Study says chiropractors don’t raise stroke risk

Canadian researchers have found no evidence of increased risk of vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke associated with chiropractic care compared to getting care from a family medical doctor. Their results were published in the Spine (Vol. 33, No. 48).

As reported in The Globe and Mail, the researchers said the public perception of an increased is occurs because patients tend to seek care when they are having neck pain or headache. In other words, patients with these symptoms who have a stroke have already damaged the artery before seeking and then the stroke occurred after the visit.

Source: The Globe and Mail, www.theglobeandmail.com; “Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care,” Spine (Vol. 33, No. 48).