Study Demonstrates a Link between Chiropractic and Lowered Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Patients

Chiropractic is not known to help people with hypertension, but a pilot study conducted at the University of Chicago has shown that chiropractic can significant reduce blood pressure in people with hypertension.  The study was published in the online Journal of Human Hypertension, on March 2, 2007.

According to lead author George Bakris,k MD, who is the director of the hypertension center at the University of Chicago Medial Center, reports have correlated a rise in blood pressure with neck pain for years.  Dr Bakris, his team, and a lead chiropractor Marshall Dikholtz, DC, decided to test if such a correlation exists.

The Study:

Half the study’s population of 50 hypertensive patients received a chiropractic adjustment and the other half received a fake adjustment.  Blood pressure was taken after the first adjustment and eight weeks later.

 The Results:

The results showed that patients who received the real adjustment saw an average of 14 mm Hg drop in systolic blood pressure and an average 8mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure

 Patients who received sham adjustment demonstrated no benefit

 The Conclusion:

Chiropractic was shown to significantly lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients because misalignments in the upper cervical (neck) region negatively effects normal blood pressure.

 Why?

There are several possible explanations of why chiropractic lowered the blood pressure of the study’s hypertensive patients.

 1)                  Pain has been shown to increase blood pressure.  Chiropractic has been safely utilized for over a century to decrease neck pain.  Simply alleviating cervical (neck) pain could have been the reason for the drop of blood pressure.

2)                  Nociceptors (nerve endings) originating in the joints of the spine fire pain signals when the spine is not moving properly.  A misaligned spine stimulates the nociceptors, which in turn stimulate the sympathetic nervous system.  The stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system raises blood pressure.  Through chiropractic adjustments, spinal motion improves, nociceptor activity reduces, and blood pressure drops.

3)                  Some proprioceptors (nerve endings) originating in the joints of the spine carry position sense signals to the brain.  When a spine is misaligned and stiff which is common with people suffering from neck pain, the proprioceptor signals become imbalanced.  Since proprioceptor signals inhibit nociceptor(pain) signals, imbalanced proprioceptor signals do not fully blunt the flow of pain signals.  The increased volume of pain signals can cause of rise in blood pressure.  Chiropractic adjustments normalize spinal motion, normalize proprioceptor firing, decrease the flow of pain signals, and decrease neck pain.

 Chiropractic has many wellness benefits and can reduce pain syndromes and should be apart of a healthy life-style.  Please contact Bryant Park Wellness or Dr. Jeffrey Linder with any questions.