Blood vessel tears that lead to strokes may be associated with but not necessarily caused by treatments involving neck manipulations, researchers say.
The blood vessel tears, called cervical artery dissections account for about two of every 100 strokes overall, and from eight to 25 of every 100 strokes in young and middle aged adults.
What happens with the dissection is that there is a tear in one of the layers of the artery wall in the neck that can result in (a) stroke if a blood clot forms, Dr. Jos Biller told Reuters Health in a phone call.
Biller, a neurologist with the Loyola University Chicago Strich School of Medicine, was lead author of a joint statement on neck manipulation and stroke risk from the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. The statement was published in Stroke.
Biller said cervical artery dissections have been reported after blunt or penetrating injuries and also in association with a variety of other conditions.
They can occur after a sudden movement that can hyperextend or rotate the neck that may happen with certain sporting activities, with whiplash or violent coughing or vomiting movements, or with neck manipulation therapy, Biller said.
Healthcare providers sometimes use neck manipulations, or cervical manipulative therapy, to treat musculoskeletal conditions of the neck and upper back. Most are performed by chiropractors, but osteopaths and physical therapists use these maneuvers as well.
To assess the associations between neck manipulations and stroke risk, Biller and colleagues focused on four large studies that were mainly associated with strokes involving the arteries of the neck.
They found that people who had these types of strokes were more likely to have had some type of neck manipulation.
But, the authors point out, the studies they looked at couldnt determine what caused peoples strokes. Its possible, they say, that people may have sought neck manipulation therapy for symptoms that were really the early stages of stroke.
Read the original post:
Neck manipulations may be associated with stroke