Can chiropractic cure hypertension?

That’s the intriguing finding of a new study from the University of Chicago Medical Center published in the Journal of Human Hypertension.

When 50 individuals with a misaligned Atlas vertebra (located high in the neck) were given a one-time specialised chiropractic adjustment, researchers noted that their blood pressure decreased dramatically – in fact, at a rate equivalent to taking two blood pressure drugs at once.

According to the lead study author, Dr George Bakris, the Atlas (or C-1) vertebrae is unlike other vertebrae which interlock on to the next, instead relying on muscles and ligaments to maintain alignment. Researchers were unable to determine why this vertebra, if misaligned, seems to be linked to high blood pressure, but they did note that the decrease was still in effect eight weeks following chiropractic adjustment.