<markdown>

Kevin Tracey 是神经外科医生、科学家和企业家，几十年来一直致力于研究迷走神经。迷走神经是连接大脑和身体器官的关键神经，对身体的许多功能至关重要，包括控制炎症和免疫反应。评估迷走神经健康的方法有很多，包括检查脉搏和心率变异性。迷走神经张力低与炎症和多种疾病有关。改善迷走神经张力可以通过健康的生活方式来实现，例如规律运动、减压、充足睡眠和均衡饮食。对于那些已经尝试了其他治疗方法但仍然患有炎症性疾病的患者，迷走神经刺激疗法提供了一种新的选择。这项疗法通过植入一个小型设备来刺激迷走神经，从而减少炎症，改善症状。我们已经进行了大量的研究和临床试验，证明了迷走神经刺激疗法的有效性和安全性。这项疗法为治疗类风湿性关节炎、炎症性肠病等疾病带来了希望。 此外，刺激耳朵的迷走神经分支，例如使用经皮电神经刺激（TENS）设备，也可能对炎症性疾病产生有益影响。冷水浸泡也能通过触发抗炎的“战斗或逃跑”反应来改善迷走神经张力。然而，需要注意的是，冷水浸泡的长期效应与短期效应不同。 未来，迷走神经刺激疗法有望在更多疾病的治疗中得到应用，为患者提供更有效的治疗选择。

作为一名神经外科医生、科学家和企业家，我数十年来潜心研究迷走神经，其对健康的影响远超人们的想象。迷走神经并非仅仅与放松冥想相关，它对炎症、免疫和愈合机制起着关键作用，甚至可能逆转类风湿性关节炎、炎症性肠病（IBD）和阿尔茨海默病等疾病。

迷走神经是什么？

迷走神经是连接大脑和身体所有器官（那些你通常不会注意到的器官）的最长神经。它并非单一神经，而是由左右两侧各约10万条神经纤维组成，形成一个庞大的通讯网络，将身体器官的状态信息传递给大脑，并接收来自大脑的指令来调节器官功能。 切断迷走神经会导致死亡，足以说明其重要性。

如何评估迷走神经健康？

评估迷走神经健康的方法多种多样，从简单的脉搏检查到复杂的实验室检测都有。一个简单的指标是“迷走神经张力”或“迷走神经调谐”，可以通过测量脉搏来评估。心率由交感神经系统（加速心率）和迷走神经系统（减缓心率）之间的平衡决定。统计研究表明，较低的心率与更长的寿命相关。 可穿戴设备（如Fitbit、Apple Watch和Whoop）可以更精确地测量心率变异性（HRV），这也能反映迷走神经健康状况。 然而，需要注意的是，个体心率的快慢不能简单地与寿命长短划等号。

迷走神经与炎症的关系：炎症的“闸门”

迷走神经信号能够抑制炎症。迷走神经健康是理解炎症的关键，而炎症是许多慢性疾病的根源。 研究表明，类风湿性关节炎患者的心率变异性受损，甚至在出现关节炎症状之前，一些高危个体就已出现迷走神经功能障碍的迹象。这提示迷走神经功能障碍可能导致炎症发生。 事实上，世界卫生组织列出的主要死因中，三分之二与炎症有关。因此，控制迷走神经信号以控制炎症，对全球健康具有重大意义。

迷走神经刺激疗法：用电流代替药物

我们已经证明，通过刺激迷走神经特定纤维，可以抑制炎症细胞因子，从而减少炎症。这促使我们开发了迷走神经刺激疗法。这项疗法通过植入一个小型设备来刺激迷走神经，已在类风湿性关节炎患者身上取得了显著疗效，一些患者甚至完全摆脱了症状，不再需要服用药物。目前，该疗法正在接受美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）的审批。

除了植入式设备，还有哪些方法可以改善迷走神经张力？

除了迷走神经刺激疗法这种“高端”疗法外，改善迷走神经张力还可以通过以下方法实现：

• 规律运动： 有助于减轻压力，改善迷走神经张力。
• 减压： 慢性压力会加剧炎症，而减压则有助于改善迷走神经功能。
• 充足睡眠： 睡眠不足会影响身体的各个系统，包括迷走神经。
• 均衡饮食： 健康的饮食有助于减少炎症，改善整体健康状况。
• 刺激耳部迷走神经分支： 耳廓的某些区域与迷走神经相连，使用经皮电神经刺激（TENS）设备刺激这些区域，可能对炎症性疾病产生有益影响。 这方面的研究仍在进行中，但一些临床试验结果显示出积极的迹象。
• 冷水浸泡： 短时间的冷水浸泡会触发强烈的“战斗或逃跑”反应，具有抗炎作用。但需要注意的是，长期冷水浸泡的效果与短期不同，需要循序渐进。

未来展望

未来几年，迷走神经刺激疗法有望在更多疾病的治疗中得到应用，为患者提供更有效的治疗选择。 这项疗法不仅安全有效，而且相比于传统药物治疗，具有更少的副作用和更低的成本。 我相信，迷走神经刺激疗法将为改善人类健康做出重大贡献。

◉

02:56 迷走神经是连接大脑和身体器官的关键神经，对身体健康至关重要。

◉

04:57 评估迷走神经健康的一个简单方法是检查脉搏，因为心率受交感神经和迷走神经的共同调控。

◉

05:50 较低的心率与长寿相关，而迷走神经通过向心脏发送信号来调节心率。

◉

08:26 迷走神经传递关于消化、血糖、胰岛素等器官状态的信息，并控制呼吸和心跳。

◉

09:22 规律运动、减压、充足睡眠、均衡饮食和放松方法都有助于改善迷走神经张力。

◉

10:46 炎症可能导致自主神经系统和迷走神经功能异常。

◉

11:13 迷走神经信号可以抑制身体炎症，这在治疗某些疾病方面具有潜在的治疗益处。

◉

13:54 迷走神经健康是理解炎症的关键。

◉

14:29 炎症的概念需要重新审视，因为它不仅仅局限于红肿痛。

◉

15:57 控制迷走神经信号和炎症可以对全球健康产生重大影响。

◉

17:05 生物电子医学具有彻底改变医疗保健的潜力。

◉

17:59 刺激迷走神经特定神经纤维可以关闭细胞因子风暴，从而减少炎症。

◉

19:00 植入电脑芯片刺激迷走神经纤维可以减少类风湿性关节炎患者的炎症。

◉

21:40 迷走神经刺激疗法对于类风湿性关节炎等自身免疫性疾病具有变革性的意义。

◉

22:34 改善迷走神经张力和减少炎症，首先应从改善生活方式入手，包括均衡饮食、规律运动和减压等。

◉

24:27 迷走神经刺激疗法通过刺激迷走神经来控制炎症，是一种非免疫抑制疗法。

◉

27:17 迷走神经刺激器植入手术是一个门诊手术，过程大约需要一个小时。

◉

29:26 提高迷走神经张力对健康有很多益处，包括延长寿命和健康跨度。

◉

30:40 刺激耳朵的迷走神经分支可以对炎症相关疾病产生有益影响。

◉

40:07 冷水浸泡可以产生抗炎作用，但需要区分短期和长期效应。

◉

45:56 未来几年，迷走神经刺激疗法可能会在治疗炎症性疾病方面得到更广泛的应用。

00:00

Welcome to the My Buddy Green podcast. I'm Jason Wachub, founder and co-CEO of My Buddy Green, and your host. Oikos presents 15 Seconds of Strength. Here we go. Steve's got a trunk full of groceries and no one to help him. Oh, that's tough, Jim. Looks like a five-trip load at least. He grabs the first bag, the second. Bob, it looks like he's trying to do it on one trip. He shimmies the door open, steps over the dog. Oh, 语法解析

00:22

And he stumbles. Oh, right into the kitchen without missing a beat. Jim, now that's a man who eats his protein-packed Oikos. With 15 grams of complete protein in each cup, Oikos Triple Zero can help build strength for every day. Oikos. Stronger makes everything better. 语法解析

00:38

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Not everyone is careful with your personal information, which might explain why there's a victim of identity theft every five seconds in the U.S. Fortunately, there's LifeLock. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a U.S.-based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year by visiting LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply. 语法解析

01:10

So you've probably heard of the vagus nerve in the context of breathwork or meditation, but its influence on health goes far beyond relaxation. Today's guest, Dr. Kevin Tracy, has spent decades uncovering the groundbreaking potential of the vagus nerve and his discoveries are reshaping how we think about inflammation, immunity, and healing. Dr. Tracy is a neurosurgeon, scientist, and entrepreneur whose research has revolutionized our understanding of the body's built-in healing mechanisms. 语法解析

01:36

He's the pioneer behind the inflammatory reflex, a discovery that reveals how the vagus nerve can control inflammation, and in some cases, even reverse diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, IBD, and Alzheimer's. In today's show, we'll explore the science behind the vagus nerve, its crucial role in regulating your body's vital systems, and how simple lifestyle strategies like breathwork, exercise, and even cold exposure can enhance its function. 语法解析

02:01

Plus, we'll discuss the cutting-edge potential of vagus nerve stimulation, how this emerging therapy is helping patients reclaim their health. Dr. Tracy's new book, The Great Nerve, sheds light on the fascinating field of neuroimmunology, showing us how we can tap into our body's own intelligence to optimize health, combat disease, and extend longevity. This conversation is packed with eye-opening science and actionable takeaways, so let's get to it. 语法解析

02:28

So let's start with a primer on the vagus nerve. Well, there's textbooks explanations and there's long mythological explanations and there's what it really is. So let's break it down really simply. The vagus nerve is a crucial communicating nerve between your brain and the organs of your body, all the organs you never think about. It's the longest nerve in your body. It is the only nerve in your body, if you cut it, 语法解析

02:56

you die. So it's fundamentally important for many reasons. It's not a vagus nerve. You actually have two, one on each side, like you have two thumbs and two kidneys. And it's not really fair to think about it in the singular because you have 100,000 vagus nerve fibers on each side of your body. And so it's a massive communication problem. 语法解析

03:20

stream that carries signals from the body to the brain about the status of all of its organs. 语法解析

03:27

And from the brain back to the organs to control how they function in a balanced, healthy way. So that's the vagus nerve. And because we have 200,000 fibers, the complexity of what each of those fibers does is enormous. And we know a lot about the vagus nerve today, but we're still in the early days of learning everything about it. So how does one assess their baseline? Yeah. 语法解析

03:56

to understand if they're properly optimizing it or if it's working properly. 语法解析

04:02

For cardiovascular health, I can go do a CLEARLY test and do a whole set of cardiovascular labs, get an understanding of my baseline cardiovascular system. What about here in this situation? When we think about assessing our own vagus nerve health, there are some simple measures that offer a good place to start, and there are some complicated measures that can only be done in laboratories. 语法解析

04:28

And whether it's simple or complicated, we're only scratching the surface of what we understand about vagus nerve health. Because as I said already, it's not that you have one solid copper wire called your vagus nerve. You actually have more like 200,000 individual wires carrying all these signals. So to put the complexity aside for a second and ask for simple measures, a simple measure of vagus nerve health 语法解析

04:57

is sometimes called vagal tone or vagus nerve tone. And that can be found by checking your pulse. So how does that work? Well, heart rate, the speed of your pulse, is determined by a balance between signals in the nervous system that travel in the sympathetic nervous system, which tend to accelerate heart rate. And those nerves travel to 语法解析

05:24

your heart to send the speed up signals and signals in the vagus nerve, which carry signals from the brain to the heart and they carry the slow down heart rate signals. Now, what's interesting is, and this is good news for those out there with a very slow heart rate. If you look at population studies, one thing that statistically correlates to the longevity of a population 语法解析

05:50

is actually heart rate. So populations with slower heart rates tend to live longer than populations with faster heart rates. Now, this has been true in the Framingham study outside of Boston, and it was true in an enormous study in France that looked at thousands and thousands of patients over many decades. So when the vagus nerve sends electrical signals to the heart, those are converted to chemical signals, and those chemical signals 语法解析

06:19

cause the beating heart to pause. It prolongs the time between individual heart rates. And you can measure that somewhat crudely by checking your pulse. And you can measure it in a more sophisticated fashion by analyzing longer traces on electrocardiograms. And that's the basis, that kind of 语法解析

06:38

That kind of analysis and those kind of algorithms are what are built into many of the home health monitors like Fitbits and iWatches. Yeah, I like that. I wear wearables. I'm wearing my Whoop, my Oura ring. So anyone wearing a wearable, whether it's one of those or Fitbit or Garmin, a lower resting heart rate and probably higher HRV. If you're going in the right direction on both, you're probably doing okay. But if you think there's an opportunity, your vagus nerve is probably… 语法解析

07:06

playing a role here? It probably is. And now it gets complicated because what role is it playing? So first of all, I think we also should point out to your listeners and viewers, if they just check their pulse and it's racing fast, it doesn't mean they're doomed to an early demise, right? When you have a statistical outcome of a population effect, looking at whether it's heart rate variability or a slow pulse or a fast pulse, it can make… 语法解析

07:35

important insights and predictions about the population as a whole, but you can't necessarily apply those predictions to an individual. So, you know, there's lots of reasons people could have fast resting heart rates and be perfectly healthy and live to be 105. But when you ask the question about what can we do about this and how can we optimize our vagus nerve health, 语法解析

07:58

There, it gets down to when someone tells me I want to stimulate my vagus nerve, I say, really, which one? It keeps coming back to this idea that these signals that are traveling in the 100,000 fibers on each side of your neck are carrying information about digestion, about how much glucose is traveling in through your body, how much insulin, how much glucagon. It's controlling how hungry or full you are. It's controlling the activity. 语法解析

08:26

Of reflexes that regulate every breath you take as well as every beating of your heart. So these signals are traveling from these organs up into the brain and the brain is processing these incoming signals. And this is happening one fiber at a time. 语法解析

08:45

But once the information in an individual vagus nerve fiber gets into the brain, the brain does respond in ways that we are just barely beginning to understand. 语法解析

08:55

So what can we do about it? Well, now we can get into the health benefits that are that are advocated for for general health and well-being generally. Exercise regularly to reduce stress in your life and get enough sleep. Eat a balanced diet and perhaps focus on relaxation methods or deep breathing methods. All of these things have been shown to improve vagal tone. 语法解析

09:22

But exactly how they work is still open to a lot of scientific controversy. I would say what's so interesting here is, as you think about benefits and outcomes, you're essentially touching on mental health, weight management, diabetes, cardiovascular health, everything you want to be aware of. 语法解析

09:40

And I think there are a lot of people out there who are doing all the right things. Everything you mentioned, they've nailed lifestyle, but you know what? Maybe their vagal tone is off. Maybe they're not as healthy or maybe they have a higher resting heart rate or lower HRV and they're getting frustrated. 语法解析

09:53

And there is the cliche of stress kills, and that's very real. And they're already doing all the right things. And I think this is what's so interesting about your work and the science behind it as it relates to vagus nerve therapy. It's on the cutting edge, and there's real science behind it. So let's go there and talk about this as a therapeutic intervention, if you will, what it is. Your remarks, I think, lead perfectly into the question of these questions 语法解析

10:21

folks who are doing everything they can, but they notice that from whatever measure, heart rate or heart rate variability or other autonomic measures they may have had at the doctor's office, that their autonomic function is not great. Why is that? Are these vagus nerve or brain circuits, are they not functioning properly? Well, one thing that comes to mind in those kinds of cases is inflammation. 语法解析

10:46

And inflammation can cause the autonomic nervous system and the vagus nerve to function imperfectly or less precisely. And this is a really important, the knowledge of the linkage between the autonomic nervous system and vagus nerve signaling to control inflammation is a relatively new breakthrough that my colleagues and I have been working on now for some time. And this breakthrough understanding points to the fact that 语法解析

11:13

The vagus nerve itself, signals traveling in the vagus nerve can suppress inflammation in the body. And by suppressing inflammation in the body, it's possible that we can derive significant therapeutic benefit in some conditions that are known to be associated with dysfunctioning vagus nerves or abnormal heart rate variability. Conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, for instance. We've seen in rheumatoid arthritis patients that their heart rate variability varies 语法解析

11:42

is impaired. And very interestingly, studies looking at families of rheumatoid arthritis patients, looking at unaffected family members who are at risk for getting rheumatoid arthritis, some of these individuals start to show signs of vagus nerve dysfunction 语法解析

12:00

or impaired heart rate variability before they have symptoms and signs of arthritis. So that raises the question, which is unproved, but it's a very reasonable theory that's being studied, of whether or not the vagus nerve signaling, defective or dysfunctional or impaired vagus nerve signaling, occurs 语法解析

12:20

And that's why the inflammation develops in the body afterwards, because it's like losing the brakes on your car and going down a hill. It's fascinating. And look, it makes, in terms of being a leading indicator, I'll just use HRV and RHR and share. I did my own Ed of One personal experience where… 语法解析

12:42

I had some cardiovascular, I do all sorts of experiments and I was experimenting with diet and I went high fat and my cardiovascular markers like went haywire. ApoB went to 110. You don't want it there. You want it under 80. 语法解析

12:56

And so I did an experiment where I found out I was an ultra absorber of saturated fat. I did the Boston Heart Cholesterol Test. And so I really cut down saturated fat. No more coconut milk. We just have like low fat milk or maybe some oat milk. And you have to wait like eight to 10 weeks to do a real experiment. But what's so interesting in my wearables, after like the first week, my resting heart rate started to really drop. My HRV started to really increase. 语法解析

13:26

And sure enough, when I did the labs eight weeks later, APOB went from 110 to 71. But if I looked at RHR and HRV as it relates to this conversation, they were leading indicators. Something was going very right. To your larger point, you talk about rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation of any kind. I think what we're touching on is vagus nerve health is a gateway to understanding what 语法解析

13:54

inflammation more generally. And inflammation, I think, is a nebulous term. We all know it exists. We all know it's bad. But if we think about root causes… 语法解析

14:02

this is an area where we should spend a lot of time. 100% agree. I could not agree with you more. And very well said. The idea of inflammation as a word actually probably needs to be revisited at some point. If you look at what inflammation is defined as, it's redness and swelling and pain associated with an injury or an infection. And the people that came up with that- 语法解析

14:29

were the early Greek and Roman physicians 2,000 years ago. Now, if you look at the brain of an Alzheimer's patient, or if you look at the heart of a heart attack patient with inflammation afterwards, or other organs or other systems 语法解析

14:46

If you look at the quote-unquote inflammation associated with metabolic syndrome and obesity, you don't see swelling, redness, and pain. We need probably, we're being limited now in some ways by semantics. We agree that white blood cells making things like cytokines and other mediators are critical in the pathogenesis and the progression of metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, hypertension. 语法解析

15:14

There are many cancers which are critically dependent, either caused by or made worse by those same inflammatory cells making those same kind of inflammatory molecules. The same is true for Alzheimer's. In fact, if you ask the question, according to the WHO list of the leading killers of the human race today, it turns out that two-thirds of 语法解析

15:37

of people who die, of the 60 million people who die every year, 40 million of them die of diseases that are either caused by or made worse by inflammation. So what you said is critically important. If we could control the signals in the vagus nerve and control the amount of inflammation in people at risk of dying from inflammatory conditions, 语法解析

15:57

this could have a significant impact on global health. And the scientific and clinical evidence supports that statement. That's not a wish list of some future time. What we're trying to do right now is figure out how to do that actually in people. Yeah, yes. And I think you'd agree we need to 语法解析

16:15

We're world-class disease care in this country, but we're not so good at addressing root causes. And I think about root cause medicine, I think that this is at the forefront. And I'll start, you have a very provocative title for your first chapter, How Electricity Can Replace Your Medications. And you go on to say, quote, 语法解析

16:36

I am convinced that bioelectronic medicine has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, unquote. We all talk about food as medicine and exercise and sleep and all these things, but electricity, this is a new one. Please tell us more. Yeah, it's time to add electrons to the list of therapies that we'll be using. And I want to point out also, you are a real medical doctor as part of one of the biggest hospital systems in America. You are not, you know… 语法解析

17:05

on the fringe with some device in a weird strip mall somewhere in, you know, I live in Florida, so somewhere in Florida. Not to knock those people, but you are a legitimate practicing medical doctor of a very well-respected, one of the largest hospital groups in the country. So I just want to point that out for people. Thank you. Yes, I am. And I've been studying the role of the vagus nerve in suppressing or treating inflammation. I've been studying it for 语法解析

17:34

coming up on 30 years with hundreds and hundreds of colleagues. Much of what we've discovered in the laboratory here at the Feinstein Institute in New York, much of what we discovered has been replicated now by laboratories around the world, published in our own case in hundreds of scientific publications, and in the case of my colleagues, thousands more. So this is not fringe anymore. What we've learned 语法解析

17:59

is that specific nerve fibers, the ones we've been talking about of those 200,000, probably a few thousand, their job it is, is to turn off cytokine storm. Cytokine storm is what occurs early in inflammation when white blood cells are activated 语法解析

18:17

to release molecules like TNF and IL-1 and IL-6. Now, many of your listeners have heard of these molecules or seen them advertised on TV because those molecules are the drug targets for the class of drugs called biologics. And so in patients with severe autoimmune or inflammatory conditions, they take drugs 语法解析

18:41

which are antibodies or receptors that are injected and mop up or stop the activity of these molecules like TNF. Well, what my colleagues and I discovered is that we can implant a computer chip, which stimulates fibers in the vagus nerve, 语法解析

19:00

to take those signals which turn off inflammation. And what happens is it turns off the inflammatory cytokines and it reduces the inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. We've done many, many laboratory studies to map all the very specific nerve fibers that do this job in the vagus nerve. And we've mapped the molecules they use to talk to the white blood cells. And we've mapped inside the white blood cells 语法解析

19:27

We've looked at how the signal goes from the cell surface and then the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor all the way into the nucleus to shut down the transcription of genes in the white blood cell that caused the inflammation. So we've worked it all out. And that really culminated in a series of clinical trials. The first, which we published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is 语法解析

19:49

about eight years ago or so, was a clinical study in rheumatoid arthritis done in Europe, which showed patients had significant benefit. And many of these patients had not derived benefit from these biologic drugs, you know, best-in-class treatments. So the reason that I'm so confident is twofold. First, 语法解析

20:10

Just last fall, November, the company that I co-founded almost 20 years ago, 18 years ago, Setpoint Medical completed a clinical trial in the United States in 242 rheumatoid arthritis patients. And those patients derived significant clinical benefit. Now, some of these patients who are now better because they have a vagus nerve stimulator implanted in their left neck 语法解析

20:37

Some of these patients had already tried three or four different biologic drugs and had no benefit. So that's the first reason I'm so excited and optimistic because I've seen the data. The FDA, as we speak, Jason, the FDA are looking at 18,000 pages of data to make a decision on regulatory approval in the U.S. But the second reason is because I've met patients who were in those trials. 语法解析

21:03

who are now having no symptoms. Their arthritis is gone, as far as they can tell, and they take no medications. Their only medication is the electrons being delivered into their vagus nerve through a computerized device that's about the size of a multivitamin implanted in their left neck. Wow. So… 语法解析

21:24

So RA is essentially an autoimmune condition, which is inflammation. And so pharmaceutical interventions as it relates to RA have very serious side effects. And so this is game-changing for people suffering from RA. I think a multitude of autoimmune conditions… 语法解析

21:40

So if I'm listening, whether I have autoimmune or RA, or maybe I just want to really work on my HRV and our HR, is it just an implant specifically? Or are there other interventions? Like what does it look like for listeners today who are interested in taking a next step and maybe walk us through like the implant, which I think is like the, say the… 语法解析

22:04

the Rolls Royce treatment, if you will, versus like, what's the Toyota? 语法解析

22:11

everyday treatment here or product? You know, as we move into talking about what to do, I think obviously patients should speak to their physicians first, as you and I have talked about it and now, because every treatment has implications for every patient and patients differ from patient to patient and treatments differ from patient to patient. But to start with 语法解析

22:34

The simple things first, it's true. You and me and probably most of your listeners would be very interested in optimizing their health and getting the right amount of sleep, reducing stress in their lives, eating a balanced diet, watching their weight. All of those things have been proven to both 语法解析

22:52

enhance your vagus nerve tone and decrease the amount of inflammation in your body. But as we already talked about, this is very important. If you have patients who are doing this now and they still have either poor vagus nerve tone or inflammation in their body, it's not their fault. These are best practices for a healthy lifestyle, but they don't mean they work in everybody. At some point, if rheumatoid arthritis occurs, 语法解析

23:17

or inflammatory bowel disease, which we should also talk about, or other serious inflammatory conditions, then it's time to add in medications. The current standard of care progresses from, in rheumatoid arthritis anyways, from agents such as methotrexate and steroids, which do have 语法解析

23:36

many side effects up to more powerful agents called biologics, which have to be injected. They can cost up to $100,000 per year. And many of those injections help millions of people. So you can have up to 40% of patients having very good clinical responses to these drugs. But these drugs have black box warnings. They have dangerous side effect profiles because 语法解析

24:04

because they suppress the immune system and immunosuppression leaves patients open to secondary infections, even cancer. So the idea behind using vagus nerve stimulation as a therapy is multiple fold. First, it delivers signals into the vagus nerve to control inflammation, to suppress inflammation. The vagus nerve evolved 语法解析

24:27

in parallel with the mammalian immune system, over hundreds of millions of years. It's a natural regulatory network. The biologics that are used did not evolve over hundreds of millions of years. They're not part of the natural network that controls inflammation, like the vagus nerve is part of a natural network. And so by tapping into the power of the vagus nerve to stop inflammation, you're actually doing it in a way that's not immunosuppressive. 语法解析

24:56

So when you look at what happens to the cytokine level specifically, they don't go to zero when you use vagus nerve stimulation. So patients are not immunosuppressed. In fact, some 200,000 or more patients have received vagus nerve stimulation therapy for treating epilepsy dating back to 1997. And immunosuppression is not a dangerous side effect in these patients. 语法解析

25:23

So, it comes back to what you asked me earlier. Why did I make that statement and why am I so optimistic? Because I've seen the data, I know how it works, I know that this can be done safely in human beings. 语法解析

25:36

And I've met patients who benefited from this, and it's pretty amazing to meet a woman who couldn't button her blouse, lost her job as a teacher, grammar school teacher, moved from New Jersey to Hawaii, getting treatment for her rheumatoid arthritis from New York to the Mayo Clinic to Hawaii and back, and all over a period of many, many, many years with no effective therapy. 语法解析

26:05

And now to see her taking no medications and having no signs or symptoms of her illness. I mean, that's what it's all about, Jason. That's why we do what we do. And I think it's time for millions more people to have the opportunity for this kind of therapy. 语法解析

26:21

Are you ready to rock big savings? Rakuten's Big Give Week is a limited-time festival of savings. Just eight days of epic deals. Earn 15% cash back at Ray-Ban, Lego, Adidas, and more. Big Give Week is only once a year, and the cash back rates are through the roof. Plus, your cash back gets sent directly to your PayPal, so you'll feel even better about your purchase. Join for free today and get a $20 welcome bonus. Hurry! Big Give Week ends May 12th, and there won't be an encore. Go to Rakuten.com or download the Rakuten app. 语法解析

26:51

It's remarkable. And in terms of the implant, can you walk, like, what does that procedure look like? The procedure to have a vagus nerve stimulator implanted of the kind that Setpoint developed is an outpatient procedure. So like any other outpatient procedure, you'd come in in advance and probably have some sort of presurgical testing, get cleared for surgery. On the day of surgery, you come into the hospital or the clinic first. 语法解析

27:17

for a procedure that lasts somewhere about an hour. It's probably going to be done by a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon would implant this chip 语法解析

27:28

As I said, it's about the size of a multivitamin into the left neck through an incision that's about an inch or inch and a half long. The device sits on the vagus nerve, which it runs at about the level of your Adam's apple, and it runs next to the carotid artery, the pulse that you feel in your neck. 语法解析

27:46

In this device, there's a battery. There's a computer chip. There is an antenna to communicate with the doctor's tablet. And there is a lead or electronic connection that sits directly on the vagus nerve. But it's all self-contained in a little silastic. It looks like a pee pod that wraps around a pee around the nerve. And that means patients go home the same afternoon, the same day, and they're 语法解析

28:15

Then return to the doctor's office to have the device switched on via the doctor's tablet. Fascinating. So if I'm, call it an everyday optimizer where I'm not suffering from RA and I probably don't want to go through an implant procedure, but I would love to lower my resting heart rate or increase my HRV and I've done everything. And if I can get a 10%, 20% bump, I'm going to try it. 语法解析

28:42

Is there something for me? Today, no. Well, I applaud your efforts at trying to enhance your vagal tone and to keep your heart rate low. I do the same thing. I try to do as best I can all the things that we're talking about, diet, exercise, sleep. 语法解析

28:58

And, but interestingly, there's a lot of people exploring other avenues to stimulate their vagus nerve. But let's, before we get to that, let's just make one more point. The reason, there should be plenty of reason to want to increase vagus tone because if not for the simple one I said before, that people with slower heart rates as a population tend to live longer and have longer health spans. But you're asking the question of, 语法解析

29:26

Is there a way for a chip or should people at risk of heart attacks, maybe a high family heart attack risk history or a risk of Alzheimer's because of a family history or a genetic predisposition or a risk, even risk of cancer. Some cancers are highly associated with the predisposition are caused by inflammation. What about should for it will someday will someday 45 year olds. 语法解析

29:55

50-year-olds have implants for one way or another to stimulate their vagus nerve to reduce their inflammation while they live their normal lives? Jason, I think maybe. Are we there yet today? Absolutely not. Where we are today is best possible. 语法解析

30:12

health practices that we could dive into a little more. Yeah, let's do that. And one of them which caught my eye in the book, you talk about the ear-brain-body connection. I've heard brain-body, but not ear-brain-body. So let's talk about the ear here. So the ear is an interesting thing in this story, Jason. So it turns out that there is a branch of the vagus nerve that goes to the cartilage of the external ear. 语法解析

30:40

So if you put your finger in your ear, you will feel cartilage around that part of the ear. And if you look in the mirror or look at a picture of an ear, it looks like a seashell. And so that part of the ear is called the simboconcha. And that part of the ear is innervated by a sensory branch of the vagus nerve. 语法解析

31:02

Now, that means that if you stimulate with your finger or with a TENS unit, an electrical, you know, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulating unit that you can buy on Amazon or anywhere for not a lot of money. If you stimulate that part of the ear, the signals travel in the sensory vagus nerve, which means it carries the signals into the brainstem. 语法解析

31:27

Now, that's not the only nerve in your ear. There's several other nerves that innervate the external ear, but there's been many, many, many, too many to count, clinical studies and publications in peer-reviewed journals that 语法解析

31:42

that electrically stimulating the simbaconcha of the ear has health benefits in a variety of conditions associated with inflammation. So essentially it's a vibration of the ear to some degree, if I'm understanding correctly. There's a few ways of doing it. One way is to use a mechanical vibrating device. You have to be careful with those. I'm not recommending any treatment to your listeners. Of course, they should check with their doctor, but if 语法解析

32:08

A vibrating device will stimulate the neurons in the simpacotia associated with the vagus nerve. The danger of a vibrating device is that you can damage the middle ear or damage your earring if you vibrate too much. You can do it with a TENS unit, which there are FDA-approved TENS units that you can buy over the counter. And these TENS units, they send electrical pulses, not vibrations, but electrical pulses into the ear. 语法解析

32:37

So, you know, a typical setting for this would be 语法解析

32:41

on the order of like 200 microsecond pulse width, 30 hertz pulse rate, and you would turn up the amperage or the strength of the signal until you feel something. You shouldn't feel pain, but you might feel a tingling in the ear. Now, those kinds of studies, and some of the studies are very high quality, well-controlled studies, 语法解析

33:08

Some of the studies are not high quality and not well controlled and are quite questionable. But on balance, there is significant interest in seeing a reduction in inflammation in some of these studies ranging from inflammatory bowel disease. My colleague here at Northwell at Cone Children's Hospital, Ben Son, reported a study where he looked at children with pediatric Crohn's disease. 语法解析

33:35

and had a very significant impact on not all of them, but on many of those patients who did much better. We've published on rheumatoid arthritis with this approach. We've published on treating patients with arthritis associated with lupus, with systemic lupus erythematosus. 语法解析

33:54

And then there's many studies looking at anxiety disorders and other conditions. So it's an important area that we don't completely understand. Here's what we know. What we know is that some well-controlled clinical trials are highly suggestive of some beneficial effect. And we know that there's a branch of the vagus nerve to the cartilage of the ear. 语法解析

34:19

And we know that if we electrically stimulate or mechanically stimulate that branch, that that can produce some of these effects. But we don't know how it works because once the signals get into the brain, now you're interacting with tens, if not hundred billion neurons with 10,000 connections per neuron. So we don't know exactly where those signals go or how they come out to the body. And we don't know how an individual brain 语法解析

34:44

patient or subject would respond to a specific treatment because that individual patient may have a slightly different wiring of their nervous system, or they could have had injury to those nerves in the ear. So there's so many variables that we don't know yet that is still an area of active study by many, many, many centers. It's just so interesting because we've never really, or at least personally, I can say I've never really thought about 语法解析

35:11

ear health you know i we we've thought about the nose and nasal breathing but it's really one to follow as we think about like our ear that's it makes the case you know my one personal side note i made the mistake once of going a little too deep at a q-tip and all of a sudden i started to feel like a cloud on my ear and then boom i had vertigo for the first time in my life 语法解析

35:40

and it scared the hell out of me for like an hour and a half two i was like whoa i started to do some you know i went to doctor google after of course and i said to myself i'm such an idiot but the memo for me was wow there's more to the ear here as it relates to our well-being that i'm aware of and this idea of you know vibration frequency around the ear 语法解析

36:08

is one to follow. It's very low lit. Like if you say to someone, you gotta go to the gym, you gotta run yourself silly, work on your VO2 max, 语法解析

36:16

Okay. I may do that. I may not. But if we're talking about like a gentle ear massage here, a lot of people are going to raise their hands. It's a fascinating topic. And as I said, some of the clinical results point to the importance of figuring it out. But a lot of people, many of us are still in the process of trying to figure it out. I mean, my grandfather was a professor of pediatrics at 语法解析

36:39

at Yale and New Haven. And when I was a little boy, I remember the advice he gave me, which I should pass on to you now from your story, which is never put anything in your ear larger than the elbow of your opposite arm. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. 语法解析

36:54

I love that. But you talk about Crohn's and the ear. Like Crohn's, I have friends who have Crohn's. That's a tough setting in terms of living your life. And the last thing I would think about is my ear. So it's true. It's not what most people think about. I mean, if students and practitioners of acupuncture know all about the ear, and as you know from that chapter that you read, there are famous… 语法解析

37:21

acupuncture methods that use needles inserted into specific points along the ear, which map to specific organs in the body. And this, you know, if you talk sort of casually to people who know about acupuncture in a casual way, everybody knows that these acupuncture points are ancient and they date back thousands and thousands of years. But that's actually not really true. Actually, a 语法解析

37:48

a French physician in the 1950s was treating patients in his regular practice and noticed a few patients had come in with scars on their ear that were caused by cautery from a different practitioner who was burning off a little piece of the patient's ear to treat their sciatica. Yes, it's a true story. But what Dr. Nogier noted was that 语法解析

38:17

These patients actually did derive benefit from their sciatica. So Dr. Nagy took a ballpoint pen and he removed the ink and he used it as a probe on his patients in his practice. And he probed pushing different pressure points on the ears of his patients and recorded what the patients reported. And he did this for many, many years. And he ultimately developed a map that he called auriculotherapy. 语法解析

38:43

of acupuncture or acupressure points on the ear, which he presented to the Chinese acupuncture societies in China and they published it for him. The actual quote unquote ancient Chinese acupuncture maps were developed in France by a Frenchman in the 1950s. What's fascinating about this is that some of these points on these maps are in the Simba concha and you can make theories 语法解析

39:10

that vagus nerve fibers are innovating some of these points that he and subsequently many others have assigned to specific organs like the spleen. Now, the spleen, we know, is a target of vagus nerve stimulation therapy. It's a source of cytokines and white blood cells that drive inflammation in many conditions. And I will tell you that the spleen does not have sensory nerves. So it's 语法解析

39:38

It's very hard to imagine how anyone could have figured out a point on the ear that maps to the spleen, but it happens to be in the simboconcha. So there's a lot of interesting connections here. For sure. Something else in terms of lifestyle, which I'm a big proponent of and I enjoy doing daily, cold plunge. Can you talk about cold plunges? Yes. And again, that could be the topic of another entire hour discussion. So 语法解析

40:07

And it's really important because… 语法解析

40:11

Let's just cover this for a second, Jason, because there's billions of web impressions on Vegas Nerve. There's I don't know how many on cold plunges. I don't know how many on deep breathing and meditation. But the problem is there are grains of truth to many of these things that you can find either on social media or on the web about these various modalities, including cold plunges. 语法解析

40:37

And the grain of truth is important. And some of these grains of truth are rooted in deep science. But some of the recommendations and some of the interpretations of these grains of truth 语法解析

40:47

It stretched the truth and may or may not be true or may not be known. So in cold plunges, I like to break down the explanation into two parts. The first thing that happens if you do a true cold plunge, which would be jumping in cold water or turning the cold shower, the shower onto full cold, even after a hot shower, that that first response to significant cold is fight or flight. 语法解析

41:11

There's a massive surge of adrenaline of norepinephrine and epinephrine in your body, which of course causes your heart to race. 语法解析

41:20

And it's that feeling, if you've ever jumped in a cold lake or a cold ocean, it's that feeling where every molecule of air is forced out of your body and you can't breathe and it hurts. And that fight or flight, it turns out in this sort of extraordinary amount, that's anti-inflammatory. That turns off inflammation. 语法解析

41:43

It's counterintuitive to what people think about in terms of anxiety, which is this chronic fight or flight. Chronic fight or flight, I would describe as anxiety. 语法解析

41:55

low-level, ongoing, persistent fight or flight or stress responses, that's pro-inflammatory. That turns on inflammation. But the massive fight or flight you get from running a 100-yard dash, from racing up a mountain, or from jumping in freezing cold water, that's anti-inflammatory. So that's happening. Now, if you can will yourself to stay in the cold, 语法解析

42:21

And the human physiology studies that have done this are fascinating. I mean, putting volunteers in freezers, in wet clothes with a fan on them, or studying soldiers who march around. 语法解析

42:36

in short pants across, you know, the frozen tundra and on and on and on. What's quite clear from those studies is that cold adapted responses slow your heart rate. It takes a while though. You know, the cold plunge in and out, that's fight or flight fast heart rate. 语法解析

42:57

decreased inflammation. But if you stay in the cold, and here I advise doing that in a way either with a friend or colleague and not in water where you can drown, because that's happened too. But if you can stay in the cold for a period of minutes, probably five or 10, now your heart rate slows. And that's your vagus nerve effect or your parasympathetic effect. And 语法解析

43:24

That's why I do it. I'm with you. I do it every day for three minutes. And you notice it, right? You get in, it hurts. It's like, what am I doing? And then you stay there and you feel everything slow down. You feel the heart slow down. You feel your body slow down. Yeah. It's been an acquired taste. I live in Miami. I hate the cold. I don't ski. I don't miss New York. Not 语法解析

43:45

I love being in warm weather. So never really liked the cold, so I was resistant to it for quite some time. But I picked it up in the last year and love it. And I'm also very interested in 50 and want to optimize my testosterone. 语法解析

44:03

There's some interesting findings as it relates to men and testosterone and cold plunges. The science isn't fully there, so to speak, but I'm currently doing my own out of one to see what happens. But I love it. Clear head. 语法解析

44:17

really get to control my breathing. I feel like I've missed something if I don't do it daily. I'm fascinated by the experience because, you know, like you, it took me a long time to build up to having any sort of tolerance for it. But, you know, small increments, if anyone wants to do this for the first time, you don't have to start with the water on full cold. You don't have to stay in for an hour. Small increments gradually lengthen the time, make the water colder. But despite the fact that 语法解析

44:45

I've been doing it for quite a while. Every time, it's awful for the first few seconds. It's absolutely awful. But then you find yourself, it's like, yes, it's awful, but I don't mind it. It's as if I'm watching somebody else have the experience, even though I'm aware that it's awful. It's really interesting. 语法解析

45:03

Yeah, I've grown to love it. It's hot. I don't even experience the awful anymore. And I'm not a masochist as it relates to exercise at all. I don't run. I don't like running. If you find me running, it means I'm being chased. Call the police. I'm in trouble. So in terms of the future, what do you think we're going to be looking at in the next three to five years as it relates to the vagus nerve and vagus nerve therapy? Where 语法解析

45:29

Where are we going? Where would you like it to go? I think it's quite likely that within the coming year or two, you're going to start to see devices available for stimulating the vagus nerve that will be used probably in the first patients, in patients who've already had multiple other medications and still are not being used. 语法解析

45:56

adequately treated, probably in rheumatoid arthritis. I think we already know that the FDA has approved various methods of vagus nerve stimulation to treat epilepsy, to treat depression, to treat withdrawal from opioids, and to enhance the effectiveness of physical therapy in patients who've had strokes affecting their hands and arms. So there's a path 语法解析

46:22

for this to be done safely. And I think patients faced with 语法解析

46:27

crippling or serious inflammatory conditions are going to seek this out. I think there will be a barrier to adoption. I think it's going to take time for practitioners, doctors, nurses, clinics, insurance payers for the whole system to accommodate this new idea, which you said surprised you. It's going to surprise a lot of people. But I think what has surprised me is how well it seems to work in some people. 语法解析

46:57

I think you're going to find patients, maybe half of them who have this therapy have a really, really big benefit and another quarter. So 75% have a smaller benefit. And I think a small percentage will have no benefit either because their disease is a 语法解析

47:17

We don't completely understand their disease or we don't completely understand how to use this new therapy yet. However, I think we'll find that it's safe. And I think you're going to find that patients prefer this to injecting themselves 语法解析

47:29

with drugs that have black box warnings that cost $100,000 a year and only work half the time. 100%. And I could say I'm optimistic on the FDA. We've had Marty Makery, the new incoming commissioner of the FDA on this podcast. And judging from my conversation with him, I think he's going to be very receptive to what you're working on. It could really impact a lot of people's lives. Kevin, we touched on a lot. 语法解析

47:54

other than picking up the book, which I highly recommend. Anything else you want to touch on before we close? I think, you know, you asked about the book and the title of The Great Nerve. And, you know, and I told you Galen, 语法解析

48:09

The original physician 2,000 years ago named it the great nerve. And if you look online, if you look anywhere, everyone knows the vagus nerve is the wandering nerve, as in vagabond or vagaries. And that name actually came in the 16th century or so when anatomists decided to rename the great nerve the vagabond. 语法解析

48:30

the vagus nerve, because they saw it wandering all over the body. Well, I think Galen's name is better because the vagus nerve to me isn't wandering anywhere. It knows exactly where it's going. It knows exactly what it's doing. And what it's doing is keeping us all healthy. So I think the great nerve is a better word. Also, Kevin, thank you so much. Thank you for having me, Jason. 语法解析

</markdown>

Edit:2025.05.16<markdown>

今天邀请到了神经外科医生、科学家兼企业家Dr. Kevin Tracy，共同探讨迷走神经对人体健康的重要影响以及相关的前沿治疗方法。

Dr. Kevin Tracy首先详细介绍了迷走神经，是连接大脑和身体器官的关键神经，堪称人体最长的神经。其独特之处在于，如果将其切断，人就会面临生命危险。而且，人体实际上有两根迷走神经，左右各一根，就像人有两只手、两个肾脏一样。不能简单地将迷走神经视为单一的神经，因为每侧身体都有大约10万条迷走神经纤维，如此庞大的数量使得信息传递的复杂性超乎想象。尽管目前人们对迷走神经已经有了不少了解，但仍有许多奥秘等待进一步探索。

对于心血管健康，可以通过特定的测试和实验室检查来评估。而对于迷走神经健康，有简单的评估方式，也有复杂的、只能在实验室进行的检测。不过目前人们对迷走神经健康的了解还只是冰山一角。

简单来说，有一种简单的评估指标叫迷走神经张力，或者叫迷走神经调节能力，人们可以通过检查脉搏来初步了解。这是因为心率的快慢是由神经系统中的交感神经和迷走神经共同调节的。交感神经发出的信号会加速心率，而迷走神经则传递让心跳减慢的信号。

从人口研究数据来看，心率较慢的人群往往寿命更长，像波士顿郊外的弗雷明汉心脏研究以及法国一项针对数千患者、历经数十年的大型研究都证实了这一点。

人们可以通过检查脉搏来大致判断这种神经信号传递情况，当然，更精确的分析可以通过心电图来实现，现在很多家用健康监测设备，都运用了类似的算法来分析心率变异性。

不过要注意，仅仅通过脉搏快慢来判断健康状况是不准确的。如果只是偶尔测得静息心率过快，并不意味着就一定会早逝。因为从统计学角度得出的群体结论，不能直接套用到个体身上。有些人虽然静息心率较快，但依然能健康长寿。

当人们想要改善迷走神经功能时，有很多方法被证明是有效的，比如规律运动、减轻生活压力、保证充足睡眠、均衡饮食，还可以尝试一些放松技巧，像深呼吸等。这些方法对整体健康都有益处，包括心理健康、体重管理、血糖控制以及心血管健康等多个方面。

然而，每个人的身体状况不同，有时候即使生活方式很健康，也可能出现迷走神经张力不佳或者静息心率异常的情况，这时候就需要进一步探究原因了。

Dr. Tracy指出，迷走神经传递关于消化、血糖、胰岛素等器官状态的信息，并控制呼吸和心跳，还参与调节身体的各种反射活动，对维持身体的内稳态至关重要。

迷走神经信号可以抑制身体炎症。研究发现，炎症与许多疾病的发生发展密切相关，如类风湿性关节炎、炎症性肠病（IBD）、阿尔茨海默病等。通过刺激迷走神经，可以减少炎症反应，从而对这些疾病产生治疗作用。

Dr. Tracy深入介绍了迷走神经刺激疗法的原理。特定神经纤维的任务是关闭细胞因子风暴。细胞因子风暴是炎症早期白细胞被激活后释放大量炎症分子的过程。迷走神经刺激疗法通过植入计算机芯片刺激迷走神经纤维，关闭这些细胞因子风暴，减少炎症。研究表明，这种疗法可以调节白细胞内的基因转录，抑制炎症相关基因的表达。

在类风湿性关节炎的治疗中，临床试验显示患者有显著临床获益。一些患者在使用生物制剂治疗无效后，接受迷走神经刺激疗法，症状得到明显改善，甚至无需再服用药物。该疗法不仅安全，而且不会像传统生物制剂那样导致免疫抑制，减少了感染和癌症等副作用的发生风险。

预计在未来一两年内，会有更多用于刺激迷走神经的设备问世，首先可能应用于类风湿性关节炎等炎症性疾病患者。随着技术的不断发展和人们对这种疗法认识的加深，它有望在治疗更多疾病方面发挥重要作用。

Dr. Tracy强调，规律运动、减压、充足睡眠、均衡饮食等有助于提高迷走神经张力和减少炎症。但这些方法并非对所有人都有效，有些人即使遵循健康的生活方式，仍可能存在迷走神经功能异常或炎症问题。

Dr. Tracy还提到耳朵与迷走神经之间存在联系，耳朵上有一分支迷走神经，通过刺激这个部位可能对炎症相关疾病产生有益影响。可以用手指轻轻按摩耳朵的特定部位，或者使用经皮神经电刺激（TENS）单元来刺激耳朵。不过需要注意的是，使用振动设备时要小心，避免损伤耳朵内部结构。

一些临床研究表明，这种刺激方式对炎症性肠病、类风湿性关节炎以及焦虑症等多种疾病都有一定的治疗效果，但目前具体的作用机制还不完全清楚，仍处于研究阶段。

此外，Dr. Tracy还分享了自己对冷水浸泡（受冷）的看法。当人们进行冷水浸泡时，身体会有一个初始的反应，就像遇到危险时触发的“战斗或逃跑”反应。这时身体会分泌大量的肾上腺素、去甲肾上腺素等激素，导致心跳加速。这种感觉就像是突然跳进冰冷的水中，身体会感到极度不适，呼吸急促。但从科学角度来看，这种短期的“战斗或逃跑”反应实际上具有抗炎作用，这与我们通常认为的慢性压力导致的炎症反应是不同的。

如果能在短时间内适应这种寒冷刺激，并坚持待在冷水中一段时间，大概五到十分钟，身体的心率会逐渐减慢，这是迷走神经发挥作用的体现，也就是副交感神经效应开始起作用。

他自己就坚持每天进行三分钟的冷水浸泡，一开始确实很难适应，那种寒冷带来的刺痛感和不适感让人难以忍受，但随着时间的推移，逐渐适应了这种刺激，现在甚至每天不做就会觉得少了点什么。而且他发现自己在冷水浸泡后，头脑会更加清醒，呼吸也能更好地控制。

不过要提醒大家，进行冷水浸泡时一定要注意安全，最好有同伴陪同，避免发生意外。

展望未来，在接下来的一到两年内，我们有望看到更多用于刺激迷走神经的设备问世。这些设备可能会率先应用于那些已经尝试过多种药物治疗但效果不佳的炎症性疾病患者，比如类风湿性关节炎患者。目前，FDA已经批准了多种迷走神经刺激方法用于治疗癫痫、抑郁症、阿片类药物戒断以及提高中风患者的康复效果等，这为迷走神经刺激疗法的安全性和有效性提供了一定的保障。Dr. Tracy相信，那些饱受严重炎症性疾病困扰的患者会积极寻求这种新的治疗方法。虽然可能会有一些患者对这种疗法反应不佳，但从整体来看，大部分患者还是能从中受益的，而且相较于传统的药物治疗，迷走神经刺激疗法具有明显的优势，比如避免了药物带来的副作用以及高额的治疗费用。

</markdown>

Edit:2025.05.16

<markdown> </markdown>

讨论列表 AKP讨论 查看原帖及回帖