Half of the subjects received a very specific chiropractic adjustment that addressed their particular vertebral misalignment, also known as a subluxation. The other half received a placebo or fake adjustment. During the 8-week study, the participants received no high blood pressure medication whatsoever.

Those patients who received the adjustments saw an average drop of 14mm Hg in the systolic pressure (the top number) and an average 8mm Hg drop in the diastolic pressure (the bottom number). Very encouraging was the fact that the improvements continued into the eighth week when the study ended.

In a related article on the WebMD Web site, study leader George Bakris, M.D. says "This (adjustment) procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination."

"And it seems to be adverse-event free," he said. "We saw no side effects and no problems." Bakris admits the results were surprising. "When the statistician brought me the data, I actually didn't believe it. It was way too good to be true. The statistician said, 'I don't even believe it.' But we checked for everything, and there it was."

Not surprisingly, Bakris is planning a larger study.

How would you know if you had a vertebral misalignment that may be affecting your blood pressure? The only way to tell if you have vertebral misalignments is to see a chiropractor. Chiropractors are specifically trained on detection of vertebral misalignments, their negative influence on the nervous system and their correction (if possible)."

URL: http://www.tricountyrecord.com/articles/2010/07/20/opinion/srv0000008855593.prt