Thursday, March 15, 2007

Special chiropractic adjustment lowers blood pressure

A Chicago-area study of 50 individuals with a misaligned Atlas vertebra (located high in the neck) and high blood pressure showed that after a one-time specialized chiropractic adjustment, blood pressure decreased significantly. The decrease was equal to taking two blood-pressure drugs at once. The results are published in the online March 2 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension.
According to lead author George Bakris, MD, director of the hypertension center at the University of Chicago Medical Center, unlike other vertebrae, which interlock one to the next, the Atlas (also known as C-1) relies solely upon soft tissue (muscles and ligaments) to maintain alignment; therefore is uniquely vulnerable to displacement. Displacement of C-1 can occur without pain and thus, often goes undetected and untreated.
A small cadre of chiropractic specialists have foregone typical "full-spine manipulations," limiting their practice to precise, delicate manual alignment of a single vertebra, C-1. These practitioners make up the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA).
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/uocm-sca_1031407.php

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