WebMD reports how chiropractic cuts blood pressure

A chiropractic study run by Dr. George Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center shows that chiropractic adjustments lower blood pressure. This makes sense given what we know about neurology, physiology, and anatomy and the effect of chiropractic adjustments on receptor systems in the autonomic nervous system, but it's great to have the scientifc studies to back it up! Granted this was only a small study but it's a step in the right direction and hopefully it will be expanded upon.

WebMD reports how chiropractic cuts blood pressure

September 22, 2008 — Studies and research regarding the chiropractic adjustment are being performed more and more to show the validity of chiropractic. WebMD has recently released information showing a special chiropractic adjustment called the Atlas Adjustment, can significantly lower high blood pressure. “This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination,” study leader George Bakris, MD, told WebMD. “And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems,” added Dr. Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center.

Research showed that eight weeks after undergoing the procedure, 25 patients with early-stage high blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure than 25 similar patients who underwent a sham chiropractic adjustment. Because patients are unable to feel the technique, they could not tell which group they were in. WebMD reported that patients that got the real procedure saw an average 14 mm Hg greater drop in systolic blood pressure and an average 8 mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure. None of the patients took blood pressure medicine during the eight-week study.

Dr. Bakris notes that some researchers have suggested that injury to the Atlas vertebra can affect blood flow in the arteries at the base of the skull. Dr. Dickholtz thinks the misaligned triggers release of signals that make the arteries contract. Whether the procedure actually fixes the injuries is unknown, Bakris says.

Source: Parker College of Chiropractic, www.parkercc.edu