Several months ago, a story concerning the results of a pilot study conducted at the University of Chicago was released in numerous chiropractic publications. The study, comprised of a sampling of 50 volunteers, was designed for half the subjects (25) to receive upper cervical adjustments over an 8 week course of care. The other sampling group received sham adjustments performed to mimic a real correction to insure blinding for the study. The purpose of the study was to determine if upper cervical adjustments effected change in lowering blood pressure. The design, data acquisition and assessment was performed by a team led by George Bakris, M.D.; the atlas adjustments were administered by Marshall Dickholtz, D.C., a long time upper cervical specialist. The average age of study participants was 52.7 years old with 70% of subjects being men. All study members, adjustment group and control group, did not use any blood pressure medication during the 8 week study period.
The results of the study demonstrated very positive changes in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures measured at the beginning and end of the study. The adjustment group demonstrated an average drop in systolic blood pressure of 17 mm Hg and a lowered average of 10mm Hg diastolic readings. The control group with sham adjustments showed very slight average changes in their blood pressure readings. These findings led researchers to the conclusion that there was enough suggestive evidence to plan a much larger clinical trial in the near future. Further study will attempt to better understand the mechanism by which a C1 adjustment can create positive changes for patients diagnosed with hypertension because any explanation is theoretical.
More studies of this nature will be funded in the future with, what I hope to be, widely published results. The ultimate beneficiaries will be patients who seek to reclaim their health by less invasive, more conservative means.....not to mention the cost savings. Upper cervical practitioners have seen miraculous results for many conditions in their clinical practices since the inception of chiropractic. Studies such as this particular one serve to illuminate what a very small percentage of people (who have been lucky enough to be referred to an upper cervical chiropractor) know: the accurate analysis and correction of upper cervical problems can change our health dramatically for the better.
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