Hypertension Hope

A new study shows chiropractic care can have a significant influence among those with high blood pressure.

Have you been diagnosed with hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure? If not, would you even know you had it? Do you know what the symptoms are? Usually there aren’t any – that’s why it’s called the “silent killer.” Many people discover they have it through some catastrophic, life threatening, and often fatal event, such as a stroke or heart attack.

Those who do have symptoms generally experience headaches, blurred vision, and dizziness – and these symptoms may lead them to their medical doctor where hypertension is diagnosed after a blood pressure check.

Since one in four adults are diagnosed with high blood pressure, this is a condition that requires careful and frequent monitoring, especially if there is a family history of the disease.

Causes of hypertension? The list is extensive – and emotional stress, obesity, genetics and kidney failure rank high on that list. However, other conditions such as substance abuse, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, pregnancy, high cholesterol, thyroid disorders and certain prescription medications may also contribute to its onset.

Treatment for high blood pressure usually includes one or more of the following – medication, exercise, diet therapy, smoking cessation, reducing alcohol consumption and weight loss.

However, the results of a promising new study recently appeared in the Journal of Human Hypertension, WebMD, Science Daily and on a number of television news shows. The study was conducted by George Bakris, MD, director of the Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and Marshall Dickholtz, Sr., DC, of the Chiropractic Health Center in Chicago.

Fifty participants with diagnosed high blood pressure participated in the study; 25 received specific adjustments to the first vertebra of the spine, known as the atlas. The other 25 received “sham” adjustments (placebo). Immediately after, the 25 who received the “real” adjustments experienced a significant decrease in blood pressure, while those who received the sham adjustments showed no change. The results remained the same eight weeks later.

It is also notable that although participants took no blood pressure medication during the eight-week study, the “real” atlas correction had the effect of two blood pressure medications taken in combination.

Finally, chiropractic is getting some notable press from the medical community and with good reason. When you address causes of illnesses, rather than just alleviate symptoms, through spinal corrections that “free” up the nervous system to work as it is intended, real miracles occur.