Spinal Adjustment Can Lower Blood Pressure

The above headline came from a January 4, 2008 TV and online article from the NorthWest Cable News seen in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana. This TV and online story interviewed Dr. Marshal Dickholtz, the chiropractor who was involved in the original study linking high blood pressure with spinal misalignments (subluxations). The online news story and video of the TV story can be seen here.

The original scientific study authored by George Bakris, MD, was conducted at the Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center and published in the March 2, 2007 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension.

This most recent NorthWest Cable News TV and online story interviewed the chiropractor who rendered the specific adjustments that were used in the groundbreaking study. Dr. Dickholtz has been in practice for over 50 years and focuses exclusively on the top bone in the neck called the atlas. He commented, "Think about it. If your neck is not balancing your head, it's like blowing a fuse. Your wonderful brain does not control your body as well."

In the original study at the University of Chicago doctors showed that chiropractic could lower blood pressure by 17 points. Dr. Dickholtz explained how this works by saying, "When you have a pinched brain stem, it closes out your arteries. If the arteries close down, the blood pressure has to be higher to go through those arteries."

The news story interviewed two patients of Dr. Dickholtz. Because she received chiropractic care, one 80-year-old patient, Maribeth, is now off her blood pressure medication. She commented, "At my age, to be on no medication is almost a miracle I think.". A second patient, Denise, had an initial blood pressure of 144 over 98 before her chiropractic care. After care, she reported, "After one treatment, my blood pressure was 115 over 76.".

In the news story, Dr. Dickholtz summed up the importance of this study and chiropractic care for those with high blood pressure by saying, "In our high blood pressure research, the average age was 53 and they had 40 years of damage in their spine that could have been taken care of years before and maybe never had high blood pressure.".