Can Chiropractic Reverse Heart Disease?
Subscribe to our RSS feed

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. For most people, heart health is a major concern. But heart disease is totally preventable. People need to understand that it is important to take proper actions to prevent cardiovascular disease so they can live a long, healthy life.

The good news is that regular chiropractic care can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. 

How Chiropractic Care Helps Your Heart

The heart and blood vessels are connected to the central nervous system by millions of tiny nerves. This connection from the brain and spinal cord to the major organs of the body is called the autonomic nervous system.

Often called “fight or flight” and “rest and digest”, the autonomics control heart and blood vessel function. These nerves control heart rate and blood pressure, both essential factors for heart health. Since chiropractic care positively impacts these nerves, its benefits to the heart are tremendous.

6 Heart Health Benefits of Chiropractic Care

Here are six proven ways chiropractic care helps prevent or treat cardiovascular disease:

1) Lowers blood pressure – studies show a significant improvement in blood pressure when chiropractors adjust the 1st vertebra, called the Atlas. The top number is called the systolic and the bottom blood pressure number is the diastolic. Evidence points to a 17/10 reduction in blood pressure. This is better than every pharmaceutical on the market.

2) Improves nerve function of the heart – this is called the autonomic tone, and it impacts the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, bladder, sex organs and just about every other part of the body.

3) Decreases blood markers of inflammation – the more inflammation, the greater your risk of cardiovascular events. Thousands of studies confirm this fact.

4) Improves heart rate variability – the more your heart rate bounces around, the longer you will live. This is called heart rate variability (HRV). Many patients with severe heart issues have low HRV. This is a recipe for disaster. Enter chiropractic, which restores HRV to healthy levels.

5) Decreases chest pain – millions of hospital visits for chest pain can be avoided by referral for chiropractic care. A huge reason I refer patients to chiropractors is that chest pain is often musculoskeletal in nature. Most patients can be quickly assessed and once a doctor determines that the heart is not involved, curative therapy from a doctor of chiropractic is imperative. Patients do not need the “million dollar work-up”, they need an adjustment. Costochondritis, rib misalignment, or thoracic vertebrae subluxation are all causes of chest pain and shortness of breath that will respond to chiropractic care.

Billions of dollars would be saved if hospital emergency rooms had a chiropractor on staff. Instead, billions are wasted on CT scans, stress tests, and unnecessary heart catheterizations. There is a better way and that way is chiropractic.

6) Improves lung function – The evidence points to chiropractic care as very effective in patients with asthma and emphysema. Poor lung function is linked to heart failure. Common sense would tell us that if breathing is optimized, the heart will repair.

All of my patients get regular chiropractic care. I have no doubt that a well-adjusted spine helps patients with atrial fibrillation, palpitations, hypertension, syncope (passing out) and congestive heart failure. In fact, every medical condition can be helped with chiropractic care.

Here are some words from a recent patient:

“Thank you for the referral to the chiropractor. I feel amazing and my skipped beats were gone after the first adjustment.” I hear stories like this all the time. No single modality is perfect, but it is very rewarding when patient’s improve so fast.

Chiropractic care can significantly help prevent or treat heart disease. I recommend it to every one of my patients, especially those with heart rhythm issues, hypertension and syncope (a medical term for passing out).

I’ve been a practicing cardiologist in Phoenix, Arizona for more than 15 years. Patients from all over the world seek out my help to find the CAUSE of their heart issues. In my training, we learned a lot about pills and procedures. We did not learn how to seek out the cause. I installed hundreds of permanent pacemakers into people from 1999 to 2008. So many of those patients could have been spared the device if they were under the care of a holistic doctor like myself and a doctor of chiropractic.

I have seen the benefits of chiropractic care with my own eyes. People get better when the chiropractor adjusts a subluxation and removes the interference with normal body function.

Other Health Benefits of Chiropractic Care

Good chiropractic care benefits much more than just your heart. You name the disease, chiropractic care has a role because the nervous system touches every cell in the body. The nerves travel from the brain thru the spine and on to the rest of the body. If the bones of the spine are out of whack (subluxated), symptoms and disease occur. If you have ever fallen out of bed, been in a car accident, or played sports, I assure you that your spine is misaligned.

Please do not ask your medical doctor or orthopedic surgeon if chiropractic is right for you. Chiropractors are competition for those who recommend pills and procedures. You will get a biased opinion from most physicians. Instead, ask the millions of people who see chiropractors every day. A series of adjustments seems like a better approach than spinal surgery or short term fixes like epidural injections. Don’t you agree?

Is There Any Risk of Chiropractic?

Let me just say that in 16 years of hospital work, not once did I see someone with a complication from chiropractic care get admitted to the hospital. Rarely, the mainstream media jumps on a story about a person who supposedly suffered a stroke after an adjustment. My experience and the medical literature does not support the link between an adjustment and stroke.

Should football players be concerned about rapid head movements and stroke? Head to head football impact occurs at speeds the human hand could never approach. Yet, football players do not stroke. Other athletes? Car crashes?

The most common scenario would be someone who presents to the doctor with a neurologic symptom related to a blood vessel injury. The person seeks out chiropractic care and the diagnosis is made after the adjustment.

The most recent issue of a prestigious medical journal confirmed no link between stroke and chiropractic. That study looked at over 75,000 patients!

Tips for finding a chiropractor in your area

  1. Ask a friend. Many of your friends have been under chiropractic care for years
  2. Search on Yelp. Usually a reliable source.
  3. Facebook. Reach out to your network for recommendations.
  4. Email us at health@thedrswolfson.com. We can help you find the perfect D.C. in your area.

Health Concerns? Think DC before MD.

I recommend that everyone get regular chiropractic care. Discuss the plan with your doctor. Visits will be more frequent in the beginning. Usually, once or twice a month is recommended for routine health maintenance. Like me, some people prefer to go weekly. But when a health issue strikes, think a visit to your chiropractor first.

From newborns to seniors, the benefits are clear. It’s good for your heart, it’s good for your health, and it’s good for your body.

Sources:

J Hum Hypertens. 2007 May; 21(5): 347-52
J Chiropr Med. 2008 Sep;7(3):86-93.
J Chiropr Med. 2010 Sep;9(3):107-14
J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2006 May;29(4):267-74.
J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2012 Jan;35(1):7-17
J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Sep;17(9):797-801.                                                                 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27884458

 

Pin It on Pinterest

12 things in your home that damage your heart.

Discover 12 things in most homes that destroy your heart.

Learn of common household items that destroy your heart, and what you can do about it.