Chiropractic Adjustments May Lower Your Blood Pressure

We all know that having high blood pressure (BP) can lead to heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and other health problems and even death. The scary part about having high BP is that you can have it and not know it because there are no symptoms or signs to look for. About one in three adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure and one in five of them do not even know they have high BP.

You ask what causes the increase pressure in my circulatory system. Well, it can be hereditary, being overweight, not exercising, not eating healthy foods, too much salt, alcohol and/or caffeine, smoking and stress.


High blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. Over time, high BP can damage the body in many ways. Normal blood pressure is considered to be less than 120 the top number (systolic) over 80 the bottom number (diastolic).
George Bakris, M.D. a study leader did an eight-week study of 50 patients with early-stage high blood pressure. None of the 50 patients took any medicine for hypertension. Twenty-five of the patients had a special chiropractic adjustment while the other 25 patients had a different chiropractic adjustment.

 It was found that the 25 patients that had the special chiropractic adjustment had significantly lower BP. Dr. Bakris stated that this specific adjustment had the effect of two different blood pressure medications. He also stated that the patients experienced no side effects or problems from the special adjustment.

The Atlas (called this because it holds up the head) vertebrae known as the C1 vertebrae, which is the bone at the very top of the spine, was the one that was realigned on the 25 patients that had the special chiropractic adjustment. The study showed a drop in systolic pressure of about 14 mm Hg and on average 8 mm Hg drop in the diastolic pressure. Dr. Marshall Dickholtz, Sr., D.C. was the chiropractor that performed all of the adjustments during the study. He considers the C1 vertebrae as the "fuse box" to the body. He mentioned that there are two centers at the base of the brain that control all the muscles in the body, if you pinch the base of the brain and the C1 gets locked in a position as little as a half a millimeter out of alignment, it upsets the centers, but doesn't cause pain.