#824: What Most Has My Attention Right Now — Credible (vs. Bogus) Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Kevin J. Tracey, MD is president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, a pioneer of vagus nerve research and author of the recent book, The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Tim’s intro: why he dismissed vagus-nerve hype

06:34 What the vagus nerve actually is, plus common myths

11:31 Breaking news: FDA approval for SetPoint’s RA implant + Kelly Owens’s turnaround

21:11 Inflammation 101: when healing turns harmful

31:37 Bioelectronic medicine: from lab insight to real devices

55:26 TNF, IL-1, and IL-6: immune drivers and what VNS modulates

56:06 Exercise & recovery: vagal signals, IL-6, and adaptation

56:30 Cold exposure & breathwork: sympathetic spike, parasympathetic payoff

59:04 Chronic inflammation today: prevalence, diagnostics, and uncertainty

59:53 Autoimmunity: genes, environment, infections

01:01:08 Stress hormones, personality traits, and metabolic fallout

01:05:41 VNS tech landscape: implants, focused ultrasound, and what’s just TENS

01:11:14 Ear maps, revisited: the real science behind auricular stimulation

01:27:52 Ulf Andersson: auricular TENS, famotidine, and a depression turnaround

01:36:48 Depression & inflammation: where VNS helps (and where it doesn’t)

01:41:38 Body-brain loop: how inflammation signals ride the vagus nerve

01:42:56 Why VNS can lift mood: a working theory

01:43:22 Ulf’s setup: electrode placement and twice-daily routine

01:44:37 Acupuncture, fertility, and plausible vagal links

01:47:23 Chronic pain through an inflammation lens

01:48:34 Neural “engrams”: how the brain can store inflammatory memories

02:02:35 Cervical TENS vs. true VNS: mechanisms and open questions

02:12:15 On stage with the Dalai Lama: blue energy and two vagus nerves

02:16:55 Closing thoughts: self-care vs. medical devices, and what’s next

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