This article will be in response to a comment I received regarding chiropractic adjustments and hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure. Many studies have shown that chiropractic is an adequate treatment for high blood pressure due to the effects of the adjustment on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems of the body. This article is one of many that reinforces this concept. The first section will be a summary of the article in my own words. The second section will be my opinion on how the article affects chiropractic as a profession.

Most individuals who are treated for hypertension need multiple medications. According to this study, 70% of people with hypertension require 2 medications. The knowledge that is demonstrated in this study has been known since the 1940's and is only recently being reopened for study.

The atlas is the first vertebra in the cervical spine and when it is misaligned it can place pressure directly on the brainstem. The point of the brainstem it may contact controls the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of the body. The area that is specifically compressed is the left lateral rostral medulla oblongata. This was found in 51 of 53 patients with hypertension. Surgically, pressure was removed from this structure by removing the cranium and 76% of the patients with hypertension returned to normal. Further studies have noted an even greater proportion of medulla compression with hypertensive patients.

This study is a double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial. All of the patients were randomly assorted into groups and were taken off blood pressure medication for 2 weeks prior to beginning the study. The interventions were as follows:

Adjustment intervention included an atlas adjustment according to supine leg length checks and x-ray analysis as based on the NUCCA technique. These assessments were performed on each patient and used to analyze the direction of the thrust to be applied.

The sham group was analyzed and set up for an adjustment in the same process. The sham group was not set up on the atlas and was not given an actual adjustment.

The results showed a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure for the adjustment group. The blood pressure dropped 13.2 mmHg systolic and 7.6 mmHg diastolic. An additional finding was that the blood pressure changes lasted for approximately 8 weeks after the adjustment. Regular monitoring and re-x-ray in accordance to the NUCCA technique found that the atlas adjustment held for 8 weeks as well.

Most single hypertensive medications will give the patient a drop in hypertension of 8 mmHg. Given these findings, it indicates that an adjustment of the atlas vertebrae will in effect become the equivalent of giving two anti-hypertensive medications however this is an alternative without adverse events potentially occurring.

There were no adverse effects from any of these chiropractic adjustments and none of the patients that were treated had neck pain.

Bakris, G., Dickholtz, M. Sr., Meyer P.M., Kravitz G., Avery E., Miller M., Brown J., Woodfield C., Bell B. Atlas vertebra realignment and achievement of arterial pressure goal in hypertensive patients: a pilot study. J Hum Hypertens  (2007), 21, 347–352

This article provides interesting information regarding a common medical problem in society today. Hypertension is a common disorder that increases the pressure of the blood throughout the body. Hypertension is one of the leading causes of kidney failure in this country. This article shows that one of the major factors in hypertension, or high blood pressure, involves the misalignment or subluxation of the first vertebrae of the spine. By adjusting this vertebra and removing the pressure from the brainstem the hypertension may be reduced.

There are a few things we can draw from this article that are also important. Blood pressure is regulated by the nervous system in part due to the parasympathetic and sympathetic nerve impulses on the heart. When there is an increased sympathetic response in the body it can stimulate the heart to have an increased pressure in contractility, higher blood pressure. By reducing the sympathetic response in the body the heart can go back to its normal function.

We know that subluxations cause an increase in sympathetic response or tone in the body. This sympathetic tone causes increased stress hormones as well as decreased immune function among other things. The upper cervical spine is specific to parasympathetic response and can alter the function of the autonomic nervous system. When there is a subluxation of the upper cervical spine it may lead to a dysfunction of the parasympathetic regulatory mechanisms causing high blood pressure.

The body is constantly struggling to maintain balance. When one thing goes out of balance it causes other areas to adapt and correct this dysfunction. We call this interference a subluxation.

The upper cervical spine is especially important. There are millions of nerve fibers that pass directly from the brain through the opening in the atlas during its initial journey through the spinal column. When the first bone in the spine is subluxated it can create an increased hydrostatic pressure of the spinal cord and affect the pressure sensitive tissue of the cord and the brainstem.

This area directly controls the normal functions of the body including but not limited to breathing, heart regulation, and other housekeeping tasks. By removing the interference at the beginning of the spinal cord it can allow the body to function at a higher level and re-regulate the nervous system control over the heart.

An interesting caveat of this article was that the article tried to recommend that patients with high blood pressure be screened for neck trauma, pain or other potential traumatic events of the head and neck. NONE of the patients presented in this study had any neck pain. There is no reason that neck pain needs to be associated with a subluxation. Patients who have had previous history of neck trauma may have caused a subluxation however pain may not necessarily be involved.

Regular screening for subluxations by a chiropractor trained to find them is important to maintain the normal bodily function and communication that originates from the brain, down the spinal cord, to every organ of the body.

You can find this article in the hyperlink above as well as a summary on WebMD. Please subscribe to this blog for future posts, share it with friends and follow my instagram @the.big.idea for more tips on the chiropractic philosophy, research, and my personal story.