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Jul 18 11 tweets 6 min read Read on X
There’s one nerve that controls your anxiety, digestion, inflammation—even your immune system.

It’s called the vagus nerve.
And almost no one talks about it.

Understanding how it works could be the missing link to feeling your best—naturally.

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The vagus nerve quietly orchestrates and regulates essential bodily functions, often without your awareness.

It connects to key organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, gut, and pancreas, supporting health and standing ready to address a range of challenges with both immediate and long-lasting effects.

By understanding the vagus nerve’s role and learning how to stimulate it effectively, you can access greater calm, healing, and resilience.

As the vagus nerve originates from the brain and travels throughout the body, it branches into various organ systems.

It’s part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which means that its primary role is to calm and restore your body’s balance. When the vagus nerve stimulates these organs, the parasympathetic (rest and digest) response is activated, Dr. Priyal Modi, an integrative medicine practitioner, told The Epoch Times.Image
Stimulating the vagus nerve relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety and builds stress resilience.

This is likely because of the nerve’s connection with brain regions that regulate mood. Activating the vagus nerve is linked to the release of dopamine. It also results in higher levels of serotonin and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), the precursor to serotonin, leading to improved quality of life, including better emotional adjustment and enhanced social functioning.

A healthy vagus nerve is also linked to sharp cognitive function and creative thinking, Modi said.Image
The vagus nerve keeps both heart rate and breathing steady to ensure that all tissues get a steady supply of oxygen.

It is “a major conduit between the heart and brain,” according to a review published in Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. It forms specialized sensory endings on the heart and blood vessels to detect and regulate the cardiovascular environment, including blood pressure and heart rhythm.

The vagus nerve is also a main messenger for sending sensory information from the lungs to the brain, controls how the airway muscles constrict and relax, and adjusts both the rate and depth of breathing. If the vagus nerve senses a threat, such as airway damage or blockage, it triggers protective reflexes, such as swallowing or coughing, to keep the airways clear.Image
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The vagus nerve coordinates energy use, digestion, and appetite.

It mobilizes food through the digestive tract and breaks it down. It is also connected to the brain regions that influence hunger and satiety, helping you know when you are hungry or full.

This system can even affect your body’s preference for certain flavors or textures based on nutritional needs. It helps detect the body’s need for things such as water and salt and can sense danger from food allergens and toxins.

Furthermore, the vagus nerve regulates the release of insulin and controls blood glucose levels and glucose storage.Image
Stimulating the vagus nerve helps reduce inflammation and maintain a healthy immune system.

The vagus nerve’s anti-inflammatory signaling reduces systemic inflammation, a factor often linked to chronic illnesses, Jodi Duval, an Australia-based naturopathic physician and founder of Revital Health, told The Epoch Times.Image
Vagal tone—or the influence that the vagus nerve has on the body—is a reflection of the health of the vagus nerve itself, according to Modi.

The most common and accessible way to measure vagal tone is through heart rate variability (HRV), which tracks the variation in time between heartbeats.

This variation naturally fluctuates in response to breathing and other signals from the autonomic nervous system. Generally, higher HRV suggests stronger vagal tone and better vagus nerve function, “which allows a person to respond and adapt to physiological and environmental challenges,” Modi said. She added that HRV can be measured with a fitness tracker, smartwatch, or electrocardiogram.Image
The state of the vagus nerve is linked to various conditions, ranging from mental health disorders to Alzheimer’s disease.
theepochtimes.com/health/how-the…
There are many approaches to improve vagus nerve function, such as vagus nerve stimulation—often defined as mechanical stimulation using a vagus nerve stimulator—and natural stimulation methods.

Breathing, for example, is a distinct natural stimulator because it’s the only part of the autonomic nervous system that operates both automatically and consciously, giving us direct access to influence the vagus nerve system.

People respond to different types of therapies in unique ways; treatments, in general, must be tailored to a person’s needs and what’s accessible to them. However, stimulating the vagus nerve is something that everyone can try, according to Lidalize Grobler, an educational psychologist.

“It’s something I rely on most in my own practice because, in our modern lives, many of us are constantly in a fight-or-flight state. Stimulating the vagus nerve can help regulate this response, making it valuable for nearly everyone,” she said.

Upcoming articles in this series will explore ways to improve vagus nerve function to alleviate a number of conditions.Image
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More from @epochhealth

Jul 18
A Forgotten Antibiotic Just Shook Up the Lyme Disease Debate

In a pair of new studies, one overlooked drug eliminated Lyme bacteria at doses 100x lower than standard antibiotics—without wrecking the gut microbiome.

Even more surprising? It might prevent infection entirely.
And it's already FDA-approved.

Now the question is… why hasn’t this been used all along?

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Scientists may be closing in on two major advances in the fight against Lyme disease: an overlooked antibiotic that eliminates the infection at exceptionally low doses and new insights into why symptoms often persist long after treatment.

theepochtimes.com/health/old-ant…
In a pair of studies published recently in Science Translational Medicine, scientists showed that piperacillin—a Food and Drug Administration-approved antibiotic—cleared Lyme infections in mice at doses up to 100 times lower than those of doxycycline, the current first-line treatment.

Unlike doxycycline, piperacillin targets the Lyme disease bacteria specifically, sparing the gut microbiome from the disruption that typically accompanies doxycycline use.Image
Read 12 tweets
Jul 17
Beyond Cholesterol Lies a New Approach to Heart Health

For decades, doctors believed lowering cholesterol was a key ingredient to better health.

Now, emerging science is telling a different story—and it challenges everything we thought we knew about cholesterol, and especially statins.

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Imagine a room full of your closest friends and family. The odds are that heart disease will affect at least one of them. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, claiming a life every 33 seconds.

For decades, we have been told that lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—so-called bad cholesterol—is the key to heart health. But with odds like that, something isn’t adding up.

“I think the current model is oversimplified and rather myopic,” Nick Norwitz, a Harvard medical student who holds a doctorate in physiology from Oxford, told The Epoch Times. “LDL is the most common biomarker now. There are better markers.”Image
Beyond LDL

You might have had your cholesterol checked and been told that everything looks normal. But those standard tests may only be telling part of the story. Traditional cholesterol tests, while still valuable, measure cholesterol amounts.

They miss important details about the quality and behavior of cholesterol particles and other key metabolic factors. This is why a “normal” cholesterol level isn’t always a guarantee of low risk. To understand your risk, you may need to dig deeper with advanced lipid testing.

Emerging research is painting a new picture: Focusing solely on “bad” cholesterol misses pivotal pieces of the puzzle. Factors such as the size and composition of particles of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol—the so-called good cholesterol—along with triglyceride levels and overall metabolic health, are equally, if not more, important in preventing heart disease.

This new understanding is reshaping how we assess heart health, shifting the lens to a more comprehensive, preventive, and personalized approach that prioritizes lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, according to Norwitz.Image
Read 18 tweets
Jul 16
Are your hands getting weaker without you realizing it?

Loss of grip strength is one of the earliest warning signs of physical decline—and most people never see it coming.

Your hands age faster than you think, putting your strength and independence at risk.

The fix? Six simple rice exercises that can restore your grip, strengthen wrists, and protect your joints.

All it takes is a pot, a bag of rice, and 10 minutes a day to rebuild what you’re losing before it’s gone for good.

🧵 THREADImage
Hands are the king of function. They are directly involved in almost every functional task you perform. In fact, the only things moving as I type these words are my hands and fingers.

Strangely, however, even though hands and fingers are frequently used, they are often neglected when it comes to strengthening and flexibility training.

The great majority of us tend to rely on daily use alone to maintain the strength and functioning of our hands, but there is a risk in this: progressive decline.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many patients who have had decreased hand function unrelated to specific joint, muscle, or tendon pathology. Instead, they were simply deconditioned. We don’t tend to think of hands specifically when we think of muscular deconditioning and weakness, but muscles indeed power hand function and strength, and these can grow weak over time, even though we use them often.

One problem with hands, however, is that they have many joints and muscles involved in their function, and it can be challenging to address each one individually.Image
No Grain, No Gain

One solution may lie in something as simple as a bucket of rice and a few simple tools. Exercises using rice allow for specific strengthening of the small muscles of the hands in addition to the larger muscles of the forearms. For this set of exercises, instead of saying “no pain, no gain,” we might say “no grain, no gain.”

My patients generally tolerate these activities well, but I recommend consulting with your health care provider to see if they are right for you. Also, if you have sensitive skin, it’s a good idea to wear gloves while you do this exercise to prevent skin irritation.

Rice bucket training is a grip strength and rehab exercise for hand overuse or injuries. They’re also popular among rock climbers for maintaining a strong grip.Image
Read 14 tweets
Jul 16
Your brain keeps growing long after childhood.

Scientists found newborn neurons in 78-year-old brains, shattering the myth that growth stops.

This could transform how we treat Alzheimer’s and age-related decline.

But why do some keep this power while others lose it?

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Even after death, the brain of a 78-year-old held a surprise—researchers found clusters of immature brain cells, suggesting the human brain may keep making new neurons long after childhood.

The discovery, made this month by researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, provides the clearest proof yet that our brains don’t stop growing by adulthood, but continue to make new brain cells throughout life.Image
Scientists found rare neural progenitor cells in the hippocampus of adult human brains.

The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure located deep in the brain, is the brain’s memory center, responsible for storing and forming memories.

“We have now been able to identify these cells of origin, which confirms that there is an ongoing formation of neurons in the hippocampus of the adult brain,” Jonas Frisen, lead researcher and professor of stem cell research at the institute, said in a statement.Image
Read 16 tweets
Jul 16
Cancer can now be detected through earwax—with 100% accuracy.

No blood. No scans. Just some wax from your ear.

Scientists have developed a simple test that can catch cancer in its earliest stages—before symptoms appear.

It can even tell you the exact moment your cancer is gone.

Earwax contains a treasure-trove of information about our health.

🧵 THREADImage
We all likely take earwax for granted—and prefer not to think about it.

However, the under-appreciated substance does more than keep your ears clean and free of debris—scientists have discovered that it contains a goldmine of health data.

Beyond that, earwax might be able to signal diseases like diabetes and cancer.Image
Cerumen is the technical term for earwax.

Ceruminous and sebaceous glands secrete a substance in the external auditory canal that mixes with sweat, hair, dust, and other debris.

The purpose of cerumen is to keep the ears lubricated and clean and create a barrier to discourage the entry of bugs and other foreign objects that might infiltrate and wreak havoc.Image
Read 14 tweets
Jul 15
Did you know a hug can act like a vaccine?

A landmark study found daily hugs cut infection risk by 60%, building a stress shield that helps your body fight off viruses.

But there’s a catch: not all hugs actually work.

Here’s how to get it right.

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In a carefully controlled laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, researchers exposed more than 400 healthy volunteers to the common cold virus.

However, before the viral exposure, researchers spent two weeks meticulously tracking something most scientists might overlook: whether the participants had been hugged each day.

The focus was not sentimental, but rather, to see whether a simple embrace could serve as a miniature vaccine against disease.Image
The research, along with other studies, shows that the right frequency and duration of hugs can prime your immune system, lead to better heart health, and even help heal emotional wounds.

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Read 14 tweets

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