If you read the article than you will clearly see why it was focused on chiropractors. There are many chiropractors who focus their entire practice on the concept of upper cervical high velocity adjusting. This concept goes back to B.J. Palmer, one of the founders of chiropractic.
Are you aware of the history surrounding Palmer?
As far as I am concerned there are no osteopaths who place such heavy emphasis on adjustment of specifically the atlas.
As far as you are concerned? What does that mean?
I dont know ANY DOs who use OMM heavily that DONT readily treat OA.
Many of these chiropractors will x-ray your cervical spine regardless of your presenting symptoms with the intention of determining if the atlas needs adjusting.
XRay?
They XRay a joint in a static plane to determine its misalignment? That doesnt make sense. Any joint needs to be assessed dynamically...as its moving. Taking a single still picture of a joint can tell you a lot. Joint space, exostoses, arthritis...but it cannot tell you misalignment of a joint unless there is severe displacement (dislocated shoulder, hip). For any dysfunction that needs to be manually corrected with OMT or otherwise you need a better way of examining them. Sounds like these chiros have some stock in the imaging place.
They believe that impingement of the spinal cord/nerve roots at this level is more likely to occur than at other levels in the spinal cord and that the affects of misaligned vertebra can be devastating.
More likely here than other places? Perhaps, but I would like to see data on that. Misalignment of ANY vertebrae if it is severe enough can be devastating.
Many of these chiropractors will not adjust a single other vertebrae on the spine. Even by chiropractic standards, this is considered a fringe group.
I would hope so. Probably like the Cranialites in osteopathy.
Sure there are numerous studies in both chiropractic, osteopathy, hell even massage lowering blood pressure but this one is strikingly unique.
First of all they used digital measurements to actually show that the atlas in the true treatment group was realigned from these adjustments!
Im going to let you in on a little secret. I can get ANY vertebral segment to move...and even pop if I so choose. Doesnt mean is needs to be manipulated. And I bet if you shot some lasers in there to measure joint space, I would alter that as well.
The treatment group went from a 1 mm misalignment to .04 mm. While the sham group went from .6 to .5 !!!
Wrong. They measured degrees, NOT millimeters.
Also, what this article doesnt tell you is that significant blood pressure drops were seen even after just one atlas adjustment.
So what was the proposed mechanism of the HTN? Compression of what? Impingement of what?
Another interesting fact is that every single one of these adjustments was delivered by an 85 year old chiropractor!
Who did the sham treatments? Same guy?
What was their documented dysfunction? "Atlas is misaligned". That doesnt tell me a whole lot. I find OA dysfunctions all the time and not all of my patients have HTN.
I am the biggest critic of poor research. Its almost comical that DOs have been putting out similar studies for 50+ years and are criticised every step of the way for their studies, yet a chiro puts out an equally poor study and it gets front page attention.
Gives you an idea of who puts the $ in the right pockets. Chiros with dirty knees my friend.