People with a misaligned Atlas vertebra - located high in the neck - and high blood pressure showed that after a one-time specialized chiropractic adjustment, blood pressure decreased significantly.

The decrease in high blood pressure was equal to taking two blood-pressure drugs at once. The results are published in the online March 2 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension.

According to lead author George Bakris, MD, director of the hypertension center at the University of Chicago Medical Center, unlike other vertebrae, which interlock one to the next, the Atlas (also known as C-1) relies solely upon soft tissue (muscles and ligaments) to maintain alignment; therefore is uniquely vulnerable to displacement. Displacement of C-1 can occur without pain and thus, often goes undetected and untreated.

A small cadre of chiropractic specialists have foregone typical “full-spine manipulations,” limiting their practice to precise, delicate manual alignment of a single vertebra, C-1. These practitioners make up the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA).

Those with high blood pressure and misaligned C-1 were enrolled in the study. Data from the assessment were used by the chiropractor to plan the alignment.

Half of the patients received a carefully tailor-made adjustment based on their results. Half received a “sham intervention,” which was designed to be indistinguishable to the patient from an authentic alignment, possible only because of the delicacy of the procedure.

Participants were fully assessed again after the alignment as well as at the end of eight weeks.

The authors say the improvement in blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic readings) following the correction of Atlas misalignment is similar to that seen by giving patients two different blood pressure-lowering drugs simultaneously.

The reduction in blood pressure continued into the eighth week. There was no significant change in participants’ heart rate. 

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