A recent study featured on the popular WebMD site looked at the effect of a particular chiropractic adjustment on high blood pressure. Dr. George Bakris, M.D., director of the University of Chicago Hypertension Center, determined that a chiropractic adjustment to the top cervical spine was effective in lowering blood pressure.

“This procedure has the effect of not one but two blood pressure medications given in combination,” Dr. Bakris says. “And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems.”

Eight weeks after undergoing such an adjustment, 25 patients with early-stage high blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure than 25 patients who underwent a sham chiropractic adjustment.

Why should you care when your medication is controlling it just fine, you say?

Several reasons. Many of the drugs we use the body can’t recognize. This results in side effects which are more dangerous than the condition being initially treated. This leads to a domino-effect of more drugs being used to offset the side effects of the former drug. Not to mention the high cost.

Please do not misconstrue what I am saying. For a small group, drugs are necessary. If your blood pressure skyrockets, medication is vital at that moment. Once the crisis is over, however, find out the cause. If you fix the cause, you won’t need to take the drug for the rest of your life. You have taken responsibility over your own health.

The results of this study should make you pose a fundamental question. Where does disease come from?

Every process, from reading this magazine to pumping blood through your body, to healing a cut on your leg, is dependent upon the signals your brain sends out to the body. Since your spine is your lifeline, when it is in proper alignment your body works 100 percent, free of high blood pressure or any other disease. But when you experience a misalignment of a vertebra, it puts choking pressure on the nerves. This not only results in back pain or headaches but can induce heart disease, and worse. This is why a chiropractor monitors your health through the spine.

This study and more like it continue to prove that chiropractic must be a consideration if you are suffering. For those of you who are “healthy,” it is still important to have a chiropractor examine you. In the early stages of heart disease or cancer people often feel fine. Health is something to be proactive about. You are either building health or building disease. There is no in-between.