There is a growth in the incidence of degenerative-dystrophic illnesses of the spine, and the excessive loadings of the spinal column characteristic of some kinds of sport contribute to this process. With a view to the prevention and cure of spinal diseases and restoring the spine’s functional condition, in recent years widespread use has been made of treatments without medicaments which is particularly important for sportsmen. To choose the most suitable method of treatment it is necessary to study the sanogenetic mechanisms. We have therefore examined the functional effects of using the training autogravitational device (UTA), a modification of the prophylactic/remedial ‘KVS’/bed. During the research a study was made of patients’ subjective status (‘pain-discomfort’ on a 10-points register: 0-absence of any unpleasant sensations, 10 points – unbearable pain); their anthropometrical characteristics (body mass, height); the condition of the vegetative regulation of the organism (Kerdo index); static stability (two-weights test); mobility of the spine according to S. V. Migachev. During tests in which volunteers and sufferers from degenerative-dystrophic spinal diseases took part it was found that even a single stretching leads to an improvement in the spine’s functional condition which, however, lasts in most cases for fewer than 24 hours. To obtain a stable result it is necessary to conduct a course of treatment. The treatment results in an authentic decrease of pain and discomfort. Moreover the scope of the effect is directly connected by inverse logarithmic link with the number of procedures. The objective index of success in restoring the spine’s functional condition is an increase in height. A study of the dynamic of that increase showed an authentic connection with the number of corrective procedures. Research into distribution of this index in dynamic helped to establish that the stable increase in height for the majority of patients was registered the day following 9-10 procedures. With the help of the two-weights test an indirect study was made of the regulation of the body’s static, and the asymmetrical distribution of the loading testified to static disorder. The asymmetry regularly decreased during UTA treatment, depending on the number of procedures. In our opinion this testifies to the positive reconstruction of movement stereotype. The coefficient of the asymmetry reached a minimal value by 10-11 procedures. The treatment contributes to the normalization of vegetative status by the end of the correction course for the majority of participants. During treatment the positive dynamic of the spinal mobility was observed. To all appearances the effect of UTA treatment is the elimination of pathological overloading of the spine and on this basis the sanogenetic reconstruction of the patient’s movement stereotype is reached by the tenth stretching procedure. UTA provides a positive effect for the majority of people with a range of weight-height parameters exceeding 95% of corresponding biometric indexes for sportsmen. UTA can be employed successfully for the prevention and correction of disorders of sportsmen’s spinal columns.
 
Medical Centre ‘Life Without Medicine’, Moscow; State Scientific Research and Experimental Institute of Military Medicine MDRF, Moscow.