Inflammatory responses play a central role in the development and persistence of many diseases and can lead to chronic pain. Generally, doctors prescribe medication to fight inflammation. However, one study has shown that stimulating the vagus nerve and improving vagal tone is another way to fight inflammation.
Explications!
There are 12 cranial nerves. They come in pairs and help connect the brain to other areas of the body, such as the head, neck and torso. Some send sensory information, while others control the movement of various muscles and the functioning of certain glands just like the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve has multiple branches that diverge from two thick stems rooted in the cerebellum and brain stem that wander to the lower viscera of your abdomen, touching your heart and the main organs along the way.
How can vagus nerve stimulation reduce inflammation?
In 1921, a German physiologist, Otto Loewi, discovered that vagus nerve stimulation caused a reduction in heart rate by triggering the release of a substance he had called Vagusstoff (German: "Vagus Substance"). Vagusstoff (acetylcholine) is like a tranquilizer that you can administer yourself by taking a few deep breaths with long expirations. Exploiting consciously the power of your vagus nerve can create a state of inner calm while taming your inflammatory reflex.
A higher vagal tone index is related to physical and psychological well-being. Conversely, a low vagal tone index is associated with inflammation, depression, negative moods, loneliness, heart attacks, and strokes.
A 2010 study entitled How Positive Emotions Build Physical Health: Perceived Positive Social Connections Explain the Upward Spiral Between Positive Emotions and Vagal Tone, was published in Psychological Science. The researchers focused on the vagus nerve and found that a high vagal tone index was part of a feedback loop between positive emotions, physical health and positive social relationships.
For this experience, they used a loving-kindness meditation technique to help participants improve their ability to generate positive emotions themselves. However, they also found that just thinking about positive social connections and working to improve connected human relationships also resulted in improved vagal tone.
Stimulation of the vagus nerve significantly reduces arthritic inflammation
An international team of researchers from Amsterdam and the United States recently conducted a clinical trial demonstrating that vagus nerve stimulation by a small implanted device significantly reduced inflammation and improved outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by inhibiting rheumatoid arthritis. production of cytokines.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects millions of people around the world and costs tens of billions of dollars to treat each year, according to researchers.
Neuroscientists and immunology experts involved in this study used state-of-the-art technology to map the neural circuits regulating inflammation. In a circuit called "inflammatory reflex", the action potentials transmitted in the vagus nerve inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
This is the first study in humans aimed at reducing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by stimulating the vagus nerve with a small implanted device, which triggered a chain reaction that reduced cytokine levels and inflammation. Although this study focuses on rheumatoid arthritis, the results of the trial may have implications for patients with other inflammatory diseases, including Parkinson's, Crohn's and Alzheimer's.
The emerging field of bioelectronic integrative medicine is targeting a variety of disorders traditionally treated with pharmaceuticals using advanced neuromodulation devices. Stimulating the vagus nerve provides significant benefits to the use of medications, such as lower costs and fewer side effects.
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