagnosis of postural problems
Other topics
Angina Bill Clinton U.S. president Bird flu Elvis Presley Leeper, Alexander MacKenzie, Sir James
side view. Another clue can be seen in their tendency to support their head by having their elbow on a table, and their hand on their chin. They will also look smaller when sitting slumped in a chair, compared to people of the same height who sit upright. If you look at them from the side view the curvature in the upper spine will be obvious. 2. Sideways curvature of the spine can be identified by looking at the person from the front view and noticing that one shoulder is lower than the other. Also the highest shoulder will be parallel to the ground, whereas the lower shoulder will be angled downwards. The persons shirt collar will be lower on one side, and their clothes such as their coat will hang lower on one side. If they take their shirt off you will be able to see that one collar bone is lower than the other, and slopes downwards, and if you feel their Sternum bone from top to bottom well notice that it is tilted sideways. If the person is viewed from behind in the sitting position while they are leaning forward with their elbows on their knees, one side of the shoulder will look normal, but the other side will roll significantly downwards at an angle that can be easily seen to be abnormal. 3. Lordosis is usually easy to identify by the cause. For example, if a woman is pregnant and the womb is large, her belly will be heavy and protruding forward, so the forward curve of the lower spine will exist and can be easily seen from the side view. Similarly an overweight or obese person will probably have a heavy belly which drags the lower spine forward. Also if there is a forward curvature of the lower spine from other causes it will push the abdomen forward to produce a pot bellied appearance. 4. Flatback can be seen from the side where it looks as if the person has a steel rod for a spine, rather than a series of vertebrae that form a slight natural S-shape. 5. Kypholordosis is forward curvature of the upper spine with a corresponding forward curve in the lower spine which often involves chest abnormalities as well, and leaves a crease line across the skin of the abdomen just below the ribs, and the person will appear to have a small pot belly. When viewed from the side the spine has an S-shape. This information was first posted on 1-1-11 and most of it is derived from my book published between 1994 and 2000 See also posture assessment charts or grids on this video here http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=C_HAgkyVru4&feature=youtube_gdata
Soldier's heart Stevenson, Robert Louis References
When a person stands upright their body weight is directed down the spine which has evolved to bear the load without trouble or effort. However, if the person leans forward their centre of gravity is thrown forward from the spine, so the weight of the upper body is transferred to the front of the chest and abdomen, and the strain of maintaining position is taken by the skeletal muscles. Those temporary changes do not affect a persons health, but if the spine becomes permanently stooped, they can cause a multitude of chest and stomach pains, and many other health problems. Most of the problems can be prevented or treated so I have provided that information below. Poor posture is unlikely to cause problems such as back pain in the first few years of life, but it can have a more serious effect if it gradually changes the shape of the spine and becomes permanent as the child develops into adult hood. Knowing how to prevent the problem is also useful at any stage in relieving or managing the secondary symptoms. Poor nutrition affects the strength of the muscles and bones that support the human posture, so good nutrition is important. Similarly any infectious illness that results in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, poor appetite, and weight loss can weaken muscles and bones so they should be guarded against, and recovery from them should include the appropriate type of exercise to regain strength as soon as possible, especially during childhood. Other preventive measures include sleeping on bedding that is flat and has the degree of firmness that allows the natural slightly S-shaped curve of the spine to be maintained. e.g. not so hard that the spine is kept too straight, and not so soft that it sags like a hammock. Many bedding companies provide advice on such requirements. It is important to use appropriate seating for the persons size. The height should be such that the feet can be placed flat on the floor for support. The length of the chair should be in proportion to the length of the thigh so that the lower back is not dragged forward into a curve, and the back rest of the chair should be slightly inclined backwards, and have a slight curve in the mid to lower back area to support that natural slight curve in the lower spine. When sitting at a desk it should be at a height that the person does not have to lean forward to read, and if the person does lean, they should do so from the hips and not the waist. Writing requires the use of one hand and movements to the left and right side of the page which twists the spine and breastbone, so it is preferable to use computer keyboards which require both hands equally and do not result in twisting the spine. The keyboard and mouse should be level with the forearm when it is parallel to the ground so as not to bend the wrist which can interfere with blood supply to the hand. The computer screen should be at eye height. In general any activity that requires leaning toward a desk should be avoided, but ordinary sitting without leaning forward is not such a problem. If it is the person can use a properly designed recliner chair to rest in and relieve some of the aches that result from postural strains during the day. For an illustration about computer posture from another website see here
The prevention and treatment of posture related problems
Children who carry heavy school books to and from school in satchels or kit bags may develop sideways curvature of the spine, so they should avoid carrying unnecessarily heavy books, and put them The angled platform of a in knapsacks on their backs instead. Similarly, having one leg longer than the other can cause sideways seventeenth century scribe curvature of the spine, but that can be remedied by the use of shoe inserts, and some practitioners would reduce the need to lean specialise in that aspect, and, in some cases orthopedic surgeons can lengthen the short leg. Women forward, but note the man's should avoid wearing high heel shoes because they lift the heel, and tilt the hip bone, and push the stooped shoulders. abdomen forward, and curve the upper spine into a stoop. If they still want to wear them they should That my be related to the fact consider that occasional use in social situations is better than wearing them all the time. that he couldn't move his There are numerous other methods, but it is also important to know what normal posture is, and what knees forward, so his lower defects you may have. This can be assessed by looking sideways into a mirror to determine if the spine is spine was positioned away abnormally stooped or S-shaped, and by looking front on to see if one shoulder is lower than the other, from the bench. indicating sideways curvature of the spine. Throughout history there have been many observations about the harmful effects of poor posture and many methods have been devised to relieve the problems. The most obvious is Yoga, but there are others such as chiropractic and osteopathy, and more recently the Alexander Technique which partly involves raising the head so that the spine straightens out, and then finding a position of balance where the head is directly above the spine and feet so that good posture can be maintained by balance, rather than by straining the muscles to stop the body from falling forward or backwards. Physiotherapists now incorporate some of those methods in their practice, and if deformity is severe it can sometimes be treated by orthopedic surgeons. Education about the benefits of good posture is perhaps the most important.
Some notes on using braces and straps to correct postural problems

Braces are not a practical treatment for spinal deformities because they can't correct the curve and can weaken the musculature. Reference: The Specialties in General Practice (1951) p.72-74. My comment: There are a number of problems associated with wearing spinal straps or braces to straighten the spine. Firstly some people will have other injuries and pains caused by their poor posture, and the brace can make them worse. Secondly wearing them supports the spine, so the spinal muscles don't have to carry the weight of the body and will therefore weaken due to lack of use. Nevertheless, some people might find them an advantage. Perhaps wearing them occasionally to 'train' the person to adopt a particular posture may be beneficial. For example, in young people with pliable spines, if the brace is worn for a few hours a day, it might gradually straighten the bones, and if they then remove the brace, but maintain that general posture with their musculature for the remainder of the day they may gain some effective improvement in spinal shape without losing muscle tone, and consequently avoid having the problem return. However, it is not something for me to comment on other than that. The Alexander Technique is another way to improve posture, and shoe inserts etc. can correct spinal curvatures which are due to having one leg shorter than the other, or to deal with spinal problems associated with abnormalities of the feet. Other methods such as yoga, osteopathy, and physiotherapy etc. are available. In general terms - the treatment needs to be tailored to each patient, and what works for one might not be effective in another, and prevention and early treatment are the best options.
The importance of early treatment and correction of postural deformities

"It is important that this treatment should begin as soon as possible; if a curvature is allowed to persist for some time the shape of the bones may alter and there can then be little hope of correcting the deformity." Reference: The Illustrated Family Doctor, 1935, page 620. People who attribute poor posture to a bad habit, or to psychological factors such as anxiety, or depression, are essentially "blaming the victim" for the failure of treatment. Many treatments may have the best of intentions, and may have some useful benefit, but they can't and won't change the shape of the bones of the spine, which is the real cause of the persistent stoop. It is not ethical for adults to be blaming small children for problems which should have been prevented and treated early. Poor posture is a purely physical problem that needs to be studied and treated as such. Psychological problems may or may not be involved in individual cases but are essentially irrelevant and should be treated as a completely separate issue but only if they exist as an accompanying or purely coincidental aspect.
Some notes on education

1. Charles Darwin once said that the human body is covered by a layer of skin and hence the average man knows no more about it's inner workings than he does about the inside of a ship, and a nineteenth century physician said that only the anatomist knows the horrendous effects that corsets have on distorting the shape of internal organs. Of course, an anatomist slices open the skin and looks inside, and could see that, in some cases, the spleen had been pushed from the top left of the abdomen to below the navel, and the liver had been split almost in two, and the woman would be complaining about horrendous aches and pains, and the corset industry would argue that corsets were not the cause because the woman still had a spleen and still had a liver???? The corset industry lost 2. Most people are not aware of the effect poor posture has on internal anatomy, and won't unless they are educated about the topic 3.. When you look at the sky with your eyes it looks as though the sun rises in the morning and goes down at night. If you use your brains it doesn't. 4.. Never judge a man until you have walked in his shoes. There may be a few tacks that are digging into his flesh and bones with every step that he takes, but his shoes may look as comfortable as lounge room slippers.
Treatment options
Yoga The Alexander Technique
Foot and posture treatment: Rothbart's foot Braces and straps: PostureJac Prevention: Ergonomics For an interesting video on posture improvement principles see here
While I was looking for the causes of spinal deformities I often found these comments in medical books. Hunchback is associated with sideways curvature of the spine where it may be due to polio, tuberculosis of the spine, or in old age osteoporosis. However, in three quarters of cases the cause is unknown . Reference The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of Family Health (1988). In 85% of cases of scoliosis (sideways curvature of the spine) the cause is obscure. Of the remainder 10% follow poliomyelitis, 2% due to VonRecklinghausen's disease or neurofibromatosis, and less than 2% are due to congenital bone disorders in the spine, osteochondrodystrophy, Freidreic's ataxia, cerebral palsy, and some muscular dystrophies, Also less than 2% follow empyema, thoracoplasty, or any other factors which change the chest shape during the growth period. 95% of cases are girls, usually starting at the age of 10, although occasionally earlier, and increasing gradually to the age of 15, and the degree of curve does not increase after the age of 15. There is still considerable controversy in the whole field of scoliosis. Reference: The Specialties in General Practice (1951) p.72-74. Consequently while I was studying the subject I was looking for and identifying the other 85% of cases, the majority of which are generally due to long term biomechanical factors, and can be seen in the list below .
The causes of poor posture
Corset Design Stoop
In previous centuries women have changed the shape of their bodies by wearing corsets. In fact, the manufacturers of corsets designed them to produce a particular shape to suit the fashion of the time. While they were known to be tight at the waist (e.g. to produce the hour glass shape), they were also designed to alter the shape of the spine in specific ways. Some mothers provided them for their children to wear from an early age, where they were referred to as training corsets - to train the body to gradually take on that permanent shape by adulthood. Diagram Reference: The Analysis Of Beauty (1739
A list of the various causes of poor posture

Type
Baby Stoop
Cause
Rickets caused by a deficiency of calcium and Vitamin D in the diet, or the lack of exposure to sunlight. (Vitamin D is produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight). See here A deep chest has a triangular shape when viewed from the side, and the ribs provide geometric and structural support for the spine in a manner which keeps it straight. However a flat or funnel shaped chest does not provide as much resistance to forward movement so it is likely to collapse into a stoop in response to forward pressures, particularly those on the upper spine. Congenital dislocation of the hip can cause forward curvature of the upper spine (kyphosis). The shape of the corset especially one which is worn on a regular basis during childhood for the purpose of permanently changing the shape of the waist and the spine to suit the fashion of the period. Vitamin D deficiency of rickets due to a lack of exposure to sunshine during childhood etc.. Repeated and sustained stooping which is an aspect of a persons occupation. (As in the case of former dentists, who, before the invention of height adjustable dental chairs, had to lean forward to extract teeth from patients) See also here Spinal deformity that results from deformities of the feet which alter the bodies centre of gravity, and requires a change in posture to maintain balance. See here http://www.icnr.com/cs/cs_29.html Those changes in posture are due to an automatic reflex. The postural problem may also be remedied with shoe inserts or orthopedic shoes designed to counteract the foot deformity.
Chest shape stoop
Congenital stoop
Corset Design Stoop Darkroom Stoop Dentist's Stoop
Foot Deformity Stoop
You can also test your foot-brain connection by sitting at a desk and lifting your right foot off the floor and moving it in clockwise circles. If you then draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand your foot will change direction. For more information see here http://curingchronicpain.com/?p=1124 and here and here and here. See also; this video on foot deformity and posture here http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=lOSsCwpqi60&feature=related See also here Large and heavy breasts move a woman's centre of gravity forwards and can be a cause of stooped posture in some women. A stoop which is inherited from the parents. Also called Genetic stoop. e.g. Neurofibromatosis (also called Recklinghausen disease) can cause scoliosis (sideways curvature of the spine). See here and here. and Progressive infantile scoliosis video here and webpages here http://www.rockethub.com/projects/2483-cole-and-the-crooked-flower and here http://www.infantilescoliosis.org An injury to the spine or any other part of the skeleton which sets the bones in an abnormal position and alters the bodies centre of gravity. Carrying a kit bag full of heavy books to and from school every day which results in the gradual development of forward and sideways curvature of the spine. See also here Poor diet which results in a loss of muscle tone and body bulk causing the spine to slump forward. Neck stoop can be seen from the side view in a person with a deep chest where the rib cage forms a triangular structure which prevents the spine from collapsing into a C-shape, so it remains straight, but the neck bends sharply forwards. A large and heavy belly which drags the lower spine forwards, where the upper spine stoops to counterbalance the effect. Osteoporosis. A visual defect in childhood which necessitates repeated and sustained leaning forward to read. Pott's disease i.e. tuberculosis of the spine, where an infection of a vertebrae causes the spine to collapse. The forward displacement of the abdomen which drags the lower spine forward due to the weight of the pregnant womb, and where the upper spine falls forward to counterbalance the alteration to the centre of gravity. Permanent Strapping around the shoulders which was designed to create a hunchback physique which was fashionable in some seventeent century tribespeople. Sideways curvature of the spine due to having one leg shorter than the other, or to carrying a heavy kit bag or satchel to school or work, especially during periods of poor nutrition or illness when young and the bones are pliable. The hunchback poet Alexander Pope had one leg shorter than the other and sideways curvature of the spine. See also the videos here and webpages hereditary progressive infantile scoliosis here and here The tendency to slouch in childhood because the child feels relaxed and comfortable in the slouched position and because the attempt to sit upright causes discomfort and strain on the spinal muscles, especially where there is a mild pre-existing spinal deformity due to other causes. The wearing of high-heeled shoes which throw the hips forward, the shoulders backwards, and the head forwards as a counterbalance. See also here and here The rapid growth of the spine during childhood where the tall child also has to customarily stoop forward to read at a small desk, or to talk to smaller children. Women can develop poor posture for a variety of reasons such as by wearing high heel shoes which tilt the lower spine forward and produce a counterbalancing forward stoop in the upper spine. Similarly large breasts can be heavy and drag the upper spine forward and downward. The pregnant woman can develop poor posture as the result of having a large and heavy womb which drags the lower spine forward, and produces a counterbalancing stoop in the upper spine. Also osteoporosis can weaken the strength of bones, and cause the upper spine to fall forward under the weight of the head and shoulders (called Dowagers hump). See also here and here Also see a recent well written account of women's posture here A prolonged Viral infections in childhood where there is a loss of apetite, muscle tone, and body bulk, which causes the upper spine to bend under the weight of the body.
Heavy breasts stoop
Hereditary Stoop
Injury Stoop Kit bag Stoop Malnutrition Stoop Neck Stoop Obesity Stoop Old Man's Stoop Optical Stoop Pott's Stoop
Pregnancy Stoop Shoulder Binding Stoop
Sideways Stoop
Slouchers Stoop Stiletto Stoop Tall Boy's Stoop
Women's Stoop
Viral Stoop
YouTube Videso on the causes of poor posture
here
and Part 2
here
The main causes of poor posture are indicated above and include any mechanical forces applied to the spine by such things as corsets or binding straps or belts, and obesity and pregnancy where there is a large and heavy belly dragging the lower spine forwards, or frequently carrying a heavy school bag in one arm, or where the spine is responding to the Leaning forward once is not going to cause spinal deformity because the constant forces associated with having foot deformities, or one body will simply return to it's original shape immediately afterwards. The leg longer than the other. process involves a combination of factors which include . . . The next factor is poor nutrition such as lack of calcium or 1. The pliability of the young spine, including during the teen years of rapid vitamin D in the diet, or lack of sunshine which is needed for growth. the bodies production of vitamin D. Infectious illnesses which 2. Nutritional deficiencies which weaken the spine (due to poor diet, or involve reduced appetite, nausea and vomiting can deplete the infectious illnesses that result in nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite etc) body of nutrients. The age of the person is also related 3. Mechanical forces on the spine because a young persons spine is more pliable, and more 4. The duration of the mechanical forces (e.g. Carrying heavy weights with easily deformed than an adults, and old age can, in some one arm, such as a kit bag full of school books for half a mile or more, to cases, include the added influence of osteoporosis. and from school, morning and afternoon for the school years (from the age The next is the way a person sits or stands, not so when they of 5 to 15 i.e. for up to ten years).The Banfield Principles of Posture are passively relaxing in a slouch, but more so when there are development forces involved in that position such as constantly leaning Leaning forward once is not going to cause spinal deformity because the forward in awkward angles to a desk where the chair, desk, or body will simply return to it's original shape immediately afterwards. The computer screen have a shape or height which makes those process involves a combination of factors which include . . . positions strain various parts of the spine and 'force' them into 1. The pliability of the young spine, including during the teen years of rapid a curve. growth. 2. Nutritional deficiencies which weaken the spine (due to poor diet, or The next is spinal injuries or spinal diseases such as tuberculosis of the spine which cause a section of the spine to infectious illnesses that result in nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite etc) 3. Mechanical forces on the spine collapse in a bend or a curve. 4. The duration of the mechanical forces (e.g. Carrying heavy weights with As in many diseases it is often the combination of factors one arm, such as a kit bag full of school books for half a mile or more, to which makes a mild influence a major one, and poor nutrition, disease, injury, wearing restricting garments or belts, and from school, morning and afternoon for the school years (from the age of 5 to 15 i.e. for up to ten years). and sitting or bending constantly or repeatedly in particular positions is more likely to produce spinal deformities than any one factor alone. M.B.
The main causes of poor posture
The Banfield Principles of Posture Development
Poor posture and health - The cause or effect question

While I was writing my book called The Posture Theory I found an earlier publication from 1930 which discussed the relationship between poor posture and symptoms in children, and the consequences of not treating the postural defect when the child reaches adulthood. It was called "The Nervous Child", and I reviewed it in the 11th edition of my book on pages 101 and 251, and have given another summary below. The author of that 1930's book proposed that nervousness weakened the antigravity muscles of the spine which in turn caused poor posture. However he also made the observation that the exercise programmes provided to army recruits improved their posture which in turn improved their health and temperament. (i.e. that improving their posture made them calmer. Therefore it is poor posture which causes nervousness, and not nervousness which causes poor posture M.B.). This is another quote from that book . . . "The stance of the nervous child may be described as the opposite of that which the drill sergeant inculcates so vigorously in the recruit". The curative posture in drill results in improved health and temperament" Curvature of the upper spine often results in a counterbalancing forward arching of the lower spine which is called lordosis which according to the author of that book, pushes the abdomen forward and causes the chest to recede. This physique tends to produce symptoms of restlessness, irritability and fidgeting, digestive disturbances disturbances, and appendicitis. It is also commonly associated with sore throats, and proneness to colds and tonsillitis There is also an alteration in the circulation of blood which results in paleness of the skin, alterations in skin temperature in relation to exertion, and a tendency to faintness, breathlessness, palpitations, and motion sickness, which are very commonly encountered with children who have this physique. He adds . . . "If we encounter these children, so nervous, so excitable, so easily exhausted, with their faulty posture and unstable circulatory reactions and describe them solely with the eye of a cardiologist, we shall describe them as suffering from "cardiovascular asthenia" or the "effort syndrome". . . and . . . he observes that such children were
Photo from The Nervous Child 4th edition (1930) plate V. The child was described as having a postural defect with
likely to become sickly and miserable adults and undergo several forms of surgery unless their postural defect Lordosis and "had was corrected. He suggested that good exercise and been sleepless, good diet were important, and that children should be provided with properly designed chairs and desks of appropriate irritable, and easily height for their bodies, and that the correction of eyesight problems was important so that children did not need exhausted from to lean forward to read, in which case the constant bending caused the spine to grow stooped. early infancy". Reference: The Nervous Child (1930) p.171-189 The relationship between posture and health has numerous aspects which create confusion about which causes which. However it is most likely that various infectious illnesses, especially prolonged illnesses, which impair appetite or result in a loss of weight or a weakening of bones during the growth periods of childhood, are likely to cause the spine to stoop under the weight of the body, and unless recuperation is rapid, the postural alteration may persist. Thereafter postural pressure on the chest and abdomen would dispose to numerous health problems. However as long as the child remains active they may be free of most symptoms, but if their lifestyle remains predominantly sedentary, the constant effects of stooped posture may then bring about a variety of ailments in adulthood. M.B.
Popular MYTHS about the cause of poor posture

it is popular to believe that slouching is due to laziness, or because the person doesn't want to sit up straight. However, the major factor which determines the way a person sits or stands is the shape of their spinal bones. That shape can be determined by an injury which occurs in a few seconds when the person is young, or by poor nutrition or disease which weakens their bones and causes the change in a few weeks or months. Needless to say that if the postural problems are not corrected when the child is young, then the change in shape will become permanent as the bones harden in adulthood. It is impossible to straighten adult bones just by sitting up straight.
Other cause or effect questions

it is also popular to believe that a child develops poor posture as the result of a bad habit, but spinal deformities have physical causes and standing in a particular way is much more likely to be a counterbalancing response than a habit. The other popular misconception is that sadness causes poor posture, however, it is much more likely that physical factors result in spinal deformity, which in turn causes health problems, which then causes misery as a consequence. Also poor posture can affect the circulation of blood adversely to cause lethargy, and impede blood Rickets in infancy due flow to the brain and have an effect on such things as the ability to concentrate and tiredness etc.. to Vitamin D deficiency There has also been the suggestion that poor posture is due to stress and muscle tension, but in order to slouch the spinal muscles need to relax and stretch, and, for example, many people slouch in a lounge chair when they are relaxing as they watch sport on television. It is important to develop effective methods of preventing postural problems, but that is more a matter of education than anything else. .
A collection of diagrams from the 300 in The Posture Theory

Top diagram Row two left Row two centre Row two right Row three left Row three centre Row three right Alexander Pope wrote "Just as the twig is bent the trees inclined. Good and bad posture. Good posture at a desk, and curving forward from the hips, and improperly bending the neck. Sideways curvature of the spine due to the weight of a satchel, compared with a knapsack. Extremely bad reading posture due to poor eyesight. Hunchback posture due to tuberculosis of the spine. Good posture, sideways curvature, and stooped curve of the spine.
Bottom row left Bottom row centre Bottom row right
Stooped posture with a flat chest, compared with a deep chest. Normal ribs compared to compressed and permanently flattened ribs due to poor posture. The abnormal angle of the shoulder blades due to sideways curvature of the spine.
When a child is young their bones are soft and pliable. like the trunk of a young tree, especially if they have poor diet, or a long viral illness that affects their appetite, so a variety of factors can change the shape of their spine. For example, sleeping for eight hours every night in a spring mesh bed that sags in the middle, or repeatedly leaning forward to read due to poor eyesight, or being tall and having to bend their neck to talk to smaller children may gradually affect the shape of their spine. As the child grows the bones will curve, and the ligaments and muscles of the back will stretch accordingly, and then the bones will gradually harden by early adulthood. As you can appreciate, it is much more difficult to bend adult bones back to their original shape, and is comparable to trying to straighten a bend in the trunk of a fully grown tree. However, surgery is sometimes performed in extreme cases of deformity, but the problem can be managed by developing a good understanding of anatomy, and by using methods of sitting and standing which restore effortless balance. The Alexander technique and Yoga provide some insight into those methods. However, as they say, prevention is better than cure. If poor posture is not prevented or properly managed it can lead to many other health problems where the most commonly known ones are backaches, inefficient breathing, and lethargy - for example they are often referred to as 'slouches' - who haven't got enough energy to do anything.
An explanation for the illustrations
Culturally induced deformities: The ancient Greeks wore loose garments, and were very healthy compared to other cultures who deformed their bodies by using such things as shoulder binding straps to deliberately produce the hunchback appearance. Seventeenth century women believed that it was attractive to have a long thin neck and sloping shoulders, so they wore binding straps to achieve that permanent appearance. The Flat Head Indians of North America strapped boards to the top of the heads of their babies when their skulls were pliable, so that they grew up to be permanently flat in adulthood. They were known to neighbouring tribes to be somewhat dull, probably because the deformity of their skulls affected their brain function.
Some of the effects of poor posture or other types of compression
Education in the history of fashion and health can prevent those problems from occurring to future generations of children.
See a YouTube vidio on this picture here
Left
A cartoon showing the effects of high heel shoes on the spine.
A normal foot compared to a foot permanently Centre deformed by wearing pointed toe shoes. See also
here
Right
Sideways curvature of the spine (scoliosis) caused by having one leg shorter than the other. A cause of back pain which can be relieved by inserts or raised soles and heels on one shoe.
See also; this YouTube video on foot deformity and posture here
Row A normal shaped stomach compared to one 1 pushed down by poor posture. Row A normal liver compared with two that have been 2 crushed and deformed by tight corsets A normal shaped bowel compared to one pushed down in the middle by poor posture, and an x-ray image of the cramps of the irritable bowel Row syndrome. The strain on the colon due to the 3 cramps can cause diverticula which are small ruptures in the wall of the bowel that dispose to diverticulitis.
If an individual has good nutrition and good health when they are young they are likely to develop a natural spine and chest shape. The natural shape of the spine, when viewed from the side, is upright with a slight S-shaped curve, and the breast bone is slightly inclined forwards. The breathing muscle or diaphragm forms the base of the chest, and is dome shaped when the person breathes out, and flattened when they breath in. The overall shape of the chest is therefore triangular, and moves to a somewhat pyramid form if they lean forward or stoop their head, and the overall arrangement is structurally stable. By contrast, if the individual has illnesses like rickets or prolonged viral infections which weaken their bones and muscles when they are infants, the spine is likely to bend forward under the weight of their head and shoulders, and as the spine forms a C-shaped curve, the lower spine pushes the lower abdomen forward into a pot bellied appearance. That physical shape forms a crease across the front of the upper
The Posture Theory and Chest Shape
abdomen and the lower tip of the breast bone tends to be caught in it and pushed backwards each time the child leans forward. When the breastbone is flattened in that manner, and runs parallel to the spine, it has the shape of a column, more like the leaning tower of Pisa. The net result is that the child with a triangular shaped chest will tend to push the breastbone forward as they grow, so they will naturally develop a deep chest with a lot of room for their heart and lungs and stomach below, which allows for good digestion, good breathing, and plenty of energy, which, in turn, gives them a competitive advantage in the pursuits of life in sport and business. However, the child with the stooped spine will have a flat chest, that tends to incline backwards, and doesn't support it, so the spine will become more stooped as they grow. That will tend to limit the room available for the heart, lungs, and stomach, and therefore result in impaired digestion, respiration, and energy levels. The importance of this concept to parents, educators, health professionals, and public health officials is that the effects of such illnesses on the physique of children needs to be identified as quickly as possible, and then good nutrition, and natural activities and exercises encouraged as soon as possible after recovering, so that permanent and progressive problems can be prevented. The idea that a combination of posture and chest shape is the cause of multiple symptoms is unique to The Posture Theory.
The top diagram (of the man) features the side profile of George MacAree who had the world's largest chest measurement of 76 inches, or 193 cm according to the Guinness Book of Records, 1977 edtion. The lower diagram, and the geometric comparisons have been adapted from it. M.B.
The origin and development of The Posture Theory from 1975 to 2000
The Posture Theory began in 1975 as an attempt to explain the co-existence of a wide range of symptoms which were not evident on Xrays or other medical tests and were deemed to have no known or verifiable cause. The generally accepted view was that there were so many symptoms of such a variable nature affecting so many different systems and parts of the body that it was impossible for them to have only one physical cause. The following four years from 1975 to 1979 involved an assessment of all of the obscurities, contradictions, delayed reactions, variables, and confusing aspects of the problem to produce, in simplified terms, the clear idea that, in some way or other, at some time or other, every symptom was induced or aggravated by a common factor, namely, leaning forward.
The chest pain, breathlessness, and abdominal pain

Essentially, leaning forward compressed the chest to cause chest pain, the stomach to cause stomach pain, the lungs to cause breathing difficulties, and the kidney area to cause aches in that part of the back. The reason for the cause of the abdominal pain being difficult to determine was because it did not necessarily occur by leaning forward once. It was more likely to occur gradually by leaning forward repeatedly to read and write at a desk for more than an hour, and then gradually get worse throughout the day. The pain in the kidney area had a similar occurrence where it would gradually start as a mild ache in the left side of the back, and get progressively worse during the day, and sometimes be followed by a similar ache in the right side of the back. It was also aggravated by cold breezes blowing on the back. For example while walking for an hour into the wind there was no ache, but when walking the return journey with the breeze blowing from behind, the kidney area would begin to ache on both sides of the back. That effect could be prevented by wearing an insulated vest. The cause of the breathlessness was difficult to notice because it sometimes, but not always occurred when leaning forward, and sometimes occurred at other times with other activities such as exercise, and it was also more likely to be a problem in colder months. Similarly the chest pain would not occur simply by leaning forward once, but was more related to the fact that poor posture put repeated postural on the muscle and tissue between the ribs, and gradually produced a tenderness in the area that could occasionally result in sharp stabbing pains. Also a dull ache might not be present doing normal activities, but occur with each step of the left foot while jogging along the beach, because the foot sinks into the soft sand each time, and the weight of the stooped head and shoulders compresses the ribs together each time, more so on the left side than the right. That is because most people have some degree of sideways curvature in the spine, and one shoulder lower than the other, where that shoulder moves up and down a greater distance with each step. Other dull or strong pains in the extreme left and right side of the chest are due to muscle cramps that results from the abnormal curvature of the spine, and an abnormal shape of the chest putting more strain on those muscles.
The puzzle of the faintness and fatigue

However, leaning forward also caused a sense of faintness and dizziness, and a sense of fatigue and exhaustion, but the precise mechanism for that was not so clear. For example, how could leaning forward only once produce a sense of faintness and weakness, but other times have no obvious effect, and how could leaning forward repeatedly for only half an hour cause complete exhaustion for two days. How was postural pressure causing that? and what structure in the anatomy was the postural pressure affecting. Therefore, at that stage, a posture theory was proposed for most of the aches and pains, and another idea had to be developed for the faintness and fatigue symptoms.
During the fifth year of development, 1979 , the observation was made that the fatigue was different from normal insofar as it was not only induced by leaning forward, but also, it came on more readily in response to physical effort, and persisted for longer after it had been induced, and was not relieved in the usual way by rest. This was compared to two children on a seesaw, where the heavy child would find it easy and quicker to lower his end of the board, and the light child would find it more difficult and slower, and so the feature of the fatigue in not returning to normal at the usual rate was referred to as a disequilibrium. Hence there was a Posture Theory for all of the aches and pains, and a Disequilibrium Theory for the fatigue.
Valsalva's Maneuver
An attempt was then made to determine how leaning forward could cause fatigue, and that led to a study of Valsalva's Maneuver which is a scientific method that is used in laboratories for the purpose of inducing stress in humans, and stress is a widely accepted cause of fatigue. In this technique the patient is asked to pinch their nose, and hold their mouth shut, and breath out with force, which increases the air pressure in the chest. That pressure compresses the blood vessels in the chest, and impedes the blood flow from the feet to the brain. The brain responds by sending nerve signals via the nervous system to the blood vessels in the legs, causing them to constrict, and thereby increasing blood pressure to force blood up past the pressured area in the chest and onto the brain to complete the cycle and prevent faintness and collapse. Leaning forward has the same effect of increasing air pressure inside the chest and reducing the blood flow from the abdomen to the brain. That fact solved the mystery of the cause of faintness, and dizziness, and nervousness, but more importantly it provided a cause for the fatigue. In simple terms it means that less blood is reaching the brain, and, as the blood contains oxygen and nutrients, there is less oxygen being supplied to the brain, so there will be more difficulty concentrating and thinking, and more tiredness. However the mechanism for the persistence of those symptoms at other times needed to be explained, which led to the idea that the constant or repetitive postural pressure was blocking the blood flow through the chest, so that blood would tend to dam up in the veins below, and strain, weaken, stretch, or damage those muscular tubes. That weakness would explain some other symptoms such as unstable or variable blood pressure. It would also explain why the symptom of faintness would occur when to body was tilted up and down or sideways on a tilt table, but more importantly it provided a cause for the fatigue, because the blood would tend to flow from the left or right side of the body or in whatever direction it was tilted. As the blood was contained within tubular vessels they would stretch as extra blood flowed through them due to the effects of gravity. The increase in the volume of blood within them would then reduce the amount reaching the brain. That would also explain why the faintness occurred when sitting in a swirling show ride at a fairground, or while going up or down in an elevator, or while sitting in a plane which accelerates on take off or decelerates on landing. That led to the question of which part of the veins were affected. It could be the small vessels between the arteries and the veins, or all of the veins, or the major vein in the abdomen which is called the vena cava. Another clue to the symptoms being caused by weak or stretched veins is in the fact that some people with severe varicose veins in the legs have mild symptoms of faintness when they move from the laying to the standing position. That is because the blood from the upper part of the body rushes down to the feet due to the sudden increase in the effect of gravity, and the varicose veins stretch and hold more blood, so the return of blood back to the heart and brain is delayed for a few seconds. If all of the veins below the chest were affected then the faintness would be worse than if just the leg veins were weak. Another clue to that possibility is in the previous medical label for that set of symptoms which was 'neurocirculatory asthenia' which means weakness of the nerves and the circulation of blood'. More importantly it would explain why the faintness and fatigue also occurred in response to strenuos exertion where the increased and more powerful flow of blood would cause those veins to stretch and reduce the blood flow to the heart and brain when it was needed the most. The symptoms would then persist for an abnormal period after exercise because of the time it took for those tubes to regain their previous tone. The elastiscity of those blood vessels would further explain why the symptoms were less likely to be a problem at rest, or while walking, and were more associated with sudden rapid sprinting. Nowadays that set of symptoms is generally referred to as orthostatic intolerance and exercise intolerance. although it would be more accurate to refer to them as orthostatic inefficiency and exercise limitations. See also here http://www.internet-marketing-cafe.com/articledetail.php?artid=196822&catid=396
This aspect of The Posture Theory is unique and distinct from other theories for three reasons
1. The cause of the damage to anatomy is repetitive posturally induced Valsalva's maneuver. 2. The chronic fatigue is due to damage to the abdominal and, or peripheral blood vessels. 3. The tilt table tests can be used to detect and measure the instability of blood flow, and hence the severity of the chronic fatigue. The theories proposed by other authors include the idea that it is due to chronic recurring anxiety, or that it is due to damage or dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.
The essay called The Matter of Framework

After determining how poor posture could cause fatigue it became possible to write one unifying essay which covered all of the symptoms, including the chest pains, stomach pains, and breathlessness etc. It was a three page article called "The Matter of Framework", which was given that title because it combined a framework of ideas to explain how a framework of symptoms could be caused by the framework of the
human body, and it was published in the Australasian Nurses Journal in June 1980 . That essay has since been referred to as The Posture
Theory.
The antique corset book and Visceroptosis

In 1993 an antique shop had an old book from 1895 on display, with the pages opened to show an illustration of the internal organs of a nineteenth century woman who had worn tight waisted whalebone corsets for most of her life. The stomach was pushed from the horizontal position to the vertical position in her belly, and all of the other internal organs were crushed or twisted out of place. The medical term for displaced abdominal organs is visceroptosis. Further reading of nineteenth century literature revealed that such women had horrendous health problems, but mainly horrendous indigestion, and a severe type of bowel disease called muco-membranous colitis, where the inner lining of the bowel would peel off and be passed as strips of skin, and the compression of the womb caused horrendous problems with pregnancy and childbirth. However, the most commonly reported problems were palpitations, breathlessness, faintness and fatigue occurring in response to emotion or exertion. Those problems were the subject of public debates for many years until 1904 when those who described the serious health problems won and managed to convince women to discard their corsets in favor of looser garments. Consequently corsets started to go out of fashion in 1904 and had more or less disappeared from use by the 1920's.
The eleven editions of The Posture Theory book The Posture Theory book was started in 1994 as a 16 page paper back pamphlet with the aim of adding evidence and improvements to it
by using information from all sources, such as research papers in medical journals, natural health magazines, and general and history literature. It was easy to find the evidence which added about 150 pages of information annually until the year 2000 when it became a hardback publication with a table of contents, an index, 130 references, 300 illustrations, and 1000 pages.
Stooped and sideways curvature of the spine

During that time the influence of spinal shape was added to the action of leaning forward, where patients with stooped spines were more likely to develop symptoms because of the additional pressure imposed by that physique, and sideways curvature of the spine explained why some of the symptoms, such as the chest pain, was more common on one side of the chest. The pain may be due to excessive pressure, or excessive stretching of the rib cage on one side. Similarly, a stoop in the upper part of the spine would produce pressure in different regions and from different angles and result in a slightly different set of symptoms than a stoop in the lower half. For example, curvature of the upper spine would be more likely to produce neck ache, chest pains, and breathing difficulties, and curvature of the lower spine would tend to result in more prominent low back pain, kidney aches, and abdominal pains.
The shape of the chest - broad, barrel, flat, or funnel shape

Significant improvements to the theory began in 1993 when the effect of such things as chest shape were considered. For example a large barrel shaped rib cage would protect the chest contents from pressure because as the person leaned forward the breast bone would move over and around the lungs, whereas a small, flat, funnel shaped, and narrow rib cage would dispose to the sword shaped breast bone moving down and backwards and digging it's blunt tip into the junction of the stomach and food pipe. That could cause leakage of the acid from the stomach to the food pipe, which has a weaker lining and be more liable to become painful due to the effects of that acid. Such pressure would also dispose to a faulty function, or spasm of that junction. Similarly all of the lower ribs would put more pressure on the internal anatomy of the abdomen beneath, such as the bends in the left and right side of the colon, and produce additional symptoms.
Leaning from the hips instead of the waist

Ultimately the way a person repeatedly leans forward, in combination with other factors influences symptoms. For example, if a person with a shallow chest leans forward from the waist the spine buckles in the middle and the breastbone recedes backwards to produce a maximum amount of pressure inside the chest, with the likelihood of more numerous and more severe symptoms eventually developing. By contrast, if they lean forward from the hips, the spine remains straight and the breast bone doesn't move backwards, so there is no pressure on internal structures.
Standing to write
Other methods of avoiding the tendency to slouch needed to be developed, and started with the idea of standing and writing on a flat bench at elbow height. The next step was to read and write on at an angled platform so that even less leaning forward is needed to see the text. Finally, learning to type, and then standing in front of a computer with the keyboard at waist height, and the screen at eye height meant that there was no need to lean forwards at all, resulting in a considerable reduction in the number, frequency, and severity of symptoms.
Typing instead of writing - from twisting the spine to a static spine

Another observation was made that writing with a pen requires leaning forward which puts the weight of the upper body on the arm, wrist, and hand, which results in heavy writing that puts deep grooves in the paper, and the mechanical strain disposes to cramps and repetitive strain injury. By contrast standing up straight to write takes that pressure away. Also, when writing by pen, the hand moves to the left margin of the page and then pushes the pen across to the right side, and then to the left again to start the next line. By the end of the page the pen has moved from left to right and back again about twenty times, which means that the spine, and the breast bone (or sternum) have been twisted to the left and right repeatedly, causing the tip of the sword shaped breast bone to dig into the stomach, and twist left and right as it does so, thereby inducing, or aggravating various symptoms, but particularly abdominal pain. Typing solved that problem because both hands are used equally, with the left hand staying on the left side of the keyboard, while the right
hand is kept on the right side. Consequently the spine and breastbone don't rotate, and hence the symptom of abdominal pain was relieved.
The causes of spinal deformity

Further information was compiled on every aspect of posture and health which included the study of causes. The main one was poor nutrition in childhood, such as vitamin D deficiency which softened the child's bones so that their skeleton collapsed under their own body weight. More obscurely, when infectious illnesses occur in childhood there are often many weeks or months of nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite, accompanied by physical inactivity, and that can result in a loss of muscle tone which can cause gradual and subtle changes in skeletal shape, and if corrective measures are not taken promptly the deformity can persist until adulthood when the bones harden and become set in that position. The enlarging, forward protruding, and increasing weight of the fetus in pregnancy contributes to postural problems in adult women, as do high heel shoes which throw the hips forwards and the upper spine backwards, and the neck and head forwards. The thinning of bones due to the lack of calcium and osteoporosis influences posture in the elderly. The study of clothing shows that the shape of corsets determined the shape of the bones which eventually develop. For example, a low waisted corset will deform the lower spine and hips, whereas constantly wearing a funnel shaped corset in childhood will cause the individual to grow with a permanent funnel shaped rib cage instead of a broad and deep chest. The funnel shape resulted in those women breathing in a shallow manner because their breathing muscle, the diaphragm, could not descend toward the abdomen properly. Hence such women were always breathless, and they relieved their breathlessness and faintness, by unlacing their corsets, but still had minor problems because of the permanent deformity in their bones and bodies.
The history of posture and health

A thorough study of the history of people with straight spines, broad shoulders, and deep chest reveals that they have been renown for their strength, stamina, good health, and success in sport, academic life, and commerce. In fact, for thousands of years Yoga and Buddhism have placed great emphasis on the importance of good posture in achieving a relaxed state of mind, and more recently chiropractic, osteopathy, the Alexander Technique, and physiotherapy have used postural improvement as a means of treating a wide variety of diseases and injury. Moreover methods of improving posture have been taught in private and public schools to enhance the future health and success of the students, and in sporting and military academies to improve stamina, courage, and strength of character, and in singing, acting, radio announcing, and public speaking classes to reduce pressure on the throat and vocal chords to improve the strength, endurance, and quality of the voice, and in music and dancing schools to improve balance, ease of movement, and avoidance of injury, and in modeling and finishing schools for adolescence to improve beauty, social acceptance, and social success.
The first book devoted to the comprehensive study of posture and health
It obviously follows that if good posture has such a powerful influence on a persons health and success in life, that poor posture would have a correspondingly detrimental effect. However the recognition of the harmful effects has been missing, and never documented, studied, or identified in any meaningful, detailed or organized way, and even the recognition of the beneficial effects has waxed and waned from country to country, and decade to decade, from being crucially important, to being a trivial cosmetic aspect of vanity. One of the main objectives of writing The Posture Theory was to remove any doubt from the matter, and bring the importance of this subject into permanent public consciousness. Information on prevention, ergonomics, and treatments were other significant aspects of the final Posture Theory which was published in the year
2000
in its 11th edition as a one thousand page book with more than 100 references and three hundred illustrations. It was distributed to public libraries throughout Australia, New Zealand, and North America. M.B.
The Posture Theory and the aspect of Evolution M.A.Banfield

When I first wrote the posture theory I was describing how poor posture places the head and shoulders forward of the bodies centre of gravity to produce strain on the spine and compression of the chest and abdomen which would cause chest pains, fatigue, and indigestion. I also considered the possibility that the health effects of poor posture may have contributed to the evolution from monkeys with a stooped spine, to man with an upright posture. The apes, for example, have long strong arms which enable them to swing through trees with ease, but when they move down to the ground they walk with their spine straight, but bent forward from the hips in a posture that is halfway between standing upright and walking on all fours. However, they tend to support the weight of their head and shoulders by placing their hands on the ground. By contrast humans have gone in the opposite direction and walk upright with the weight of their head and shoulders balanced effortlessly on
top, which would make movement on the ground much easier. Another factor would be the shape of the chest. For example, when viewed from the side a deep chest has a rib cage which takes on a roughly triangular shape which would tend to act like a framework that prevents the spine from bending in the middle. By contrast the flat chest would have a straight shape when viewed from the side, and the torso would tend to buckle in the middle and press backwards into the body and bring the spine forward and over into a stoop to make health problems more likely. Hence those humans who had good posture would tend to have good digestion and stamina and thrive more so than those with poor posture so that eventually most humans would have an upright posture. The diagram above shows, from left to right, the posture of a Gibbon, Orangutan, Chimpanzee, Gorilla, and Man. The next two are from the first few pages of my 1000 page book called "The Posture Theory (11th edition)", and show a man leaning forward to read, and placing his elbow on the bench and his hand on his jaw to support his upper body and thereby reduce the strain on his spine. The final diagram shows the man typing on a keyboard which is placed at waist height, and looking at the diagram on the screen which is positioned at eye height so that there isn't any need to bend forward. It is an effective way of relieving and preventing several health problems. The first five illustrations are from a book called Anthropology: An Introduction To The Study Of Man And Civilisation (1881) p.39 by Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, which was previously from Mans Place in Nature (1863) by Thomas Henry Huxley, where the gibbon was represented as twice normal size. That part of the diagram was originally drawn by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins from specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. I used that diagram on page 150 in the eleventh and final edition of my book in October 2000. The next two diagrams have been adapted by me from an illustration in a book called De humani corporis fabrica by Andreas Vesalius in 1543. The first adaption was used as the cover for the 4th edition of my book in November 1994, and the second was added later, and both have been featured on the first two pages since the 10th edition of August 1999. This aspect of The Posture Theory is a suggested extension of Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. M.A.Banfield October 2000 with modifications on 16th October 2010. Charles Darwin was criticised and subjected to ridicule and mockery, and if he did not have other intelligent supporters who were prepared to champion his theory then his ideas would now be just an obscure nineteenth century novelty, and many unscrupulous writers would have plagiarised everything he wrote to claim the ideas for their own financial or social benefit. M.A.Banfield. "Your Mother Was Right - Posture is Important! . . . When doctors or therapists look at someone's posture they generally first look at the alignment of the weight bearing joints in standing. ideally from a back view the spine should have no lateral curvature and the legs should be symmetrical without undue angulation at the knees or ankles. From a side view the spine should form a smoothe S-shaped curve, bisected by an imaginary plumb line dropped from the apex of the head through the centre of gravity of the body. This same plumb line should pass through the tip of the shoulder, the center of the hip joint and ankle joint and slightly behind the knee joint. With this ideal alignment the body weight is balanced over the spine and lower extremity joints requiring minimum muscular effort. This alignment also revenly distributes pressure on the intervertebral discs and avoids excessive stress on the ligaments . . . The sitting position is where most of us get into trouble with poor postural habits. This is especially true when driving or using a computer. As we focus on the activity in front of us we tend to protrude the head and neck forward. Because the body follows the head, the thoracic and lumbar spine tends to round forward as well." (the autor is FRANK J. D'AMBROSIO, PT apparantly a website essay - date unknown. See more information here http://www.scoi.com/posture.htm
I started trying to determine the cause of my health problems in 1975, and soon concluded that sitting at a desk and repeatedly leaning forward to read and write was somehow associated with inducing and aggravating my abdominal pain. In fact, that idea is part of The Posture Theory of 1980. Fourteen years later I decided to add a small platform on top of my desk to raise the height of my writing paper to see if it would consistently improve the upright position of my spine and reduce the postural pressure on my stomach, and the pain. It did, so I published an illustration of a skeleton standing in that position as the cover diagram on the fourth edition of my book in October 1994. Sometime later I started to learn how to type, and then use a computer, and in about 1998, I decided to raise the screen to eye height for the same reason. The change resulted in a major reduction in the severity and duration of that symptom. Naturally, the volume of writing that I was capable of after that year increased. The diagram of a skeleton standing at a desk with the screen at eye height was the first full page illustration in the tenth edition of my book which was published in August 1999. The eleventh edition was published with those illustrations in October 2000. When I changed my posture in that manner I predicted that the focus of my body weight would change and that it might cause other problems. I did notice, after several years, that I was getting more leg cramps, foot aches (which I had never had before), and some minor problems with haemorrhoids, and I found them reasonably easy to manage by reducing the time spent standing at the computer, having regular breaks, and walking about. Also the change did not completely remove my original symptoms, but it did reduce their number and severity considerably. People with normally shaped spines, and effortlessly balanced body weight, would probably not have any health problems, and would not need to change from the sitting to standing posture. Similarly some people might benefit from other methods. It depends on the individuals physique. Since then I have seen TV shows which report that other people have copied the idea, or drawn a similar conclusion (that standing at a desk can improve their posture and relieve their health problems). A more recent website with a similar idea can be seen here
I invented the idea of standing at a desk to improve posture in 1994
The Posture Theory web site is an introduction to a 1000 page book which deals with any and every aspect of posture and health, and includes a study of the subject from the medical, research, and popular literature, and brings a lot of scattered, unco-ordinated, and diverse information into one unifying source. The book presents the idea and evidence that poor posture causes neck and back pains related to postural strain on the intervertebral discs and nerves, and strains the ligaments and muscles which connect and support the vertebral bones of the spine disposing to aches in the jaw, neck, and lower back. It also places the head and shoulders forward to put downward pressure on every structure in the chest and abdomen, affecting the heart, lungs, stomach, bowels, and kidneys, and every ligament and muscle supporting them, and every nerve and tube connecting them, to cause almost any and every symptom known to human experience. Of course, the relationship between good posture and good health is obvious to observers because the person with a straight spine and broad shoulders looks fit and healthy, whereas the person with a round shouldered slouch looks tired and sickly. Nevertheless it has been the subject of debate for thousands of years. The problem is that slouching feels relaxed and comfortable to the person involved so it is difficult to convince them of the link between posture and health until later in life when the effects of the pressure produce symptoms. It has also been noted that if the person has a problem such as chest pain, and you ask them to sit up straight they will tell you that they still have the pain, so it seems to the doctor and patient that posture is not the cause. Similar doubts occur in convincing people who are overweight that their problems are due to the fatty food in their diet. If you ask them to eat a more balanced diet with more fruit and vegetables they will say that they prefer pineapple donuts to pineapples, and that they have tried dieting in the past without success. There are two factors to consider. Firstly changing diet for a day or a week is not going to affect body weight in the long term. Secondly, if the original bad diet has caused some health problems, then changing diet will probably relieve or cure most of them. However it may be unrealistic to expect to cure all of the damage, but possible to relieve or better manage the ailments. Hence the relationship between posture and health is not as simple as sitting up straight to relieve a particular pain, and it may not be easy for a person with curved bones in their spine to sit correctly, but it is important with regard to the prevention, relief, and management of health problems. Another matter that confuses this topic is the observation that some people with stooped spines have good health, but such individuals invariably also have wide or deep chests, particularly with broad shoulders and a forward angled breastbone. That physique provides a large rib cage which would protect the internal structures from the compressing affects of the stooped spine. Hence, the actual relationship between physique and health may be more comprehensively referred to as THE POSTURE AND CHEST SHAPE THEORY which is again obvious from the history of health and general observation, but is better presented as a formal instructional theory rather than leaving it to general unproven assumption. M.B.
The Posture Theory - why it wasn't as obvious as it appears to be
The Posture Theory was first published as a three page essay in 1980, and was later expanded to a thousand page book between 1994 and 2000, and continued on this website where I will now give a concise summary in 2010. Poor posture compresses the chest and abdomen to cause a large range of health problems such as chest pains, breathlessness, and indigestion. Similar symptoms were seen in nineteenth century women who wore 'hour glass' or 'wasp-waisted' corsets. It was because the abdomen contains the stomach, colon, liver, kidneys and backbone, and major nerves and blood vessels, and, for example, compressing the blood vessels reduces the flow of blood between the feet and the upper part of the body, Faintness and fatigue occurs because less blood is available to the brain. The women relieved their fainting spells by unlacing their corsets and laying down. However, after many years of wearing corsets some women found that they continued to be fatigued even after they unlaced them or stopped wearing them. The general range of symptoms is also seen in pregnancy as the womb grows larger and heavier and compresses all of the structures around it, and puts pressure on the veins that come up from each leg and join in the abdomen, and the symptoms are generally, but not always relieved after childbirth as the womb returns to it's original size and weight. Therefore any factor which persistently compresses the chest and abdomen is likely to cause chronic symptoms including fatigue. Nevertheless some patients report that they were fit and athletic up until they contracted a viral infections such as typhoid, malaria, the flu, or glandular fever etc., and that after recovering from the nausea, vomiting and fever, they remained easily exhausted and could not return to their former sporting activities. Their condition has been called a post-viral fatigue syndrome, and various authors have suggested that the virus may have spread to, or affected the brain. The possibilities are that the brain sends less effective autonomic responses to the blood vessels so the flow of blood is weaker, which was previously called neurocirculatory asthenia, or that the virus has infected the nerves, which was previously called neurasthenia, and there is also the possibility that the virus has weakened the muscle fibres, or other structures in the
An update of The Posture Theory - 2010
walls of the blood vessels, although there is no firm scientific evidence for any of those conclusions. Also, another group of patients will report that they were fit and healthy up until a period of anxiety or stress in their life, and that after the stress had finished they continued to be easily exhausted, and were not able to sustain physical effort as before. Some authors have argued that they continue to be anxious but are not aware of it, and refer to their symptoms as an anxiety disorder, and others suggest that the stress damages the brain, or the nerves or the adrenal glands, and refer to the condition as a psychosomatic disorder. There are many other possibilities, such as changes in the blood chemistry due to an abnormal pattern of breathing, or changes in the autoimmune system etc, but in general the chronic fatigue is due to any factor which affects the quality or flow of blood to the brain, such as poor posture, tight corsets, pregnancy, and viral or stress damage to the nervous system and blood vessels, and of course, those factors would play a part in the other symptoms and the effect would be more likely if multiple factors were involved. The blood carries oxygen and nutrients so the reduced supply of those essentials contributes to fatigue. There is also evidence that several slightly different syndromes exist with similar or overlapping causes and symptoms.. Ultimately the methods of preventing, relieving, or treating the symptoms involves improvements in posture, wearing loose clothing, immunising against viral infections, and developing a calm and relaxed attitude to all situations. It is also not practical to consider these ailments as having one cause, or one method of treatment because it isn't possible to convince a person who has good posture that their symptoms are due to poor posture, or to convince a person who is not anxious that their symptoms are due to anxiety, or that someone who didn't have a viral infection at the start of their symptoms is suffering from a post-viral condition. M.B
A summary of other factors which cause pressure symptoms

i.e. supporting evidence for The posture Theory from previous essays
Poor posture, due to spinal deformity or slouching, throws the head and shoulders forwards and puts pressure on all of the structures in the chest and abdomen, and sideways curvature of the spine results in greater pressure on those structures on one side. The amount, type, location, and affect of that pressure is also influenced by the shape of the chest, whether it is shallow or deep, and long or narrow.
Pregnancy and pressure symptoms

The effect can be compared to other factors such as pregnancy where the enlarging womb starts to put pressure on the bladder and bowels and cause such problems as frequency of urination. As the womb continues to enlarge it presses on the abdominal structures and then, in late pregnancy, it pushes against the stomach and heart, causing heartburn, palpitations and faintness, as common symptoms.
The birthing chair

Many native women give birth in the In early pregnancy the womb presses on the bladder and makes the woman squatting want to empty her bladder more often. In later pregnancy the womb presses position which is a more natural position up against the stomach, heart and lungs causing heartburn, palpitaitons, The enlarging womb of for pushing and faintness, fatigue, and breathlessness. pregnancy causes bladder, Toward the end of pregnancy the womb moves down again in preparation for bearing down during kidney, stomach, heart, and labor, and adds the lung problems, and fatigue, childbirth. advantage of gravity as it expands during the which made giving months of pregnancy. The The womb can put pressure on the lower veins of the abdomen causing the birth quicker and symptoms are related to blood in the vessels of the legs etc to dam up and produce swollen feet, more comfortable. the position of the womb varicose veins, and hemorrhoids. Seventeenth century and the anatomical The womb gets larger and heavier in women who bear twins, so the birthing chairs were structures that it presses symptoms become more common and more severe, and the problems are used to achieve the upon. Women often notice more likely to be worse again in women who bear triplets. same advantages but that their symptoms are the introduction of caused by, or change to forceps delivery in the something else depending
The pregnant womb
The stages of pregnancy
on whether they stand, sit, or lay on their back or their side. That is because the womb changes position as they move. For example if the woman feels faint in early pregnancy, it is due to pressure on the veins coming up from the legs, so she can relieve it by sitting or laying down. If she feels faint in later pregnancy while laying on her back it The shape of the pelvic outlet is due to pressure on the The normal shape of the pelvic outlet (left) is adapted for childbirth, but is veins behind the womb, so deformed by a stooped posture (centre), or by sideways curvature of the she can get relief by rolling spine (right). onto her side.
eighteenth century required women to lay on their back, so birthing chairs went out of fashion. Adjustable birthing chairs were sometimes used in the 20th century to make delivery more comfortable. Reference: The Body Book (1986) page 303 Also reported in my book between 1994 and 2000.
Reference; Cohen ME, White PD (1951). "Life situations, emotions, and neurocirculatory asthenia (anxiety neurosis, neurasthenia, effort syndrome) " . Psychosom Med 13 (6): p.346
Corsets and pressure symptoms

Similarly, in previous centuries women wore very tight waisted corsets which caused them a myriad of health problems. Furthermore the low waisted corsets tended to cause ailments related to the bladder, womb, and bowels, such as severe constipation, and some women wore the corsets to induce abortions. The high waisted corsets, by contrast, had a greater effect on the chest, causing chest pains, breathlessness, and faintness. Also the mid waisted corsets pushed the stomach from the horizontal position to the vertical position, and the low waisted corsets pushed the womb from the vertical to horizontal shape, and altered the shape and angle of the pelvic bone and pelvic outlet resulting in such features as shoulder presentation and difficult and painful childbirth
Seven different corset styles
In the seventeenth century corsets were made in various styles, and the shape of corsets worn in childhood detemined the permanent shape of her spine and chest in adulthood.
here
The Countess of Leicester and her children (1596) depicting the late sixteenth century womens fashion which included corsets worn since childhood to permanently alter the shape of their spine and chest by adulthood. See more information about childrens corsets
Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) wore corsets. She had chronic ill-health, and became pregnant 18 times but only 5 of her children were born alive.
Most nineteenth century English country farm girls wore comfortable loose clothing and developed broad and deep chests and grew up with the reputation of being, healthy, strong, Some 19th century women and robust. By contrast, in places like London and Paris, the women, and some men, wore the constricted their waste to ridiculous corsets which were made in local factories, and sold in the many fashionable city dress shops. degrees since childhood to develop Some corsets which had waist circumference of 14 inches were sold off the rack as the the hour glass figure in adulthood In minimum standard size, but nowadays the Guiness Book of Records (1962) regards a 13 the process they deformed the shape inch waist as the world's smallest. They wore the corsets since childhood to deform their of their ribcage, stomach, and pelvic bones, and had horrendous problems chests into a funnel shape in order the give themselves an hour glass figure. They developed a with their health which left them prone reputation for being weak and sickly, and would faint easily, and suffer from breathlessness, fatigue and indigestion. They relieved their fainting spells by unlacing their corsets and laying to faintness and fatigue, and painful in chaise lounges. childbirth, and countless other ailments which had them labelled as Some corsets also compressed the hips and deformed the pelvic bone and altered it's angle "the weaker sex", compared to most and shape and made childbirth difficult, painful, or impossible. men who did not wear corsets, and Poor posture has a similar affect at deforming the pelvic bone. A stooped spine is associated were therefore much healthier and with a longer pelvic outlet, and sideways curvature is associated with various distortions and a robust. flattening of the pelvic outlet, so that it no longer conforms with the shape of the babies head.
Collars, Belts and pressure symptoms
see also here Napoleon is depicted in many of his paintings as holding his right hand on his belly, which may have been due to indigestion. When he was young he wore tight waisted trousers which were fashionable at the time. Such garments have the effect of giving a more masculine look by narrowing the waist and making the shoulders look broader by comparison. However, they also tend to push half of the contents of the belly up, and half down, and the head and shoulders incline forward, and the lower abdomen bulges in front like a pot belly. They also increase the pressure on the stomach, which may have caused indigestion.
Male corsets, including the so-called 'Military corsets' were available for purchace with a variety of other belts and waist constrictors and were used for achieving the v-shaped torso.
The cosmetic trick

Men with a naturally large chest, have large hearts and lungs, so they look fit, energetic, and healthy, because they are actually healthy. Men with smaller and narrower chests wanted to look athletic and healthy, so they constricted their waists to
He complained of indigestion later in life, and also suffered from hemorrhoids, and reported that they were aggravated by horse riding. Tight waist belts block blood flow from the rectum to the liver and cause the rectal veins to swell up into a bunch like grapes, similar to the way garters block blood flow in the legs and cause varicose veins below the garter line. (haemorrhoids are varicose veins of the rectum). Bouncing up and down on the back of a horse as it gallops along would put additional and repetitive pressure Some soldiers on the rectal veins, and haemorrhoids were known to be were required to aggravated while riding in a vehicle over bumpy roads. wear their belts Napoleon reported that his haemorrhoid pain was tight to give a aggravated while riding his horse to the battle of neat Waterloo. According to some medical historians he may appearance. have won that battle if it was not for the fact that he Many such postponed the attack until the following day to allow his soldiers hemorrhoid pain to subside. In the meantime enemy developed reinforcements arrived and his army was defeated. haemorrhoids. He eventually died of stomach cancer, and many nineteenth century medical men attributed stomach cancer to compression of the stomach by tight corsets. *** His handwriting has been studied and described with these words . . . "The pressure is firm and dark in appearance". See here One cause of that would be stooping forward to write, either because of a stooped spine, or poor eyesight where the weight of the head and shoulders is transferred along the arm to the tip of the pen. In some cases the nib actually indents the paper along the line of text. The weight would also need more effort, so the writing would tend to be sprawling scribble. People with straight spines and good eyesight don't have to lean forward so their handwriting would be effortless, smooth and light, and neat.. see also Napoleon and Napoleon's influence on French fashion and The Battle of Waterloo Phil Mason was the author of a book called "Napoleon's Haemorrhoids" . . . According to a review by Medindia.net.news . . .Napoleon was suffering from an acute attack of piles two days before the battle, but his doctors lost the leeches that they used to relieve his agony, and accidentally overdosed him with the painkiller laudanum. He was still suffering from hemorrhoids and the affects of the painkiller when the battle broke out, which stopped him from riding his horse and supervising his troops, and may have been the reason for losing. See
here
make the chest look large by comparison. Unfortunately they still had small chests, and by making their waists smaller, they were crushing their already small hearts, lungs and stomachs, and although they looked healthy, they were actually making themselves less fit, less energetic, and more prone to illness.
In the illustration above from a publication called "Judy" on 11-5-1892. You can see the caption "Family Pride" at the top, and the words at the bottom "Hang it, you know we must show off the family seventeen inch waist somehow. If you don't, I must!" It is a comical comment about how important most people considered a narrow waist to be in nineteenth century society, when there were more than 3.5 million corset wearers in England alone, and where women, and some men, and soldiers wore them regularly. The corset became popular after the invention of a practical sewing machine in the early nineteenth century. It enabled mass production, and therefore ordinary people were able to imitate the fashions that were previously only available to the wealthy classes. The corset started going out of fashion as early as 1904 when the horrendous health affects become common public knowledge.
Some other forms of clothing produce pressure symptoms, such as high heel shoes, which lift and tilt the pelvic bone, increase the arch in the lower back and neck to cause back and neck aches, and where military uniforms included tight collars, the pressure obstructed blood flow to the brain and soldiers were more prone to faintness in battle, and where tight belts were part of the uniform, large numbers of soldiers developed hemorrhoids. In general terms any factor which puts pressure on the body causes strain, and impairs blood flow, resulting in local or widespread symptoms and ailments. e.g. when a person crosses their legs the pressure on the blood vessels of the thighs impairs blood flow to and from the feet, and when a tornique or blood pressure cuff is placed on the arm, the increasing air pressure in the cuff puts pressure on the blood vessels, initially restricting blood flow, and if continued, blocks the blood flow completely.
Some more observations from history

Yoga has been around for thousands of years and teaches that posture can influence breathing and energy levels. The ancient Greeks wrote the popular motto; "Mens sana in corpore sana" which translates as "a sound mind in a sound body". In 1650 John Bulwer wrote "Plato's men were full, square, and somewhat strong, and might men". Thomas Edison: "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease". Many parents and school teachers advise their children to develop good posture habits to look more confident and successful, and to ensure good health in the future. Improving posture relieves pressure on the back, chest, heart, lungs, stomach, and blood stream, and therefore reduces the incidence of back ache, chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, and fatigue, and improves digestion, physical development, and the sense of wellbeing - The Posture Theory Hippocrates observed that children with spinal deformities in the upper back were prone to develop a hoarse voice , and chest and lung diseases, whereas those with spinal deformities in the lower back were more likely to get kidney and intestinal diseases . Robert Louis Stevenson had stooped and sideways curvature of the spine which probably developed during his childhood when he had many infectious illnesses which left him with nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and poor appetite and therefore poor nutrition for months at a time, when his bones were growing. He contracted tuberculosis of his right lung as a teenager, probably because of an infection combined with the fact that sideways curvature of the spine pressured and congested his right lung. A pocket of infection persisted and occasionally filled with blood which he vomited by the mouthful. He was a professional writer who described how, when he was seriously ill " unable to work or even lean forward for fear of triggering another bloody flux". He solved that problem by dictating his letters to his stepdaughter who did the writing for him. He also described how he would wake up in the morning feeling healthy and start playing the piano at 10 a.m. but by 3 p.m. or thereabouts his wife said "he breaks down altogether, gets extremely white and is extremely wretched with exhaustion until the next morning again". That problem would be caused by leaning toward the piano and compressing his sickly lungs to make breathing even more inefficient, and also by slowing blood flow through the chest to the brain. Note also: In nineteenth century Edinburgh infectious illnesses were common in childhood and it was also common for teenagers to contract tuberculosis probably because of the polluted drinking water and food, and the air pollution of the industrial revolution. Louis solved that problem by sailing to the south pacific where the air was fresh and clean. The hunchback poet Alexander Pope wrote "Just as the twig is bent . . . the tree's inclined" . He had multiple spinal deformities which were probably the result of tuberculosis of the spine (Pott's disease) which he contracted at the age of three when he was trampled by an infected cow, and wounded in the throat by it's horns. Those deformities included a forward stoop in the upper spine, and a severe arch in his lower spine which pushed his abdomen forward. It is also reported that he had one leg shorter than the other which may have caused or resulted from or influenced the sideways curvature in his spine which was also a feature of his physique. He described his life as "a long disease", and in one of his poems he wrote about his "headaches, indigestion and a thousand other aches and pains". His headaches may have been due to postural strain on his neck and spine, and his breathing disorders may have been due to compression of the breathing muscles and lungs, and consequent functional disorders of those structures, and the disposition to lung diseases and disorders. He was described as having asthma. The stooped physique is associated with breathing which is not as deep as usual, and hence poorer ventilation of the lungs which would also dispose to lung infections. The indigestion was probably due to compression of this stomach, and the physique would have altered angle of his esophagus which may have caused esophageal spasm and difficulties swallowing.The stomach compression may have caused reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus and heartburn, and postural compression of the stomach disposes to hiatus hernia. Compression of his stomach can impede digestion and stunt his growth and cause a thin physique. He was reported as having a short physique as an adult with a height of four foot six inches. That may have been due to his otherwise normal height of more than five foot tall being reduced by the stoop. He was also reported as losing height as a teenager, probably because at that age his spine would still be pliable and the forward projection of his head and shoulders and his bodies centre of gravity, would have made him prone to further stoop as the years went by. He was born in 1688 and died in 1744 at the relatively young age of 56, from a combination of a respiratory condition (a lung and breathing disorder), and Bright's disease (damage to the filters in the kidneys, with proteinuria) here . The symptoms of Bright's disease include high blood pressure, odema, and the accumulation of fluids in the lungs which may have been the cause of his breathing problems at that time which would have been additional to the breathing problems that he had throughout his life. See also reference number 73 here and here. See also my YouTube Video on the health problems of the hunchback poet Alexander Pope here For diagrams of the hunchback posture, computer posture, ergonomics, Scheuermann's disease, and an illustrations of Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame, see here http://askthetrainer.com/hunch-back-posture-problems.html and here . Dr. Claire Weekes noted that her palpitations of the heart occurred when she went to bed at night and woke up, and when she leaned her chest against her typewriter. She started to worry about her heart which made the problem worse, and when she relaxed and stopped worrying Lewis Carroll noticed that sitting in a chair and writing at a desk aggravated his hemorrhoids, so he wrote his novels standing up. Frederick Matthias Alexander lost his voice while speaking on stage and later discovered that it was because he changed the angle of his head, neck (and throat) while giving speeches. He then developed a way of correcting his posture which cured his voice problem, and then he noticed that he stopped getting the indigestion and the chest and lung infections which had bothered him since childhood. His method for improving posture became known as The Alexander Technique. "Among his students were George Bernard Shaw, John Dewey, and Aldous Huxley, together with many luminaries from the London theater, and a wide range of people recommended to him by doctor friends who considered his work of great benefit . . . included among his clientele the Chief of Staff of the British army and Bishop William Templewho later became Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church. On the US side, along with Prof. John Dewey, his clientele included historian James Harvery Robinson, philosophers Horace Kallen and Randolph Bourne, educationalist and founder of
Art Therapy, Margaret Naumberg, and commercial tycoons such as James B.Duke".(see here ). Nowadays his technique is world famous, and is still being taught in singing and acting schools and universities. F.M.Alexander was described as standing in an odd manner as a child, so his postural problems may have been due to an abnormality in his feet or spine. See also here (Famous opera singers such as Luciano Pavarotti typically have straight spines, and often a broad and large or barrel shaped chest, which allows for a high volume of air to be stored in the lungs, and the wide base provides maximum unimpeded movement of the diaphragm, and they sing with their head held upright so that there is no pressure on the voice box (larynx), and the airway is fully open. They also have a forward angled sternum which gives plenty of room between the spine and the front of the ribcage for the stomach to function freely, and that allows for maximum digestion). Unfortunately the relationship between posture and health is often obscure, and appears to be contradictory and confusing, and the recognition of it, and the emphasis placed upon its importance varies considerably from country to country and decade to decade. If the importance of good posture was ultimately agreed upon then the teaching of the subject would be, and should be, an essential part of national health and education policy.
If anyone wants to challenge my theory there is always a simple experimental way of discrediting it, but no-one would ever do the it because everyone without exception, would have doubts about their own opinion. Here is the experiment: In the nineteenth century many mothers made their four year old children wear tight waisted corsets, and continue to wear them as their bodies developed so that they reached adulthood with a permanent (and supposedly attractive) hour glass figure. Most of those children developed horrendous health problems, and the life expectancy of women who consistently wore corsets with 13 inch waists was 35 years. If there is anyone who disagrees with me about similar problems being caused by poor posture, you could put a spring rod along the spine of a four year old child, and attach it to a chest band at the midriff to ensure that as the child grew, the upper spine would be drawn forward into a stoop, the breast bone would incline backwards, and the waist would buckle at the midriff until the child reached adulthood with their lower ribs pressed against their hip bones. Their heart, lungs, stomach, and kidneys would be crushed, and they would have more aches and pains than the hunchback poet Alexander Pope, and they would be dead before they were thirty. If you still disagree with my theory, you should take full responsibity for the experiment, because I would not give anyone permission to do it. The harmful consequences are obvious to me. It is also obvious that the effect on health would be influenced by the degree of stoop, the shape of the chest, and other related factors. In his play RICHARD III, Shakespeare seems to have seen the connection between pressure and symptoms when he wrote: "Oh, cut my laces in sunder, that my pent heart may have some scope to beat, or else I swoon." Translated into modern English and Posture Theory context would be: " Oh, cut the laces of my corset to relieve the pressure on my heart which is confined to such a small chest, so that it can have room to beat, and allow the blood to flow from my feet to my brain, or else I will faint."
The hypothetical posture experiment
WHY I STARTED THIS THEORY

1, In 1975 I wanted to find a way of explaining why a person would feel faint each time they leaned toward a desk, and why the faintness would be relieved each time they leaned back. 2.I began to study the relevant information and soon found that a set of associated symptoms were a part of a condition called Da Costa's syndrome, and later, that such patients were usually sedentary workers with thin physiques with long, narrow, or flat chests, and stooped spines. 3. Some years later I read about a scientific method called Valsalva's Maneuver where a person pinches their nose, and holds their mouth shut, and attempts to forcibly breath out. That process increases the air pressure in their chest and compresses the blood vessels to reduce the blood flow passing through the chest from the feet to the brain. 4. I eventually concluded that leaning forward at a desk was compressing the air in the chest to cause the faintness. 5. However, I needed to explain why such an obvious cause of symptoms was not common knowledge and why people were arguing with me when I explained it. I eventually concluded that most people who leaned forward would not feel faint because their spines were straight and they naturally bent at the hips, and would not compress their chests, but people with stooped spines and flat chests would tend to bend at the waist, and compress their waist and the blood vessels inside as their chest moved forward and down. 6. I also assumed that a sedentary worker who leaned forward ten times a minute to read or write for many years or decades would eventually strain and weaken the blood vessels of the abdomen until the slightest compression of the chest reduced the blood flow to the brain, and that only in extreme cases would a person feel faint every time they leaned forward. 7. Most healthy people would never feel faint when leaning forward, and it would probably be rare for it to be so obviously related to leaning forward in Da Costa's syndrome, but those patients experience faintness, dizziness, and fatigue at other times without knowing why, and although there are many other theories to explain the symptoms, none have been proven. 8. The most popular theory is that the condition is caused by work stress or anxiety, and when the patient says that the work is not stressful and that they have nothing to be anxious about they are told that it is due to "free floating" anxiety, or "sub-conscious" anxiety related to forgotten childhood experiences. 9. Some psychologists also argued that nineteenth century women often felt faint because of psychological factors, and that their typical fainting spells disappeared in the early twentieth century because of advances in psychotherapy, however those women wore tight waisted corsets and they relieved the fainting spells by unlacing their corsets, and corsets went out of fashion in the early twentieth century because
of scientific and public debates which concluded that corsets were extremely harmful to health. 10.Similar, but less severe symptoms nowadays relates to the fact that many women still wear girdles, or other garments to narrow their waist, and men wear belts which restrict the downward and forward movement of the abdominal contents and therefore increase the pressure caused by stooping. Other factors have similar effects, and avoiding stooping, and loosening the belt would prevent or relieve symptoms or prevent them from getting progressively worse. M.B. References: Sir Thomas Lewis (1918) The Soldiers Heart and the Effort Syndrome, Shaw & Sons, London p. 20-29: A large percentage of soldiers who developed the Effort Syndrome had poor physiques and long, narrow or flat chests associated with a kyphotic curve (hunchback spine) and many came from sedentary occupations. "It is unquestionable that many men recruited from sedentary occupations were affected by the condition before joining, although previous to that event in their life-history symptoms had never manifested themselves.The question naturally arises as to the extent to which sedentary work predisposes to the affection; no conclusive answer can be returned from the data at our disposal, though these strongly suggest sedentary work as a predisposing cause". Some of those soldiers experienced giddiness when standing up suddenly, or more rarely, even when laying down, and "a number of tested patients complained of equal giddiness when moved on a swingboard into the lying position" . . . and this . . . "seems to be associated with faulty distribution of the circulating blood during the period of giddiness". Sir Thomas Lewis (1937) Diseases of the Heart 2nd edition, MacMillan and Co., Limited, London p.97-98 and p.158-164: There is a rare type of postural faintness which is associated with the faulty distribution of blood which tends to accumulated in the abdominal veins. This is closely related to cases where the person feels faint when they stoop down to lace their boots or lift heavy weights, and it occurs because the mechanical or muscular action compresses the abdomen and squeezes the blood out of the abdominal veins. When they stand up again the blood takes a few moments longer to fill the veins, and in the meantime blood flow to the heart and brain is diminished. See also; Scientific measurements of the pressures in the chest and abdomen which are created by wearing tight belts or corsets or by leaning toward a sewing machine or desk, etc. see "The Corset: QUESTIONS OF PRESSURE AND DISPLACEMENT.* By ROBERT L.DICKINSON, M. D., BROOKLYN, LECTURER ON OBSTETRICS, LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL here
The Posture Theory explains the cause of many health problems, but more specifically, it is a way of explaining the cause of chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, faintness, and fatigue which occur in the absence of any evidence of heart disease. Those symptoms are characteristic of a common medical condition known as Da Costa's Syndrome which was named after Jacob Mendez Da Costa who, in 1871, was the first medical researcher to note that they seemed to occur as a set in many individuals. Those symptoms can occur at any time, but particularly during exerion. Therefore The Posture Theory is essentially a way of explaining the symptoms of Da Costa's Syndrome which could perhaps, in relevant cases, now be referred to as The Posture Syndrome.
THE POSTURE THEORY AND DA COSTA'S SYNDROME
Da Costa's reported the findings of a study of 200 patients, and provided the basis for the diagnostic criteria which included the typical features of chest pain, dizziness, breathlessness, palpitations, and fatigue that were associated with a poor physique, a thin chest, marching at double quick pace, hard field service, and viral infections, and he noted that the waist belt of the knapsack seemed to be aggravating the symptoms. The pulse was influenced by position, such as stooping, laying on the left and right side in some cases, and the back in others, and the condition was relieved by improved physique. Recommended treatment included not wearing clothing which constricts. Reference: Da Costa, J.M. (January 1871) "On Irritable Heart," The American Journal of the Medical Sciences
Da Costa's original 1871 research article
The Cause and Nature of the Symptoms of Da Costa's Syndrome

Neck ache, and lower back pain
- These symptoms involve a dull ache in the neck, or sharp pain in the mid neck, or sharp pain between the shoulder blade and the neck, or cricks in the neck, and dull aching in the lower back. They occur because a stooped spine (kyphosis ) throws the weight of the head, shoulders, and chest forward to put a mechanical strain on all of the bones, muscles and ligaments of the spine. Furthermore when the upper spine is stooped the neck is more arched than usual, disposing to neck ache, and their is a compensatory increase in the forward curve of the lower spine which can increase the mechanical strain and incidence of low back pain. Pain in the muscles on one side of the spine probably relates to sideways curvature of the spine, as does pain in the muscle between the neck and shoulder on one side.
Sideways curvature of the spine (scoliosis ) compresses one side of the ribs excessively and lifts the other side abnormally giving the tendency for neck ache, back muscle pain, and stabbing pains in the chest to occur more on one side of the spine than the other. Lower left sided chest pain - The most typical pain is a sharp stabbing sensation occurring perhaps 2 or 3 times in a year (or more rarely) in the lower left side of the chest, and is probably due to postural strain on the structures between the ribs which produces a tendency to the pain. It may occur at any time when sitting relaxed or standing, and it feels as if a 3 inch sewing needle is suddenly stabbed in and out of the ribs and is over within a fraction of a second, as if a nerve has been pinched. It's occurrence on one side of the chest is probably related to sideways curvature on the spine (scoliosis ) placing more pressure on one side, and stretching the ribs apart on the other, and it occurs on the opposite side of the curve. It occasionally occurs on the right side as well. There is also a dull ache occurring in the same location, and is probably due to strain from the pressures of constant posture, but the pain does not actually occur except when running, and then only rarely. When it does occur, it happens every time the persons foot touches the ground, so that the ache may be felt 100 times in a one hundred yard jog along beach sand. The third type of chest pain occurs in the extreme left side of the chest, and is due to severe cramp in the muscles of the chest under the arm. It is equivalent to severe cramp in the calf muscle of the leg. It has been described as being brought on by muscular effort, such as cranking a car engine, in which case it is on one side of the chest related to which arm was used to crank the engine. Exactly the same pain can be felt on both sides of the chest where it is brought on by prolonged laughing, and it may be accompanied by difficulty breathing, because inhaling expands the chest and stretches the muscles and aggravates the severity of the cramp. The cramp will also be made worse by trying to lift or move an arm because such movements also stretch the muscles of the chest, so that the person has to stay in a semi crouched position, and the pain will cease only when laughing stops.
Palpitations of the heart - This symptom involves the perception of the heart beating in combination with it tending to accelerate and pound faster and faster in an alarming way which does not seem to slow very easily. It can occur at any time of the day or night but often just after laying down to go to sleep. The problem seems to relate to laying down in the normal way, but can be prevented by laying down on the back slowly and resting the head on three pillows for a few moments, and then removing a pillow, and resting on two, and then one. The gradual movement backwards seems to offset the symptom. The problem also seems to be worse in any situation where the pulse rate is likely to increase such as when a person is anxious just before standing in front of an audience to give a speech. There are probably three factors contributing to the symptom. The first is the curved shape of the upper spine, the second is the shape of the chest, and the third is the shape of the heart. The heart and ribcage can be compared to a bird in a bird cage. If the birdcage is large then the bird can flap its wings comfortably, but if the bird cage is small then its wings will bang against the wire frame of the cage, and if a person has a small ribcage, then the beating heart will pound against the chest wall and be more easily noticed. If the person becomes worried that there is some indication of heart disease then the worry will accelerate the rate and make the problem worse. The perception of heartbeat can also be compared to the pulse rate which no-one is aware of until they place their fingers over the artery in their arm. With slight pressure on the fingers nothing can be noticed, but by pressing the fingers against the artery its wall can be felt each second as a pulse of blood passes through it. Similarly if the heart is squeezed into a small chest, then its beating may be more readily noticed each time it pounds against the chest wall. Similarly people with broad and deep chests and ribcages have hearts which are pyramid in shape and they would sit stable in the chest, but people with long narrow or flat chests tend to have bowling pin shaped hearts which would tend to wobble about when beating fast, and that would produce a different and perhaps more alarming sensation. Consequently the palpitation may be felt when a person lays down at night because, as they lay back the curve in the upper spine straightens out and drags the front of the chest backwards compressing it against the heart, so that its beating can be felt. That may explain why the symptom can sometimes be prevented or relieved by laying back slowly. or by sleeping in the semi sitting position with the head raised and the spine remaining curved in a C-shape to maximize the size of the chest space. The palpitations may also perhaps relate to excess amounts of blood pooling in varicose veins in the legs, so that when the person lays on their back, the sudden removal of the gravitational load of the blood causes and excess volume to flow toward the heart chambers with temporary greater force. In other respects such patients, and anyone else who has problems with a pounding heart when giving speeches, the symptom can be prevented or relieved by having a small glass of wine a few minutes earlier to relax the heart muscle (alcohol is a muscle relaxant which passes immediately through the stomach wall to the heart muscle nearby). It may also be useful to take a few slow, regular and deep breaths to stabilise the position of the diaphram which the heart sits on, and to use a prepared speech, so that the element of doubt is removed from the talk.
When the spine is straight and the chest is deep the heart has a lot of room to function normally.
When the spine is stooped and the chest is shallow the heart is occupies a much smaller space and is in closer contact with the breastbone. Consequently its beating is more easily felt as it pounds against the breastbone. (the breastbone is also called the sternum)
Breathlessness type as a diagnostic criteria for DaCosta's Syndrome

(The breathlessness of DaCosta's Syndrome inolves forced deep breaths associated with low oxygen consumption, or hypoventilation during exertion, which makes it similar to, but distinct from the hyperventilation, or excess rapid shallow breathing, which is caused by anxiety or stress The use of this observation as a distinguishing diagnostic criteria for DaCosta's Syndrome is copyright and may not be applied without prior arrangement 27-12-07 M.B.). Breathlessness - This symptom takes the form of an air hunger where the person takes a full and deep breath until inhaling reaches its limit and can't go any further. However they still feel as if they have not got enough oxygen so they forcibly attempt to breath even more deeply, like a forced yawn, and then they have to take another two or three full breaths in quick succession. The person then breaths at a normal rate for a few minutes and may then have to reach for breath and forcibly inhale again. Occasionally the person may bend at the hips, place their hands on their thighs, and arch their back and expand their chest to inhale with greater force and effectiveness.The symptom may occur every few minutes or every few hours or only once or twice a month, and may occur at any time of the day or night, regardless of whether the person is sitting, standing, or resting, or laying, and it occurs more frequently in cold weather, and more often when walking, especially up a hill, and much more often when slowly jogging, in which case the quick successon of forced breaths may be required as often as every 10-50 yards. see also here, and :
ref 22 Wolf S. 1947
There is sometimes a slightly different but similar symptom which involves the need to take deep yawns. The symptom is also aggravated by wearing any tight clothing which restricts the expansion of the chest during the inhalation phase of the breathing cycle. For example having a snugly fitting and inflexible belt strapped around the chest can cause extreme respiratory distress during the inhalation attempt. The breathlessness can also sometimes be caused by leaning toward a desk or bench which involves bending at the waist or rib line. That type of bending pushes the breastbone backwards and compresses the chest and abdomen, and restricts the upward and downward movements of the diaphragm , thereby restricting both the chest and abdominal phases of breathing, so the symptom probably results from an anatomical strain or damage brought on by many years of constant or repeated compression of the lungs or diaphragm. The postural pressure may have damaged the lungs so that the amount of oxygen passing from the lungs to the blood stream is impaired, or it may have damaged the diaphragm (the main breathing muscle) and altered its natural and normal function. The exact anatomical basis for the symptom is not clear. A related feature of Da Costa's syndrome is CO2 intolerance, and also, distressing symptoms are brought on by wearing a gas mask, and it probably relates to the confined space of the mask, and the build up of excess vie CO2 in that small space. With normal breathing in fresh air, the CO2 dissipates immediately. A stooped spine compresses the air in the lungs and a small chest restricts the volume of air in the lungs and disposes to breathlessness, also called dyspnea , and lung and breathing disorders. A broad based rib cage allows for slow deep breathing, whereas a narrow base disposes to shallow and rapid breathing, congestion of the lungs, lung infections such as chest colds, and abnormal function of the lungs, and abnormal function of the diaphram breathing muscle, which results in faulty CO2 metabolism,. Seventeeth century women wore extremely tight corsets which deformed their ribs into a funnel shape, and led them to die young with lungs which were described as being in a state of "withering rottenesse" see references: Anthropometamorphosis. Nineteenth century women who wore tight waisted whalebone corsets would typically heave with breathlessness brought on by the slightest emotion or exertion.
"All crooked or constrained bodily positions affect respiration injuriously. Reading, writing, sitting, standing, speaking, and working with the trunk of the body bent forward are extremely hurtful by overstretching the muscles of the back, compressing the lungs, and pushing downwards and backwards the stomach, bowels, and abdominal muscles." Reference: George Black, M.B., Edinburgh, (1910),
The Doctor at Home and Nurse's Guide-Book, revised edition, Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, London, Melbourne and Toronto. pages 77-78.
Faintness and dizziness - The type of faintnessis a sense of light headedness, and a feeling as if about to lose consciousness and fall to the ground, and it can be associated with unstable or low blood pressure. Some patients do actually faint from time to time, but others often feel a sense of faintness but never actually lose consciousness, and the symptom may be slightly or much more distressing than any normal sense of faintness, and occurs in response to minor, or sometimes very slight movements of the body. Sometimes there is another sensation, especially with rotation of the body, of an odd and distressing sensation in the chest, as if the heart is about to stop beating. The faintness most commonly occurs when getting out of bed and standing suddenly in the morning, (orthostatic intolerance) and can be prevented by getting up slowly, and first sitting on the side of the bed, and then standing slowly and walking off at a casual pace. The symptom may occur throughout the day at any time especially if the person gets out of a seat and stands up suddenly, rather than slowly, and it may be a more or less constant feeling, or occur several times a day or a week, or several times a month. It may also occur when the person leans forwards at a desk and in very extreme cases if they lean forward to write 10 times, they will feel faint each time, and sitting up and leaning back slightly each time will relieve the faintness, so the sense of faintness comes and goes 10 times, and continues in that manner until the person stops repeatedly leaning forward. (note: scroll down to fig.15 for a leans forwards at a desk link which reports on corsets, leaning forward to write, and scientific pressure measurments in 1887). The problem is greater if the person is squatting as they lean forward. The faintness also occurs whenever the person is subjected to centrifugal forces such as when they are a passenger in a car which speeds around a curve in a country road, or if they are a passenger in a swirling amusement park ride, or on an up and down or winding roller coaster, and in fact, many patients avoid such entertainment activities altogether. It also occurs when a lift in a tall building accelerates to start its upward journey, and decelerates to stop, and in a plane which accelerates at the start of its flight, or suddenly drops in a down draught, or decelerates to land. The symptom also occurs sometimes to an extremely alarming degree when a patient is placed on a tilt table, and it is moved up and down and rotated sideways at various angles to get different X-ray images of the patient. The symptom is due to a weakness in the circulation of blood in the body (hence the term neurocirculatory asthenia) and is often seen to a minor degree in many fast growing teenagers who have a condition called sway back, probably because that posture puts pressure on the chest or kidneys. However many teenagers grow out of their sway back and the symptom becomes a thing of the past, but in other people it starts in adulthood and takes a more persistent course. It is also more common with people who have a stooped upper spine and a flat chest, probably because the downward postural pressure on the chest impedes the blood flow from the legs to the heart and brain. That constant pressure may actually stretch all of the blood vessels below the waist so that they become more elastic, or so that there is an abnormally disproportionate amount of the bodies blood below the waist which is more subject to being displaced by any type of gravitational or centrifugal force. To a lesser extent this is evident as orthostatic hypotension related to varicose veins below the garter line of the leg, where pressure impedes the upward flow of blood and damages the tone of the leg veins so that blood tends to pool in them and be delayed in it's return to the heart when the person stands up suddenly. The faintness is also likely to be a problem if the person wears a tight collar which reduces blood flow to the brain, and can be relieved by loosening the collar, and was very common amongst nineteenth century women who wore tight waisted whalebone corsets. Those women routinely relieved their fainting spells by unlacing their corsets and laying on their backs with their head and shoulders slightly elevated on the arm of a chaise lounge, in the then common fainting rooms, A similar beneficial effect on spinal posture and the symptom can be achieved by laying in a modern recliner chair tilted slightly back. A milder from of this could be the orthostatic hypotension caused by wearing leg garters which results in varicose veins below the garter line, where excess blood pools, and is delayed in it's upward flow when the person stands up suddenly, and which occurs because those veins have lost the strength to respond appropriately. The symptom of faintness or dizziness in Da Costa's syndrome would also occur in response to any gravitational or centrifugal force acting on the body, except much more readily and severely, which is why such patients avoid entertainment activities like roller coaster rides, whereas healthy people find the experience exciting and enjoyable.. The dizziness is a slightly different sensation which sometimes involves a sense of obscure fuzzines at the back of the head in an area just above the top vertebrae of the spinal colum, and or, a sensation of the inside of the head, or the outer walls and ceiling of a room swirling, but not always, and it seems to occur as a mixture of dizziness and faintness, with a sense of being about to lose consciousness. It is most commonly brought on by bending the neck back to look up at items on tall cupboards. It is probably the result of that neck position putting pressure on the blood vessels in the neck and interfering with the efficiency of blood flow to the brain. Dizziiness also occurs to a more significant degree than normal with rotational movements of the body. This is probably because, with normal posture, the head is balanced directly above the spine, but when a person has a stooped spine the head is thrown forward by at least six inches forming a radius about the spine, and therefore the outer extreme of the head turns in a large circle with a diameter of at least twelve inches, thereby throwing blood outwards from the neck with greater centrifugal force. Therefore, in persons with an abnormal stooped curvature in the upper spine, the dizziness can be relieved or minimized by deliberately forcing the spine to be straight and thereby positioning the head directly about the spinal colum with the head more slowly rotating about the spin of the feet. The dizziness may also be partly due to a weakness in the blood vessels below the chest where some of the blood in the lower body is thrown excessively outwards with the spin and reducing blood flow to the brain.
In the nineteeth century women wore tight waisted corsets for most of their lives. Such corsets compressed the stomach and forced the liver, spleen and kidneys downwards, straining and permanently stretching the attachments, such as the ligaments, blood vessels, and nerves which held them in their correct place in the midriff. Consequently the liver and spleen etc hung loose and would slide up and down and side to side excessively in response to gravitational or centrifugal forces such as roller coaster rides or even such minor movements on the moving tilt table. Those forces would therefore also temporarily and excessively stretch the blood vessels and weaken the blood flow to the heart, which probably explains why the patients feel an extreme sense of distress in their chest, and an extreme and reduced blood flow to the brain would account for the alarming sense of to-ing and fro-ing faintness with each change of direction. Furthermore as the liver etc. swung loosely against the abdominal wall, or downwards against the blood vessels from the legs the affect would be magnified. Poor posture also pushes the liver, stomach and spleen etc. downwards (visceroptosis). Nineteenth century corset wearers would typically faint with the slightest emotion or exertion, and would relieve the faint by unlacing the corset and laying on a chaise lounge which had an arm at one end so that the woman could rest against it with her head and shoulders slightly elevated, and with her legs free to extend at the other..Some were housed in purpose built fainting rooms.
Some people feel palpitations of their heart when they lay down on their backs too suddenly. That is probably because they have loose livers etc which slide toward their heart and they can therefore feel its beating, in a similar way to the fact that they can feel the pulse in their wrist if they apply pressure from their hand onto the wrist artery. That would explain why the problem can be avoided by laying down very slowly and gradually. In the early twentieth century some surgeons cured the problems by sewing the liver etc onto the diaphram to keep them in a more normal position. However the symptoms returned again in a year for reasons which were not understood but it may have been because the patients kept wearing corsets or slouching and pushing down against the weak surgical stitching until it gave way.
When a person with a loosely attached liver and stomach stands up the liver etc slides downwards and makes the lower abdomen bulge excessively into a pot belly shape. That would put pressure on the blood vessels which bring blood from the feet to the heart, and may explain why some people feel faint when suddenly standing up as they get out of bed in the morning, or at any other time. That would also explain why the faintness can be minimised or avoided by standing up gradually, and walking off slowly for a few seconds.
Fatigue related to sleep problems and exercise limitations
- Some patients report that they have suffered from
are now troubled by fatigue, but they cannot recall any particular time or incident when it started, and others report that it started over a period of time (months or years) when it seemed to gradually get worse without being particularly troublesome until it became so severe that they had to rest, and that they had to rest for months or years to recover, and that they never fully recovered . They may in fact report that the fatigue accrues in an obscure way until they reach a state of extreme exhaustion again, and the process of recurring severe exhaustion may happen three or four times over a period of a decade before they decide to restrict their lifestyle as a means of preventing the relapses. The fact that the fatigue does not respond in the expected manner of being relieved by rest or sleep and the fact that it tends to accrue over a period of weeks or months is one of its significant differences from normal fatigue, which a person can easily recover from by getting a good nights sleep etc. During the development of the ailment the instability of blood pressure, breathlessness, faintness, and dizziness, and fatigue seem to occur as a linked sub-set of Da Costa's syndrome. In the extreme case the fatigue involves restlessness, wakefulness, the inability to sleep for days or weeks at a time, but later waking up several times at night and not being able to get back to sleep again, and waking up tired, and tiredness occurring several times throughout the day are features. The tiredness sometimes but not always responds properly to rest, and has the characteristics of a sleep disorder. The symptom has sometimes been derogatorily referred to as TATTS (tired all the time syndrome), which reflects ignorance about the different qualities in the nature of the symptom, and the sometimes profound severities of the condition which bare no resemblance to normal tiredness, and continues to produce confusion in diagnosis. The bouts of fatigue may occur for weeks or months undiminished, because there is no effective treatment or medication for the problem, other than long term rest, mild exercise, and the passage of time, which is why many patients avoid the factors which induce them, and lead generally quiet and moderate lifestyles. There is also an exercise disorder where the person is so weak that their heart may pound each time they lift their foot of the ground as they walk slowly along the street. They may be walking or jogging last in exercise training programmes and have to reach for breath several times each 20 yards or so, and if they exert themselves suddenly or sprint fast their heart will pound violently and they will feel faint and dizzy and fall to the ground and crawl about restlessly because restricting their movements causes extreme physical distress inside the chest. Consequently they have to give up the sporting activities that they have participated in regularly in the past, and, because of the distressing nature of the symptoms, most of them refuse to participate in remedial exercise programmes, or drop out of the course soon after starting. The fatigue seems particularly linked to the faintness which occurs when leaning forward, either toward a desk, a bench, a washing machine, or the kitchen sink etc . As another example, in order to clean low windows on a house it is necessary to squat down and lean forward. Each time the person leans forward they feel faint, and if they choose to ignore the problem and keep repeatedly leaning forward until all of the windows are finished, and then stand up, they may feel faint and weak and exhausted. After only that half an hour of minor effort in the morning they will have to spend the entire afternoon resting in bed, and may still be exhausted when they wake up the following day. The link between faintness and fatigue probably occurs because leaning forward compresses the chest, heart, and lungs, and then the increased air pressure in the lungs impedes blood flow from the feet to the brain. In that regard there is an experimental procedure called the Valsalva's Manouver which is used in scientific laboratories to artificially produce the symptoms of stress in the absence of any psyhological factors. When this manouvre is being used the patient is asked to pinch their nose shut, and keep their mouth closed and exhale with force. As the air cannot escape from the lungs the pressure builds up and impedes the flow of blood from the feet to the brain. The brain and nervous system then react with a reflex that stimulates and contracts the blood vessels of the legs, which increases the blood pressure to force the blood to go upwards through the compressed vessels in the chest. Hence there is a relationship between air pressure in the lungs, the nervous system, and blood pressure. >Consequently if a person was constantly or repeatedly leaning toward a desk or bench for many years they would also be blocking blood flow from the feet to the brain and putting a lot of pressure on the blood in the veins below the chest. Such long term pressure might affect the tone of the walls of those vessels, or gradually damage them, and weaken the upward flow of blood, and become a disorder of circulation (i.e. vascular dystonic circulatory asthenia). In fact this form of fatigue has been called neurocirculatory asthenia - a weakness of circulation, and neurocirulatory dystonia - a disorder of circulation due to abnormal tone in blood vessels). The weakness of blood flow to the brain would account for poor concentration, poor memory, and problems with wakefulness and sleep which are all common in DaCosta's syndrome. Furthermore the weakness of blood flow from the feet to the heart would account for the faintness which occurs when standing up suddenly, or when standing up from a squatting position, and it would also explain the weakness in the bodies response to sudden, vigorous, or rapid exertion . Hence there is a link beween posture, sedentary work, constantly or repeatedly leaning forward, Valsalva's maneuver, and transient, recurring, prolonged, or chronic symptoms of tiredness, faintness, and physical exhaustion. The condition is common in sedentary town workers, and rare in country farm laborers.
fatigue for as long as they can remember so they were probably born with the problem, and some report that they know that they
The Posture Theory and Postural

Manouver
Valsalva's
Leaning forward with the mouth shut can compress the air in the chest and block blood flow between the feet and the brain.
Chronic damage to the blood vessels below the chest can lead to chronic sleep and exercise disorders. If this is the mechanism for causing a type of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, then they type could be called The
"The Posture Theory, Summary of a 1000 page book on posture and health" Posture Fatigue Syndrome
In Da Costa's syndrome there is an excessive tendency to sigh which occurs at variable intervals, but it sometimes takes the form which can be explained as if there is a standard depth and rate of breathing and oxygen absorption into the lungs which is not being achieved, for one reason or another, so the person tends to take an extra deep breath every few minutes to make up for the lack of oxygen consumed during that time. Sometimes the inhalation needs to be forced to achieve the depth of breathing required to make up for the deficiency, and sometimes two or three forced deep breaths may need to be taken in quick succession. The need to take the extra sighs may occur every few minutes, or several times an hour or day, or month, and is more frequent during cold weather. This becomes more noticeable with exertion such as slow jogging where a normal healthy persons breathing rate, volume and absorption increases according to the extra amount of oxygen required for the exertion. However with the type of breathing pattern seen in Da Costa's syndrome it sometimes seems as if the breathing process does not properly increase to meet the extra requirements for the effort of jogging, so that they may accumulate a greater oxygen debt and need to take two or three extra forced deep breaths every twenty yards or so. The same problem seems to occur with sudden rapid sprinting but to a much greater extent. The healthy persons breathing pattern adjusts to the oxygen requirements, but with Da Costa's syndrome it seems as if the respiratory mechanism is slow to adjust, so that after only twenty yards the person may fall to their knees repeatedly gasping for breath, with their heart pounding in their chest, and feeling faint, dizzy, and excessively restless, and crawling about with extreme exhaustion for 15 minutes or more, and be fatigued to a lesser extent for a week or more, before resuming milder forms of exercise. It may be a matter of the respiratory reflex not working properly so that as the level of exertion increases the breathing becomes shallower or the oxygen absorption less, so that an oxygen debt builds up until the person feels an obvous need for more air, and then forceably inhales to get the extra oxygen required. The explanation may not be entirely correct in every detail, but it is close enough to portray the difference between the healthy response ot exertion, and the Da Costa syndrome response, and it may or may not be due to a fault with the thoracic diaphram, or the autonomic nervous systems regulation of breathing, and it may due to an abnormality of breathing pattern rather than too much or too little, or to inefficient respiratory efficiency which is worse as the level of exertion increases, and many people with this problem were former athletes who use exercise as a possible means of improving their fitness to recover from the fatigue, so it is not due to a fear of exercise, and it can occur when the person is otherwise relaxed, so it is not due to an anxiety state, and it is probably not due to any disease of the heart. The purpose of this explanation is to provide a conceptual way of understanding the differences between the normal response to exertion, and the DaCosta's syndrome response, where the difference is otherwise not recognised, or is trivialised, or misinterpreted etc. It is subject to being tested or disputed or to someone else coming up with a better way of explaining the difference. This explanation was posted on this website on 4-2-08. When referring to this explanation please cite this website as the source, See also: Low oxygen consumption and low ventilatory efficiency during exhausting work in patients with neurocirculatory asthenia, effort syndrome, anxiety neurosis, . . . See also (re: the respiratory disorder is different to hyperventilation) - Hyperventilation and chronic fatigue syndrome . . . and . . . The chronic fatigue syndrome and hyperventilation
The Abnormal Response to Exertion, and it's possible relation to Abnormal Sighing Respiration
Upper abdominal pain - also called epigastric pain. The primary symptom is a dull ache of varying intensity occurring periodically and occupying an area the size of a 20 cent piece in the mid upper abdomen just below the tip of the dagger shaped breastbone, or sternum . The pain is probably related to slouched posture, sideways curvature of the spine, and chest shape, Poor posture pushes the breast bone downwards, sideways curvature alters the angle of the breastbone, and a flat or funnel shaped chest involves a breastbone which is vertical or receding. Hence when a person with such features leans forward the pointed tip of the dagger shaped breastbone is pushed downwards, backwards, and sideways with a twisting motion into the area where the food pipe joins the stomach, Such repeated action would make the valve like junction sensitive to irritation, and be likely to allow small amounts of stomach acid into the lower end of the food pipe, and possibly also weaken the ligaments and muscles in the area permitting occasional sliding hernia. It might also compress the outlet of the stomach where it joins the duodenum, or partially rotate the stomach and twist it's outlet and block the flow of gastric acid , which would therefore build up to an excess degree in the stomach and cause tenderness and pain by irritating the stomach wall, and in prolonged cases result in the formation of lesions and peptic ulcers. See also ulcers. Regardless of the cause, the pain is induced by repeatedly leaning forward for an hour or more, and when induced it is aggravated by very minor postural movements. For example it may then be aggravated by leaning forward to tie up shoe laces, in which case the person should buy moccasin style, or slide on shoes which can be put on without bending. The abdominal pain is also aggravated by wearing tight belts about the waist, or tight elastic bands on underwear, so loose clothing should always be worn, and loose waisted trousers can be held up by shoulder braces or suspenders , rather than belts. Sometimes the pain is simply caused by the belt pressure, and sometimes because, when the person slouches the pressure from the belt resists the downward movement of abdominal contents, so they are squeezed from above and below when the person leans forward. On some occasions the relation to pain is obvious but it is usually obscure, subtle, and delayed. The more the pain is aggravated the worse it gets and the longer the abdomen remains tender to the slightest touch. By aggravating the problem for an hour the pain may persist for several days, and by aggravating it for two or more hours the pain may persist for weeks, and any strong strain on the abdomen, as from digging forcefully into the garden and jolting the abdominal muscles can make the pain persist for months. The pain is also aggravated by stretching the arms upwards or sideways, because the arm
muscles are connected to the chest and abdominal muscles and drag on the diaphragm and the junction of the stomach and food pipe. The pain can be influenced by some foods. Acid foods such as lemons and oranges, and also spicy foods should be avoided. Also the problem disposes to constipation, so high fibre foods should be included in the diet to keep constipation to a minimum, but even some hight fibre foods, particularly cabbage, and legumes (peas, beans and peanuts), should be avoided because they can also aggravate the pain. If the pain is aggravated in the morning, it may subside in the afternoon, but commonly it may recur and awaken the person at 2.a.m. in the morning perhaps because the periodic peristaltic flow of food residue at night may pass the area of pain and the bulging bowel may nudge the tender area and produce the pain. (Similar to the way in which an egg produces a bulge in the outer surface of a snake as it passes through the inside). The irritation of that area of the abdomen is near the solar plexus and some aspects of the ailment suggest esophageal achalasia (faulty function of the valve like structure joining the food pipe to the stomach). The fact that the severe pain can sometimes be accompanied by difficulty swallowing and can be relieved by a drug called Somac indicates the probable involvement of heartburn due to more significant leakage of acid, and the fact that it is often accompanied by severe constipation and multiple pains and cramps in the bowel, indicates irritable colon may be an additional or secondary problem. It is therefore best to prevent the problem by developing good posture during childhood. The pain can be relieved by laying in a recliner chair, especially a dentists chair which is shaped to push the lower abdomen forward and allow the upper abdomen to arch up and take the tip of the breastbone outwards away from the stomach. If the pain is only mild it can often be completely relieved by laying in such a chair for only half an hour, but if the pain is severe then such rest will only produce slight relief. Laying in bed on the back also relieves the problem but in severe cases it may be necessary to raise the head and lift the knees as well to take all pressure of the abdomen. As previously mentioned, it is also useful to always wear loose clothing, avoid acid foods, include fibre in the diet, and sometimes, if difficulty and pain swallowing food or water is present, the drug Somac can be beneficial. (Gastric reflux is another name for heartburn and is the most common symtom of pregnancy and it is caused by the enlarging womb pressing up against the stomach, and women report that laying down, stooping, or bending brings on attacks. It is relieved by laying on the back with the head and chest slightly elevated).
Click in an out of diagram to see the effects of slouching
When a person with a stooped spine and a deep chest leans forward the breastbone moves away from the spine so the stomach is protected When a person with a stooped spine from harm. Note the deep chested and a shallow shallow chest leans profile of Luciano Pavarotti and the forwards the torso buckles at the midrifff power in his voice that comes from and the pointed tip of the dagger shaped the air in his large lungs passing sternum stabs or digs into the junction through the vocal chords in his of the stomach and foodpipe. throat.
Other types of abdominal pain occurs because the lower ribs and the lower rib (or costal) cartilage of the rib cage press and dig back into the liver and colon and that process then pushes the structures behind them against the back ribs. Consequently there may be tenderness or soreness in the muscles and anatomy on the left and right side of the front of the chest at, or just above or just below the lower rib line, and a variety of pains along the track of the transverse colon, especially on the extreme left or righ sides, and tenderness or soreness in the left and right kidney area and the back muscles at the same level of the torso. Pain occurs whenever an anatomical tubular structure is blocked because a biological reflex makes the preceding section of the tube go into spasm in an attempt to squeeze the contents forward with greater pressure in order to force it past the blockage. Hence a lot of pain will be experienced if a kidney stone blocks the ureter tube which drains it, and similarly sustained postural pressure on the bends of the colon may start a sequel of blockage, spasm, and pain. Severe abdominal pains: After being aggravated by such minor problems as leaning forward repeatedly , or jarring the stomach while digging in the garden, there may follow a period of several months of severe pain. During those periods the pain remains unabated from day to day for weeks or months until it eventually subsides with time, and may be accompanied by severe constipation, severe bowel cramps, multiple sites of diverticula pin head sized pains along the entire track of the colon, sore or frank protruding hemorrhoids, constipative evacuations which on some occasions tear and put split lesions in the ring of the anus to produce bright red streaks of blood in the excreta, and muco-membranous colitis with the passage of opaque slithers of the gut lining. Those pains do not respond effectively to any form of treatment or medication, which is why many patients avoid the minor aggravating factors as a means of prevention. However, in most cases, even when the symptoms are severe, there is still no x-ray evidence of disease, so many doctors trivialise it and treat it as if it is mere indigestion because they either don't believe, or can't understand or comprehend what the patient is complaining about. The condition is not, or rarely associated with, or aggravated by anxiety, and can occur, and persist when a person is perfectly calm.
The abdominal symptoms are associated with and, or involve varying degrees of colon spasm which is referred to as Irritable Bowel Syndrome , and were previously regarded as psychosomatic disorders involving "learned Illness Behavior" until the discovery of bacterial and other abnormalities in the colon in the 1990's. Since then that diagnostic criteria has not been applied to this category of illnesses, and by association are not applicable to the other symptoms of DaCosta's syndrome. See:(IBS 4.1, 27-12-07). Kidney ache - This is a dull ache in the area behind the kidneys, either in the back muscles or the kidneys themselves. It can occur after sitting at a desk and leaning forward for several hours and starts on one side, but if the activity continues the ache will start on the other side as well. It sometimes seems to be followed by alterations in urinary function and the development of kidney stones. The ache is also brought on by exposure to cold breezes which is why it occurs more often in winter. As a general rule winter produces cold breezes and summer produces warm air, but sometimes when walking in summer with a cold sea breeze blowing on the back the chill in the breeze will make one kidney ache, and soon after the next, and once induced the aches will persist for days or weeks after. This problem can be prevented by wearing a padded vest over the kidneys. The effects of pressure on the kidneys is evident by the fact that people who are having kidney x-rays are required to have a dye injected in their blood so that the trace of the dye passing through the kidneys to the bladder will show up on the image. Patients are asked to lay flat during the x-ray procedure, because, if they slouch, the postural pressure will compress the kidney sand their tubing and interfere with the flow of the dye. When Benjamin Franklin was 80 years old he had problems with kidney or bladder stones where he wrote "my sitting at the desk had already almost killed me" and "the stone gave me much pain, wounded my bladder and occasioned me to make bloody urine" and said "when I attempted to write the pain would interrupt my train of thinking" and that he had good health except "being only troubled with the stone which sometimes gave me more than a little pain and prevented my going in a carriage where there are pavements" and sometime later he even had trouble with the pain when standing or walking. (when a kidney stone blocks a hollow tubular structure the walls of the tube go into powerful and painful spasm in an attempt to force the fluid within it past the blockage. Pain occurs if the stone doesn't move and the pressure increases. Postural pressure which occurs when leaning toward a desk would increase the pressure in the fluid, as would the bouncing up and down action of a carriage going over potholes etc, or in severe cases the simple act of lifting the feet up and down as the person walks could have a similar effect.
A summary of The Posture Theory and Da Costa's Syndrome
The symptoms described above are more consistent to those of Da Costa's Syndrome than any other ailment. When studying the symptoms individually there were a lot of apparent differences which sometimes seemed contradictory. For example, the faintness could be caused by standing up suddenly, the dizziness by bending the neck to look upwards, and one of the chest pains could be caused by cranking a car engine, and another type by jogging up and down along beach sand. The stomach pain could be caused by wearing a tight belt all day, or by tieing up shoe laces, and was more likely to occur in relation to various foods in the diet, and the kidney ache could be brought on by exposure of the back to cold breezes. The breathlessness is more likely to occur when jogging, the palpitations can be relieved by a glass of alcohol, and the fatigue involves problems with sleep and exertion. However, there is one factor which is common to all of those symptoms, and that is that at some time or other, in some way or other, they could all be caused by leaning forward, particularly in activities which require repeatedly leaning forward. Most people are involved in activities which require them to lean forward but they don't get such symptoms and that is because, most people have reasonably straight spines and reasonably deep chests. By contrast patients with DaCosta's syndrome are typically thin and stooped and they have flat chests. It is their physique which causes the problem because when they lean forward their torso bends at the lower rib line and the breastbone is pushed backwards. Consequently when they lean forward they strain their spine and compress their chest and abdomen and everything within to cause the main symptoms of chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, faintness, and fatigue, and many others not so typical or so commonly seen. Essentially the symptoms are disposed to - and, or- caused by any combination of factors which compress the chest, and restrict it's size, and thereby compound the mechanical pressure on the rib cage and chest cavity, such as a stooped spine, and small and thin chest, and in some cases, the enlarging womb of pregnancy, and tight waist bands, belts, or corsets, and are more likely to occur in any long term activity which involves repeatedly leaning forward. Hence the study of those symptoms became a study of DaCosta's Syndrome, and then The Posture Theory, and then the theory became a study of Posture and Health.
The typical face, build, and posture of Da Costa's Syndrome

Pictured above: A Life-sized portrait painted by Ian Tillard features the typical face, build, and posture of a patient with Da Costa's Syndrome. It was displayed in the Museum of the Post-Graduate Medical School of London. (As far as I am aware it was considered so important that it was on display for several decades - some of the observers of that painting must have noticed the possibility that the physique was a significant determining factor in causing the typical symptoms, but no-one took it any further, or had any influence on the literature of the topic). Reference: P.Wood, O.B.E. (1956) Diseases of the Heart and Circulation, 2nd edition, p. 941. The stooped spine, thin physique, and sloping shoulders are evident by the crinkling of the coat which can be seen in the painting and has been used as a visual guide to the diagnosis of kyphosis which otherwise goes unnoticed. Individuals with such a physique typically lean on tables and support the weight of their head and shoulders with their elbows, and their breathing generally requires more effort because each time they breath in, the head and shoulders are pushed upwards, and when they breath out, the head and shoulders fall. Hence there is constant strain on the diaphram muscle acting sixteen times every minute of the waking day, which is made worse in the seated position, and particularly when the upward movement of the diaphram is opposed by leaning forward. Children who develop such posture due to poor nutrition or illness when they were young typically grow up to be sickly and miserable adults because of all of their health problems, which is reflected in the mans face above. M.B. See also reference number 73 by scrolling down here
Tight Belts
In the nineteenth century it was common practice for some of the soldiers of most armies to create a broad shouldered appearance by tightening their belts to narrow their waist, which would have restricted their capacity for deep breathing, which is required during exertion, such as marching at double quick pace with a heavy, fully laden knapsack strapped to their shoulders. M.B. For a diagram of tight belts compressing the waist in military uniforms see here
A typical Da Costa's patient

Including the past and present physique, health, and personal history He was generally aged 30, and previously did clerical work but was currently unemployed, He had a thin build and long chest, was never robust, got frequent sore throats and colds as a child, had his tonsils and appendix out, and was "unable to sit and lie quietly". He also had a weak stomach, and had his kidneys damaged by Scarlet fever, and there were frequent fluctuations in the color and volume of his urine. "He has always been nervous and easily fatigued", and he "was never allowed" to take part in competitive sports and has felt inferior physically to others of his own age. He 'never got over' his attack of grippe three years ago, and since then has had gradually increasing pain in his heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, faintness and weakness. All of his symptoms are made worse by exertion or nervous strain". . .the breathlessness "is not true air hunger, but literally a 'shortness of breath,' a feeling that deep breath cannot be achieved. The patient usually localizes this sensation in the chest wall itself" . . . "which seems unable to expand normally", and this produces frequent sighing, which "is not commonly present in patients with organic heart disease", and is important in making that distinction in diagnosis . . . and "many theories" have been used in the past to explain the cause of the syndrome, and have since been disproven or applied ot "a selected group of cases". There had been widely varying opinions which may each have a "fragment of truth". The 1939 author mentioned ten which included "Pressure from clothing". Reference: Caugney J.L. Jnr., M.D. (April 1939), Cardiovascular Neurosis; A review. Psychosomatic Medicine,Vol.1 No.3, April 1939
Da Costa's Syndrome and the medical research literature

"Da Costa's Syndrome . . . common among solders" . . . Bouts of palpitations, dizziness, chest pain, breathlessness etc . . . "Hard field service was the chief assignable cause in 34.5% of cases . . . as in case 110 after a march of 26 miles in one day . . . " "Undoubtedly, the waist belt, but particularly the knapsack, may have had something to do with aggravating the trouble, but I could find no proof that they had produced it". . . .. "The pulse is always greatly and rapidly influenced by position . . . Dizziness was often complained of". It was increased by stooping (case 44); by exercise (case 57) or by laying on the left side in some cases or on the right side or the back in others. For treatment . . . "Their equipments be such as will not unnecessarily constrict and thus retard or prevent recovery". Case 48 enlisted aged 17 with a thin chest of 27 inches, and suffered dizziness, cardiac pain, shortness of breath, and palpitations while on picket duty, and on one occasion while marching when he dropped out and discarded his knapsack and extra clothing, yet still struggled to keep up with the regiment. He was hospitalised and recovered but recommended for the veteran reserve. When examined in civilian practice 8 years later he was a tall, broad chested man who had spent most of the intervening years working in the open air as a mounted soldier. He only had two bouts of palpitations associated with bilious spells, and occasional colds, and otherwise had perfect health with no other symptoms at all, and could run up and down stairs without getting short of breath. Reference: Da Costa J.M. (January 1871), On Irritable Heart, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences p.18-52 Da Costa's Syndrome . . . "It is concluded that there is some association between left thoracic (chest) pain, and poor diaphragmatic or lower thoracic movement. (The diaphragm doesn't rise completely when exhaling and the lower chest has poor expansion). A more severe left-sided chest pain can be brought on by "strain of certain muscular attachments involved in such actions as cranking a lorry or lifting a heavy weight". Reference: Wood P. (May 24th 1941) Da Costa's Syndrome, The British Medical Journal, Vol.1, 1941 p.767-772 Da Costa's Syndrome . . . "In some the chest is long and narrow, or flattened and associated with a kyphotic (stooped) curve ... slight in build ... chest wall deformities ... (the condition affects) ... sedentary town dwellers ... commoner in women" . . . "the pulse shows an exaggerated reaction to posture" . . . "there is "breathlessnes" and "suspected - alteration in the character of the blood "acidosis as produced by CO2, or lactic acid) as a causative factor. Fatigue was an almost universal complaint." . . . "these symptoms and signs are largely, in some cases wholly, the exaggerated physiological response to exercise". . . prompting the name "effort syndrome". Reference: Wooley C.F. (May 1976) Where are the Diseases of Yesteryear, Circulation p. 749-751.
One of the reasons for the difficulty and disputes in understanding the important effect of posture on health is because, in the past it has been considered in relation to two dimensional, black and white, x-ray images taken in the stationary position at any single point in time. My theory takes into account 1. The effect in three dimensions, and 2. the effect on internal anatomy, and 3. the effect on the human body while it static, and how the effect is different when it is in motion, and 4. the difference in the effect of occasional movements, repetitive movements, and over short and long period of time, months or years, and 5. the information that has been accumulating throughout history. I have studied literature from the past, and have translated 17th century concepts into modern language, and am familiar with medical language, but have written my ideas in plain English to make it easier for as many people as possible to understand. M.B. The seventeenth century intellectual elite referred to the plagues of influenza being spread by the sprinkling of star dust, to the mind being influenced by the moon, and the symptoms being due to the imbalances of the liquids of melancholy and the effect of evil spirits which were the finer fluids formed by the bodies boiling of others. It impressed the world in general and their were grains of truth in it all, as there is in the modern concepts, but my critics don't seem to see any faults in their own ideas and lack the practical merit of my ideas. They can impress other people with their jargon, but they can't solve problems, unless, like me, they look at practical outcomes.
The differences and improvements in consideration
Harrison's Principle's of Internal Medicine 6th edition p.817. McGraw Hill Book Co., New York. (kypho means hunchback, and scoliosis means sideways curvature of the spine, and kyphoscoliosis is the combined feature. see also here
When I became interested in the medical literature the cause of the slouched or hunchback posture was unknown in more than 80% of cases. For example . . . "Approximately 85% of cases of kyphoscoliosis are of unknown cause" Reference Wintrobe M.M.et.al (editors) (1970)
The basic problem in the study of posture and health
Since then I have written a theory and published a 1000 page book on the subject. The problem of acquiring the knowledge that is needed to understand the relationship between posture and health is the limitation of the scientific method which would require a person to walk around with a two ton X-ray machine strapped to their back, together with probes and leads from the body to a computer, to monitor the changes that occurred for 24 hours a day, every day for fifty years. Until that happens the subject has to be considered with careful study, experience, and the power of logic and reason. People who do not accept that self-evident
fact are worse than useless. It leaves a climate of doubt about whether pain is real or imagined, and all of the consequences that are avoidable by science and imposed on the 80%. THE BASIC ANSWER
Many years ago I walked into a building full of people with chronic fatigue, and noticed that they did not all have the typical stooped physique that I expected, so I gave the matter some thought and came to the conclusion that there must be different causes. In fact there are many diseases which have multiple causes, such as heart disease which can be caused by drinking excess alcohol, smoking too much tobacco, eating too much fatty food, or stress, and the condition is more likely to occur in individuals who combine those factors. I have also met individuals who complained of chronic fatigue, but they also played vigorous sport or climbed mountains, whereas individuals with Da Costa's syndrome find it impossible to do strenuous exercise. I therefore thought about that and eventually came to the conclusion that there must be at least two types of chronic fatigue syndrome. The first major group is Sleep disorders where the main symptom is tiredness but the individuals have the normal capacity for exercise, and the second is Conditions that are primarily exercise disorders which also include problems with tiredness. I am sure that many people who have read about the Posture Theory, would be skeptical about it, because they didn't read enough to understand the reason for the "apparent" discrepancies.
Poor posture can't be the only cause of chronic fatigue
Avis Films Inc. (2008) Posture Pals, YouTube video, with assistance from The Burbank Unified School District and The Los Angeles City School Districts Health Services Branch, Corrective Physical Education Section This humorous video provides a useful account of the teaching of posture in schools of the past. The recognition of the importance of posture education has varied from insignificant to crucial from teacher to teacher, school to school, country to country, and decade to decade for the past 100 years, reflecting the differences of opinion relating to the lack of absolute proof about the relationship between cause and effect. This relates to the fact that human anatomy is covered by a layer of skin, so children and adults cannot see the internal function of the body. It would therefore be useful if someone could produce an animated 3D YouTube video of the changing shape of internal organs when the person has different postures - kyphosis, scoliosis, or lordosis, and long, narrow, flat, or receding chests, and what happens when the sternum has a forward or reverse angle when the person leans forward at the waist or hips, and what happens when the person slouches and the spine and sternum twists as the hand moves from left to right, and down as they write, and what happens when they wear high heel shoes. and compress their waist with tight waisted belts or corsets. The Posture Theory Challenge: To produce such a vide (When you are watching the You Tube video called Posture Pals, you will be able to see that the teacher was wearing high heel shoes, and a tight waisted dress which would have adversely affected her own posture and health).
A humorous posture education video on YouTube
Poor posture is primarily caused by poor nutrition, and infectious illnesses involving weight loss during childhood here The other main factors which contribute in combination with those two are the mechanical forces on the spine and the duration of those force such as carrying heavy kit bags too and from school for half a mile or more, each morning and afternoon during the period of school life - up to 7 years at primary school, and 5 years at high school, or up to a total of 12 years. Described in the YouTube video here Poor posture combined with chest shape influences the number and severity of symptoms here Compression of the chest damages peripheral vessels, which is the cause of chronic fatigue here Chronic faigue is due to reduced physical capacity for exercise here Mechanical factors such as tight belts, corsets, chest straps, and shoulder binders can alter the shape of the skeleton and cause poor posture
here
Aspects of The Posture Theory which distinguish it from other theories
Bending at the waist with a flat chest pushes the lower tip of the sternum into the esphageal and stomach junction to cause esophageal achalasia here The severity of fatigue can be determined by tilt table tests and aerobic exercise tests here Exercise within limits may reduce, but not always cure chronic fatigue here Poor posture strains the spinal muscles and compresses the chest and abdomen to cause multiple symptoms (not just back pain) here
The following information was added to this website after several Wikipedia editors asked me to provide details about my own research and publications, and to make it available online so that it would be easy for them to check. In 1969 I was a gymnastics instructor and was offered three scholarships to do youth leadership training in the Group Work course at the South Australian Institute of Technology. The first was from the National Fitness Council of Australia, N.S.W. HQ. ("responsible for . . . the organisation of training courses in physical education"), which was followed by a South Australian State Govenrment Department of Community Welfare offer of full time study on full salary, and then a Commonwealth Government offer for part time study over four years, which I accepted, and completed. In 1975 I became interested in fitness and fatigue research, and in 1981 I approached Tony Sedgewick, Head of the S.A. Institute for Fitness Research and Training, which was associated with the University of Adelaide, I discussed the international research problem of not being able to get useful data on fatigue patients, because they either refused to train, or dropped out of the programmes too soon to get meaningful results. He asked me to develop a methodology for solving the problem, and a few months later I provided him with a programme design to consider, and the principles were (1) The condition involved different degrees of severity, (2) the patients should train within their own limits, and (3) they should improve at their own rate. I was then invited to co-ordinate a research study on the subject, which initially involved obtaining a small research grant from the South Australian State Government Department of Recreation of Sport, establishing a programme committee, and recruiting trainees with fatigue through newspaper articles. The medical examinations were conducted by two of the institutes research cardiologists. Over the next two years the IFRT received more than 200 enquiries, and 80 patients were medically assessed, and their exertional capacity was measured using standard scientifically reliable graphs of pulse over load on an ergometric cycle. 9 participants completed training which consisted of light exercise, and walking or jogging for two hours, for two nights per week, for three months or more, and 5 completed 6 months or more. The results showed (1) those who didn't train stayed at the same ergometic capacity (2) three improved for 3 months and then leveled out below standard levels, and (3) one improved slowly for the first 3 months, and then significantly improved in the second term. In one group six individuals trained in the same class for three months and their position from first to sixth while walking or jogging around the oval corresponded to their measured aerobic capacity. A lifestyle questinairre was also included at the outset, and those who had previously changed and restricted their lifestyle because of their fatigue were found to have low to very low aerobic measurements, and those who did not need to change lifestyle had average to above ergometric results. A general account of the results were reported in the major newspapers in 4 of the 6 Australian states between 1982 and 1983. Some years later, when reviewing the results I came to the conclusion that the mixed data was the result of recruiting patients with fatigue, which, in relation to the dual meaning of the word, would bring 3 different groups to the programme (1) those with sleep disorders who were abnormally tired (2) those who had a physical disorder which affected their capacity for exertion, and (3) those who had a mixture of both. (The research design principles, results, references, charts, and 48 interviews on cause and symptoms can be seen here) Nowadays (2008) similar programmes have been implemented and assessed with several studies showing variable results, where some patients benefit from the programme and others have problems. In the latter case it is probably because they increase their exercise levels at too fast a rate, or exceed their limits and experience the type of symptoms that deter them from continuing. That could be prevented by voluntary participation, with the indivivual initially walking at a casual pace of their choice, and progressing at their own rate, if and when possible. The condition involves varying degrees of severity from person to person and day to day which requires progress, if any, to be flexible, rather than regulated or expected according to an orderly gradient of improvement, with the person free to choose to stop training, if and when they reach a level of improvement that ceases to benefit from additional training, or to remain at that level as part of a maintenance programme. Other groups of patients, such as those with asthma, arthritis, obesity, or heart disease, may also be limited in their capacity for exertion, but to a different degree, and for different reasons. M.B. *** Graded Exercise Therapy, or "GET is one of the most common treatments for CFS" (chronic fatigue syndrome) Another similar method of treatment which relates to keeping within exercise and lifestyle limits is called "pacing" and there are several versions of it based on the general principle of "Self-controlled rest and exercise". "Self-controlled rest and exercise, "pacing": "Pacing" is being advocated by many patients as one of the few really effective means of minimising homeostatic disequilibrium. The principles involve acceptance of the patient's limitations (by both the patient and any coaches), awareness of the early signals of deterioration e.g. increased cognitive difficulties, pain, clumsiness, muscle weakness, respiratory problems; and stopping exercise/activity before exceeding limitation or "crashing." A good rule of thumb is to never exert more than 70% of capacity. An understanding nurse, doctor or physical therapist may be of help." Reference 1 : Hurst, J.W.; R.B.Logue, R.C.Schlant, N.K.Wenber (1974). The Heart 3rd. edition. New York: McGraw Hill Book Co.,, 1552-1555 - The authors of this paper stated "Attempts by Cohen and his associates to alter these abnormalities by physical training were unsuccessful since the patients could not or would not follow the prescribed training programme." and commented that previous studies of a small number of patients by Holmgren in 1959 and Levander-Lindgren in 1964 has shown that training programmes had shown some benefits. It was the comment that these patients "would not or could not train" that prompted me to design a programme that patients "could and would train" if they were instructed to train within their own limits. Reference 2: Wikipedia, Chronic fatigue syndrome, history of edits, 18:38, 27-9-07, 5.1.2. Reference 3. E.M. Goudsmit, Howes S. (2008), Pacing: A strategy to improve energy management in chronic fatigue syndrome, Health Psychology Update (BPS), 2008, 17, 1, 46-52. See also Wikipedia "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 2.3, & 2,4, & 5.1.2" (30-12-07), and click on the history tab and scroll down to the date 3012-07, and the end of 5.1.2 to see the "pacing" paragraph, which was deleted from the wikipedia CFS page at 11:22 on 5-1-08. Note that the links will now only lead to the current page on CFS where the pacing details have been removed. Wikipedia (1-1-08) - CFS ref.. 178. The "Gibson Report" Report of the Group on Scientific Research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (2006)
About The Author
Wikipedia (1-1-08) - CFS ref. 188. Peter D White, Michael C Sharpe, Trudie Chalder, Julia C DeCesare, Rebecca Walwyn for the PACE trial group (2007). "Protocol for the PACE trial: A randomised controlled trial of adaptive pacing, cognitive behaviour therapy, and graded exercise as supplements to standardised specialist medical care versus standardised specialist medical care alone for patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis or encephalopathy.". BMC Neurology 7:6. DOI 10.1186/1471-2377-7-6. See also: Better Connect Channel (20-1-08) - Chronic fatigue syndrome and Exercise:: Health and medical information for consumers, quality assured by the Victorian government (Australia). see also: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 17th edition. New York U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 2703=2704. The text of this summary links the former term "effort syndrome" to the modern condition of "chronic fatigue syndrome" and refers to graded exercise regimes which have "proven" effective in relieving symptoms and improving exercise tolerance. See also; The Disease of a Thousand Names Compiled on-line by medical consumer Malissa Kaplan, last updated April 19, 2007. "The cause of CFS is unknown, although a large number of causes have been proposed, and several proposed causes have very vocal and partisan advocates. In a basic overview of CFS for health professionals, the CDC states that "After more than 3,000 research studies, there is now abundant scientific evidence that CFS is a real physiological illness."[50] The cause of CFS may be different for different patients, but if so, the various causes may result in a common clinical outcome." Reference: Wikipedia, Chronic fatigue syndrome, 10:21, 8-1-07, 3. and, ref: (50) CDC - CFS Basic Overview (PDF file, 31 KB), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/ and
http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/cfssymptomsHCP.htm
Chronic fatigue syndrome includes a large range of ailments which involve the symptom of fatigue as one of the main features. Throughout the history of these conditions there have been differences of opinions and controversies about cause and nature, between doctors from one specialty to another, and from those who believe it is "all in the mind" to those who think it is physical, and from doctor to patient, and from one individual or group of patients to another. It appears as if different causes are being argued about as if they relate to the same condition, so in order to clarify the difference between anxiety, sleep, or exertional disorders, for example, it is necessary to clearly, accurately, and precisely identify each of the many sub-types of which Da Costa's syndrome is one of the exertional disorders, where the patients do not necessarily have a fear of exertion or heart disease, and they don't necessarily have agoraphobia or panic attacks, and are not necessarily depressed or having nightmares, and may or may not have recollection of previous exposure to viral infections or toxic chemicals, etc. M.B.
The Posture Theory 11th edition

Published by the books author M.A. Banfield, Unit 6, No.6 Hartman Ave, Modbury, South +61 (08) 82635735 , email: posture@chariot.net.au Australia 5092. Ph.
Book Details:1005 page hardback: 300 illustrations: 180 references: 2,500 index entries. Cost per book, A $64.50 within Australia, U.S. $57.90 to other countries, and these costs include postage. You may purchace the book by posting a cheque or money order to the above address (overseas buyers will need to send a bank cheque).
Ordering information
*** Various editions of The Posture Theory are also available in many Australian and overseas public and academic libraries. ***
Please note that the title "The Posture Theory" is my copyright and has been so for more than twenty five years, and as such I would appreciate other authors not using it to describe their own concepts, and that if you use my ideas that you acknowledge the source. It refers to an essay that I wrote in 1980, and to essays and books that I have written since. Thank you. M.B
ISBN 0 9585390 2 2
Links
Links to other wsites about posture

The Alexander Technique Posture Page Posture video by Aaron Parnell Posture diagrams The Washington Post A website about posture Hunchback posture and ergonomics Posture and tuberculosis Ergonomic sitting posture Posture is important Posture and foot deformity correction and here Napoleon's
Sport Posture
Womens The PostureJac a posture by Shoulder health and posture strap jacket for Aline Personal improving posture Training Evolution and posture 1928 Posture and breathing NASA posture
"The Posture Theory, Summary of a 1000 page book on posture and health" Posture Pals by W.K.Gregory Computer posture at school website Posture and backpack weight studies Posture assessment Grids hemmorrhoids
Teachers and posture
google excite altavista Search Engine Submission - AddMe ozsearch
McGraw Hill Education

http://www.tmhshop.com
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"The Posture Theory, Summary of a 1000 page book on posture and health"

Posture Theory Index Since 23-11-2001

THE POSTURE THEORY

The Definition of the word Posture:

http://users.chariot.net.au/~posture/#CauseOfPoorPosture[8/25/2011 4:40:06 PM]

Birthing chair Breastbone angle

The Posture Theory - an overview

and and and and

here here here here

Childbirth: painful here Children and posture

and here and here and here

and here and here

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The Posture Theory Website Index

The Posture Theory

The Causes of poor posture

The Posture Theory Controversy

Children, Education and Posture

DA COSTA'S SYNDROME and CFS History

Lies and statistics in Wikipedia

Semmelweis and lessons from empirical theory

Posture and Agoraphobia

here Jaw joint Kidney aches and stones Kidney displacement

An explanation of The Posture Theory diagram

Kyphosis (hunchback) Larynx and posture Leg length

The Posture Theory diagram summarises an idea that took

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The angles of pressure

The list of symptoms in the diagram

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Sedentary work Shakespeare Shallow breathing

here Sir Thomas Lewis Sitting correctly at desks and computers

and here and here and here

the test here

and here and here

Viral infections and posture Vitamin D deficiency Voice problems

and here and here

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Diagnosis of postural problems

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Soldier's heart Stevenson, Robert Louis References

The prevention and treatment of posture related problems

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Some notes on using braces and straps to correct postural problems

The importance of early treatment and correction of postural deformities

Some notes on education

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The causes of poor posture

Corset Design Stoop

A list of the various causes of poor posture

Chest shape stoop

Corset Design Stoop Darkroom Stoop Dentist's Stoop

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Foot Deformity Stoop

Heavy breasts stoop

Pregnancy Stoop Shoulder Binding Stoop

Slouchers Stoop Stiletto Stoop Tall Boy's Stoop

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YouTube Videso on the causes of poor posture

The main causes of poor posture

The Banfield Principles of Posture Development

Poor posture and health - The cause or effect question

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