TO YOUR HEALTH
The Far-Reaching Effects of Vagus, TheWandering Nerve
gans, such as the larynx, esophagus, trachea, lungs, heart, and most of the digestive tract. Motor functions of the nerve include muscle stimulation of the pharynx, larynx, roof of the mouth, and muscles of the heart (it helps to lower the resting heart rate). It also stimulates involuntary contractions of the digestive tract through the esopha- gus, stomach and intestines, allowing food to move and to digest. The vagus nerve is also a vital part of your parasympathetic nervous sys- tem, or the functions that occur when the body is at rest—the so-called “rest and digest” or “feed and breed” func- tions, like breathing, salivation, urina- tion, sexual arousal, and more. A prop- erly functioning vagus nerve is a kind of contradiction, in that it means your body is actively at rest, actively relax- ing, actively operating on a kind of au- topilot for those systems the nerve is responsible for controlling or affecting. When vagus nerve activity is low, known as low vagal tone, it indicates your vagus nerve is not functioning optimally, and this can create a host of physical, mental and emotional prob- lems over time, ranging from anxiety and stress to diarrhea or constipation. To further complicate matters with this complex nerve, overstimulation of va-
gus can have negative consequences as well. For example, overstimulation in a fight or flight situation is a com- mon cause of fainting due to excessive signals to the vagus nerve causing heart rate and blood pressure sud- denly to drop. Disorders of the vagus nerve in- clude: • Difficulty speaking, as well as loss of voice, hoarse voice or wheezing • Difficulty swallowing fluids and loss of gag reflex • Pain in the ear canal • Changes in heart rate, palpita- tions and fibrillation • Abnormal blood pressure, faint- ing • Arthritis • Angina • Decreased production of stomach acid, nausea or vomiting, abdominal bloating or pain • Anxiety, depression or other mood disorders from neurotransmit- ter imbalances • Deficiencies in B vitamins, essen- tial fatty acids due to absorption issues • Balance issues, motion sickness • Fatigue • Poor memory or focus • Liver dysfunction
Vagus Nerve Stimulation When you strengthen the vagal tone, you increase your body’s abil- ity to adapt to stress and realize all the associated benefits that come with that improvement. Health care pro- fessionals accomplish this through the use of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS), which has created a new field of study and treatment in conventional and alternative medicine. For instance, stimulating the vagus nerve helps re- mission of Rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases by inhib- iting inflammation. It also helps make memories by affecting the amygdala in the brain, which may be a promising Alzheimer’s treatment approach. And the method has been used as a treat- ment for epilepsy, anxiety and depres- sion, and pain management. Administered either manually or with electrical stimulation, VNS en- compasses a variety of techniques that have shown to treat several vagus nerve ailments effectively. Professional health care providers can strengthen the vagus nerve without surgically- embedded electrical stimulation by employing the following methods:
BY HELENA AMOS, M.AC., L.AC., EURO. PHYSICIAN
One of the most effective and com- prehensive treatment methods avail- able to health care providers is linked to a particular nerve in the body few people have heard of—the Vagus Nerve. Let’s take a closer look at this fascinating and far-reaching anatomi- cal network. There are 12 cranial nerves in the body. They come in pairs, left and right, and link the brain with several areas of the body, including the head, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis. Va- gus is the longest of the cranial nerves, coming from the brainstem and run- ning throughout the whole body to the colon, thereby earning its name as the “wandering nerve.” Because the vagus nerve has the widest distribution in the body, it af- fects a broad span of bodily functions from gut-brain axis communication, to neurotransmitter management, to hormone balancing, to inflammation prevention. It is responsible for both sensory (i.e., the five senses) and mo- tor functions. Sensory function is felt on the skin, or in the mouth or throat. Visceral sensations are felt in the or-
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