High Blood Pressure MAY Respond to “An Adjustment”

Many physicians are wary of chiropractic, and quite rightly; there may be risks associated with “such adjustments”. However, there’s a report in the Journal of Human Hypertension that seems to provide a clear benefit of correcting a misaligned Atlas vertebra (the one immediately below the skull, in the neck), and improvement of high blood pressure. The Atlas vertebra, unlike all the others, is at risk for misalignment because it relies solely on soft tissues to maintain its correct position; the other vertebrae interlock one with the other.

There’s a rationale for the occurrence of hypertension in people with a misaligned Atlas bone; pressure may impinge on the circulation in the vessels leading to the base of the brain (brainstem), causing high blood pressure. Seventy-four patients with stage I hypertension (140-159 mm Hg systolic or 90-99 mm Hg diastolic) and a misaligned Atlas vertebra were randomly allocated to have a single adjustment to their Atlas (C-1 manipulation) or a sham procedure. The adjustments were all done at the same center in Chicago , following a procedure recommended by the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic. Eight weeks later blood pressures in the two groups were compared. The average systolic pressure after adjustment had fallen by 17 mm Hg (vs. a fall in the sham-placebo of 3 mm Hg), and the diastolic by 10 mm Hg (vs. 2 mm Hg on placebo). There were no side effects of the adjustment. The magnitude of the falls in blood pressure were equivalent to giving patients two blood pressure medications simultaneously.

How do you know if you have a misaligned Atlas? Apparently you get someone to compare your heel positions when lying down. You may have one leg apparently longer than the other. When you turn your head to the left or right, the heels become level with one another. If both heels are level to begin with (i.e. legs don’t appear longer) or they don’t change on head-turning, you don’t have an Atlas displacement.

Before you do a self-test and then rush off for an adjustment, why not wait the result of a larger study involving multiple practitioners? (And take some anti-hypertension meds in the meantime.) Of the estimated 55,000 licensed chiropractors in the US , only 1,500 or less are specialized as ‘brain stem specialists’. Make sure you don’t fall into the hands of a quack . . .