Can Chiropractic Adjustments Reverse Heart Disease?
A case study reported in the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research suggests that chiropractic adjustments can help reverse and prevent heart disease.
Heart disease is a widespread problem that plagues hundreds of thousands of Americans. Every year, 600,000 of us die from heart disease and related illnesses. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on research efforts, seeking a cure. Many causes contribute to people developing heart disease, including obesity, stress, smoking, and a lack of exercise. Everyone has the power to take preventative measures. But once we’ve entered the danger zone, what can we do? New research is proving that chiropractic adjustment can reverse heart disease. This development is bringing hope to those of us unfortunate enough to have developed it.
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Man’s heart health changed by chiropractic
Natural health experts speak out
“It makes a lot of sense when you think about it,” stated Dr. Matthew McCoy, a chiropractor, public health researcher and editor of the journal that published the study. “If you damage or compress or otherwise interfere with the neurological structures in the spine this can have far reaching implications on the functioning of the body. Through research reports like this, we are finding that correcting the misalignments or abnormal motion associated with these spinal problems reduces the nerve interference and people experience improvement. In this study, it was a man who had risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”
Vertebral subluxation
“Finding the cause of the cardiovascular disease and reducing those risks is a much better strategy,” according to the study. One such risk is thought to be spinal misalignments and/or abnormal motion of the spine, termed “vertebral subluxations” by chiropractors, which result in structural and neurological interference to the spine and nervous system. It is this interference that may cause a cascade of neuroendocrine events that lead to abnormal cholesterol metabolism. The theory is that, once those spinal distortions are corrected, the body is better able to balance its physiology.
The chiropractor diagnosed the patient with vertebral subluxations in his neck, pelvis, and sacrum. Follow-up laboratory work revealed that his cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides had all improved, and he reported an improvement in his mental and physical health, and his musculoskeletal complaints had resolved. The authors call for further study in a controlled environment.
Not surprisingly, other researchers have found similar results in regard to heart disease risk factors being managed by chiropractic adjustments, and this case is one of several emerging studies describing this phenomenon. The most notable was published in the Journal of Human Hypertension. The 100-person pilot study made national headlines and was even aired on Good Morning America, because of the results, proving that one upper cervical chiropractic adjustment has the same effect as two pills designed to normalize blood pressure, was groundbreaking.
