Does Chiropractic Care Lower The Risk Of Stroke?

Some very exciting research has come out about Chiropractic safety and older patients.

The first population based study in the US to evaluate stroke risk following spinal adjustments and the first involving older adults, was recently completed.

In this study, they sought to answer the question: “In Medicare beneficiaries aged 66-99 with neck pain, what is the probability of stroke following chiropractic spinal manipulation, as compared to a control group of subjects evaluated for neck pain by a primary care physician?"

They concluded, that Chiropractic cervical spine adjustments are unlikely to cause stroke in patients aged 66-99 years with neck pain as well as reinforces low risk care compared to care by their primary care physician. The key point was, for patients who saw a chiropractor, the adjusted probability of any type of stroke was LOWER than those who saw a primary care physician!

This is powerful news the Chiropractic industry in whole as well as the 15.6% of population over the age of 65 in the Palo Alto area.

JMPT editor-in-Chief Claire Johnson, underscored the value of the study findings for Chiropractic practitioners and the profession.

“This new study offers additional information that will help practitioners inform older patients about the safety of Chiropractic adjustments. This study suggests older patients with neck pain can be reassured that adjustments are the unlikely cause of vertrobasilar stroke."

This was published in the February 2015 issue of JMPT.

We will have information about this study available for our older clients upon request at the Stanford Chiropractic Center Office.