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Your Nervous System’s Secret Weapon Against Chronic Inflammation
For years, medicine has largely relied on pharmaceuticals to combat chronic illness, but what if the key to healing was already within us? Neurosurgeon, scientist, and entrepreneur Kevin Tracey, M.D., has spent decades uncovering the profound role of the vagus nerve in controlling inflammation and optimizing health.
On the mindbodygreen podcast and in his recent book, The Great Nerve, Tracey shares how harnessing this nerve’s power—through both lifestyle strategies and bioelectronic medicine—could revolutionize treatment for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and even depression.
The vagus nerve: The body’s superhighway of communication
The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body, running from the brainstem down through the neck and into nearly every major organ. It’s not just one nerve but two—one on each side of the body—each containing 100,000 fibers that transmit thousands of electrical signals per second. This nerve is fundamental to regulating heart rate, digestion, immune response, and even mood.
According to Tracey, the vagus nerve acts as the body’s control center, sending critical information between the brain and organs to maintain balance. Disruptions to this communication can lead to chronic inflammation, which underlies numerous diseases.
Assessing & optimizing vagus nerve function
One of the simplest ways to assess vagus nerve health is by measuring vagal tone, which can be inferred from heart rate variability (HRV). A higher HRV—meaning greater fluctuations in time between heartbeats—is generally associated with better vagal function and longevity.
Large-scale studies, like the Framingham Heart Study1, have shown that populations with slower resting heart rates tend to live longer, reinforcing the vagus nerve’s connection to overall health.
To optimize vagus nerve function, Tracey suggests a few key strategies:
- Exercise regularly
- Practice stress management (through meditation, breathwork, or relaxation techniques)
- Prioritize sleep
- Maintain a balanced diet
- Engage in cold exposure (such as ice baths)
These activities have been shown to improve vagal tone, though the precise mechanisms are still being studied.
The vagus nerve & inflammation: A new frontier in medicine
One of Tracey’s most significant discoveries2 is that the vagus nerve plays a direct role in controlling inflammation. Inflammation is a major driver of chronic disease—accounting for roughly 40 million deaths3 worldwide each year—and is implicated in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Tracey and his colleagues found that certain fibers within the vagus nerve can actively suppress inflammation4 by blocking the release of cytokines, the molecules responsible for initiating inflammatory responses.
This breakthrough paved the way for a new field of medicine—bioelectronic medicine—where electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve can be used as a therapy for inflammatory diseases.
Electricity as medicine
One of the most exciting advancements in this field is the development of vagus nerve implants. These small devices, about the size of a multivitamin, are implanted in the neck and deliver electrical impulses to stimulate the vagus nerve, helping to regulate inflammation without the need for immunosuppressive drugs.
Clinical trials have shown promising results. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences5, patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had not responded to multiple biologic drugs experienced significant improvement with vagus nerve stimulation. The technology is currently undergoing FDA approval in the U.S. and may soon offer a non-drug alternative for patients with chronic inflammatory conditions.
The takeaway
Tracey’s work highlights a paradigm shift in medicine: instead of relying solely on drugs, we can harness the body’s own neural circuits to regulate inflammation and restore health. Whether through lifestyle interventions or cutting-edge bioelectronic therapies, optimizing vagus nerve function holds incredible potential for longevity and disease prevention.