Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 159 posts

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#51

Post by jbandela1 »

> One thing that makes the vagus nerves so attractive is surgical accessibility in the neck. “It is quite easy to implant some device that will try to stimulate them,” says Dr Benjamin Metcalfe at the University of Bath, who is studying how the body responds to electrical vagus nerve stimulation.

Did these (with supervision) during residency. As far as neurosurgeries go, fairly simple. You just have to be careful when you expose the vagus nerve as it lies between the carotid artery and the jugular vein.

This is in contrast to Deep Brain Stimulation which involves making a hole in the skull, exposing the brain, and inserting electrodes deep within the brain.

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#53

Post by qiine »

civilitty wrote: post #38
victorbjorklund wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I had no idea that the science around the vagus nerve had progressed so far that we actually have implants that can be used in humans. Amazing. I'm so happy it helps your child.

I was really skeptical that any of these nerve stimulation devices would work over a decade ago when the hype first started growing around them (among biotech investors, not the public). It just sounded way too good to be true but since then there have been a number of devices treating migraines and seizures that were previously intractable. Really happy to be proven wrong!

> Can you provide more info about nerve stimulation devices treating migraines ?

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#54

Post by theshrike79 »

albntomat0 wrote: post #7
theshrike79 wrote: post #4

I have acid reflux and possibly a mild hiatal hernia. When it triggers in Just The Right Way, I also get severe panic attack symptoms. When I started investigating it (my coping mechanism during panic attacks) I discovered that the vagus nerve travels next to the esophagus through the diaphragm. So my complete layman explanation was that the stomach pushes through the diaphragm during a hiatal hernia -> it rubs again…

I'm in a very similar situation as you with EoE, acid reflux, and a confirmed mild hiatal hernia. The anxiety seems to line up as well. Have you found any additional solutions, past the standard PPI and diet for acid reflux? Thanks!

Diet mostly, I dropped most added sugars, wheat and drip coffee (french press and cold press are fine for some reason) along with broccoli (random, right?) and industrial breads (something in the rising agents ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) and I'm currently mostly fine.

Large amounts of red meat is bad, because it just doesn't digest properly, I might burp in the evening and still taste my lunch sausage...

Metamizole is the only one that helps in the extreme cases (panic attacks), but luckily I don't get those anymore. I think I've had to take a single pill twice in the last 5 years. It's pretty much exactly 15 minutes from swallowing the pill and then all symptoms go away because it forces my diaphragm to relax and thus drop pressure to the vagus nerve.

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#55

Post by theshrike79 »

CobaltFire wrote: post #17
theshrike79 wrote: post #4

I have acid reflux and possibly a mild hiatal hernia. When it triggers in Just The Right Way, I also get severe panic attack symptoms. When I started investigating it (my coping mechanism during panic attacks) I discovered that the vagus nerve travels next to the esophagus through the diaphragm. So my complete layman explanation was that the stomach pushes through the diaphragm during a hiatal hernia -> it rubs again…

I’ve had recurring issues exactly like that for years. You have just given me something to look for (hiatal hernia) as that matches my symptoms. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure I had a semi-severe case of hiatal hernia, but when the doctor shoved a camera down my throat to check, he actually fixed it by accidentally pushing the hernia down :D

Most of my worst symptoms went away after the checkup, but it took a LONG while for my digestive tract to fully heal. I couldn't burp at all for ... maybe two years, the pressure just stayed in my stomach. Drinking small amounts of fizzy drinks and rising on my toes + slamming my heels down got the air out sometimes.

There are still things I can't eat because they instantly irritate my reflux, buttery pastries being the worst ones.

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#56

Post by blueyes »

For me, the amazing thing about the Vagus nerve is that you can stimulate it with your breathing. And since the Vagus nerve affects the autonomic nervous system (involuntary, not consciously controlled) while breathing choices are conscious, this is one of the few ways that humans can directly impact important aspects of their psychology and physiology, like how calm they feel. Mindfulness + breath choices + vagus nerve => altered state. And that's why traditions including yoga and buddhism empathize breathing. Couple great books that touch on this are:

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/073521...

and

Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Brain https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Medita...

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#57

Post by theshrike79 »

davzie wrote: post #25
theshrike79 wrote: post #4

I have acid reflux and possibly a mild hiatal hernia. When it triggers in Just The Right Way, I also get severe panic attack symptoms. When I started investigating it (my coping mechanism during panic attacks) I discovered that the vagus nerve travels next to the esophagus through the diaphragm. So my complete layman explanation was that the stomach pushes through the diaphragm during a hiatal hernia -> it rubs again…

I spent 6 years trying everything to solve reflux. I am a relatively fit 35 year old. I tried antacids, PPIs, H2 blockers and these just exacerbated the issue over time. Eventually after much reading I read that without enough stomach acid, food backs up and causes reflux. It also causes the LES to not close properly. So I started taking Betain HCL and Digestive Enzymes (Solgar ones) before I eat and I can't tell you…

I have a vague recollection that I was tested well over a decade ago and the result was that I have really mild stomach acid and/or not enough of it.

Basically if I eat stuff that digests slowly (fats and red meat), it takes my stomach a LONG time to actually break it down and move it forward. If I shove more stuff in there before it's done -> bad time.

I lost over 10kg during the worst episodes in about 9 months, I lived pretty much on rooibos tea (even green tea irritated my reflux), white rice and mildly flavored chicken.

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#58

Post by jeroenhd »

voisin wrote: post #9

> Further research revealed that the brain communicates with the spleen – an organ that plays a critical role in the immune system – by sending electrical signals down the vagus nerve. These trigger the release of a chemical called acetylcholine that tells immune cells to switch off inflammation. Isn’t inflammation an important process for healing? Too much is obviously bad, but if we go turning it off, won’t that le…

> Shouldn’t we be looking to solve what’s causing the inflammation in the first place?

I agree with that theory, but so far we haven't been able to figure out what really causes many auto immune diseases or how to heal them. The current treatment methods involve nasty drugs that turn off parts of your immune system entirely, but also have various other side effects.

If we can adjust the inflammation threshold, we can fix the symptoms while we're looking to solve the underlying problem. Fixing chronic inflammation will probably take a few decades at least, until then I see no reason why we wouldn't treat the symptoms better, especially if it can be done with cheap and relatively non-invasive devices.

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#59

Post by voxic11 »

qiine wrote: post #53
civilitty wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was really skeptical that any of these nerve stimulation devices would work over a decade ago when the hype first started growing around them (among biotech investors, not the public). It just sounded way too good to be true but since then there have been a number of devices treating migraines and seizures that were previously intractable. Really happy to be proven wrong!

> Can you provide more info about nerve stimulation devices treating migraines ?

https://www.gammacore.com/about/how-gammacore-works/

Re: Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation

#60

Post by dentalperson »

There is also 10+ years research for tinnitus using Vagus Nerve Stimulation to stop it [1]. Results seem mixed. Many other drugs/neuro-stimuli for T have gotten mixed results and passed clinical trials such as Leniere only to flop in actual usage. It's interesting that the community anecdotal evidence such as r/tinnitus and TinnitusTalk are so useful for these cases because they are more likely to report negative results at the post-approval stage.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7951891/

Post reply on HN