It happens in vagus

A nerve that acts as a 'superhighway' between brain and body is increasingly seen as key to controlling inflammation, the root cause of a swathe of killer diseases. In a new book, US neurosurgeon Kevin J Tracey explores the promise - and the myths - of vagus nerve stimulation.

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Today, thanks to antibiotics, vaccines and modern sanitation, we reasonably expect to live to old age.

We mostly die from noninfectious causes: heart disease and stroke, diabetes and obesity, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's account for two-thirds of the roughly 60 million human deaths each year.

These, says Dr Kevin J Tracey, are all diseases of inflammation. And the annual death toll does not account for the millions more suffering from autoimmune diseases and other inflammatory conditions. Tracey, a US neurosurgeon, inventor and CEO of a large New York medical research organisation, turned to the investigation of immunology and inflammation after being shocked and puzzled by an 11-month-old burns victim who died of sepsis while in his care. The discoveries of Tracey's lab include how the nervous system communicates inflammation to the brain, how the body's chemical messengers can cause shock and damage to tissues, and how vagus nerve stimulation can relieve symptoms of pain, inflammation and disability from autoimmune diseases.

The vagus nerve is the longest and most important in our body. Actually a paired bundle of nerve fibres, it reaches from the base of our brain, exiting our skull at about the level of our ears, and runs down either side of the neck before branching out to the organs throughout the chest and abdomen. Known for centuries simply as the great nerve, the vagus (Latin for “wandering”) nerve forms a system of two-way communication between the body and the brain that’s responsible for the function and balance of our vital organs and structures, including our immune system.

In his new book, The Great Nerve, Tracey says vagus nerve stimulation is poised to revolutionise the way millions of people are cared for by treating inflammation, which has “replaced infection as the greatest threat to healthful human longevity”.