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Can chiropractic care help high blood pressure?

High blood pressure – blood pressures exceeding 140/90 mm Hg most of the time – can damage your body over time and lead to numerous unfavorable health outcomes, including heart, blood vessel and kidney problems, among other health problems. Chronic hypertension hastens the development of atherosclerosis and is a significant risk factor for stroke and heart attack. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute reports that high blood pressure, or hypertension, is common, affecting 1 in 3 American adults.

Dr. Alex Vasquez, a renowned chiropractor, naturopathic physician and osteopathic doctor, states that nutrition, lifestyle counseling and chiropractic adjustments should be the treatment of choice for anybody suffering from chronic primary hypertension. Indeed, chiropractors have long used natural approaches to address this common – but not normal- health problem. Some studies, including one published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, have shown that chiropractic adjustments to the thoracic spine may help reduce blood pressure.

Another study, published in 2007 in the Journal of Human Hypertension, states that restoring alignment of the Atlas – the topmost cervical vertebra – is associated with significant (and sustained) decreases in blood pressure that are similar to the effects of a two-drug combination therapy. Chiropractic manipulative therapy is just one of several approaches your chiropractor may use to help optimize your blood pressure.