Radhika and Dudhika Nayak (known as the Orissa twins) were conjoined twins born in 1889 in the Indian province of Orissa.  In 1902, at the age of 13, Dudhika contracted tuberculosis.  A medical doctor by the name of Professor Doyen attempted to separate them.  Unfortunately, Dudhika died, but her sister Radhika remained completely healthy and survived.

Tuberculosis is considered to be a highly infectious and potentially lethal disease affecting the respiratory system, caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis.  How is it possible that only one twin contracted this infection, despite being in such close proximity to each other?

Radhika and Dudhika Nayak

Then there is the case of the conjoined twins Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova, born in Russia in 1950.  The sisters shared an interconnected blood supply and immune system but had separate central nervous systems.  Despite sharing an immune system, the twins reacted to illness completely differently.  Dasha was prone to colds and had measles during her childhood, while her sister Masha remained completely healthy.

Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova

Finally, there is the story of the conjoined twin’s Rosa and Josepha Blazek, who were born in 1878.  Just like Masha and Dasha, Rose and Josepha had an interconnected blood supply and immune system but had separate central nervous systems.  In February of 1922, Rosa first became ill with a cough, which then developed into influenza.  Josepha was unaffected.  Three weeks later, Rosa had convalesced, but within days, Josepha experienced severe abdominal pain and jaundice from inflammation and swelling of the gall bladder, diagnosed as cholecystitis.

Rosa and Josepha Blazek

Conjoined twins experiencing separate illnesses didn’t make sense within the infectious model of disease and these stories continue to challenge medical researchers today.

How is it that the disease of influenza, tuberculosis, or measles was not spread to the other twin, given that they were in such close and constant proximity to each other and shared an immune system and blood supply?

Why didn’t the original source of infection infect both of them?

In these cases, the twins shared a blood supply and immune system but had separate nervous systems.  Could the nervous system play a more significant role in the development of illness than we currently understand?  Chiropractors maintain that the mystery is revealed once we realize that the individuals, though sharing much in common, each had their own separate nervous systems from which they perceive the world.  Differences in nervous system function can explain differences in health and wellness.

How important are the brain and nervous system in the cause of health & disease?  The nervous system could be more important than we ever imagined.

 

From Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine – Issue #73