The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and the Body’s Healing Reflexes

New science reveals the groundbreaking potential of the vagus nerve to regulate your body’s vital systems and heal a wide variety of medical conditions without drugs

The vagus nerve is fundamental to our health and vitality, coordinating critical functions from the precise heartbeat we need to exercise or rest to the balance of appetite and digestion. Made up of 200,000 fibers, the vagus nerve sends thousands of electrical signals every second between your brain and your most important organs. Yet despite its essential role in life, important vagus nerve functions have eluded centuries of scientific investigation. Now neurosurgeon and researcher Kevin Tracey has discovered the previously unknown power of the vagus nerve to reverse inflammation, balance the immune system, treat chronic illness, and keep our organs humming together in harmony.

In The Great Nerve, Dr. Tracey shows us how stimulating the vagus nerve with a tiny electrical implant has the potential to reverse life-altering diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, MS, diabetes, obesity, stroke, depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. If this sounds too good to believe, Dr. Tracey shares stories of patients who have gone from being nearly bedridden to running and dancing, along with the science that makes possible these recoveries. He also explains the evidence for lifestyle strategies like ice baths, meditation, exercise, and breathwork that can maintain and improve vagus nerve function.

By opening the door to the new field of neuroimmunology, The Great Nerve not only revolutionizes how we understand and treat disease, it gives us unprecedented hope for our health. This is the story of your body’s ability to heal itself.

Kevin Tracey, MD, is a neurosurgeon, scientist, entrepreneur, and leader in the fields of vagus nerve stimulation and inflammation. He and his colleagues in his lab at the Feinstein Institutes discovered the molecular and neural mechanism for the reflexive control of inflammation, now termed the inflammatory reflex. He is a prolific inventor, with more than 120 United States patents. As measured by and reported in the scientific journal PLOS One, Dr. Tracey is one of the most highly cited living scientists in the world.