NUCCA Technique/ Hypertension Pilot Study* A brief history THE IDEA Chiropractic Association protocol (NUCCA technique). Over the next 25 years, Dr. Bell referred more than six thousand patients to my Chicago offi ce. In time, Dr. Bell realized that 32 of the problems seen in his referred patients that were successfully addressed by the upper cervical procedure, were autonomic in nature. One of these problems was hypertension. Dr. Bell contacted Dr. George Bakris, an MD who, at the time, was at Rush Presbyte- rian St. Lukes, one of Chicago’s largest teaching hospitals. (Today Dr. George Bakris is director of the hypertension clinic at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medi- cine.) Dr. Bell was able to get Dr. Bakris to head a pilot study, the protocol of which was subsequently submitted to and approved by the Western Internal Review Board. To fund the pilot study, Dr. Bell spearheaded the formation of the Barrington Atlas Research Cor- poration – now known as the Atlas Research Foundation – and enlisted business profes- sionals such as George Schueppert, Norval Stephens, and Keith Hanson as directors. T Currently practising in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Dickholtz Sr. has been in practice for 51 years.He is a former president of the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA) and the lead researcher for NUCCA. Dr. Dickholtz is a re- cipient of the Daniel David Palmer Scientific Award, the R.R. Gregory Award and chiropractor of the year of the Illinois Prairie State Chiro- practic Association in 2007.For ad- ditional information regarding this research project, you may contact Dr. Dickholtz at 773-267-0020 or 847-677-7253, or visit the website www.nuccadickholtzsr.com. 42 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | SEPTEMBER 2008 THE VISION Dr. Charles Woodfi eld, who is now in the research department of Parker College of Chiropractic realized that the study had to be exceptionally well done to appear in The Journal of Human Hypertension, the third most prestigious medical journal focusing on hypertension. To that end, only patients who had Level I hypertension, a short or contractured leg, and had no pain were recruited into the study. The criterion of “no pain” was critical because, if there was pain, then potential critics could argue that blood pressure dropped because pain was alleviated. In addition, that criterion of “no pain” also concurrently placed these patients out of the mainstream chiropractic paradigm that focuses on spinal manipulation, range of motion, and site of pain. If there is no site of pain, then where would mainstream chiropractic adjust? (What percentage of your new patients have no pain?) The short or contractured leg is a necessary criterion in diagnosing the existence of a C-1 misalignment. NUCCA protocol only requires postural distortion for a person to qualify as a new patient; pain is not a necessary symptom. Using Level I hypertension patients ensured that patients were not that far removed from the blood pressure of the normal “healthy” population and provided an additional level of safety when removed from medication. All of the subjects in the study came from the practice of Dr. Bell. *Due to reader requests, this article is now appearing in print. It can also be found at www.canadianchiropractor.ca, under Web Exclusives. www.canadianchiropractor.ca he beginnings of the hypertension study can be traced back to 1968 when Bruce Bell, a medical doctor in Barrington, Illinois, fi rst discovered the effectiveness of adjustments on several of his patients by my use of the National Upper Cervical Marshall Dickholtz Sr., DC feature
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