Health Update: Risky manipulation

CHIROPRACTIC manipulation of the neck can be dangerous and even fatal, German neurologists have warned. Even when performed by an experienced chiropractor, the technique carries a risk of rupturing an artery, reducing blood flow to the brain.

Doctors from the University of Saarland at Homburg report in the Lancet that they found damage to the arteries in four patients who had seen chiropractors for headache and neck pain. The patients were given anticoagulants to prevent the onset of stroke and all survived unscathed.