\n<\/p>\n
Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cVagus\u201d is a Latin word meaning \u201cwandering\u201d, and the\u00a0nerves with that name (one on the right, one on\u00a0the left) meander around the body, connecting the brain to\u00a0the\u00a0heart, the lungs, the gut and beyond. They\u2019re known to\u00a0play a significant role in putting us in a state of rest\u00a0and digest (as opposed to fight or flight), and studies have\u00a0shown that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) can calm and regulate some bodily functions. (The potential cardiac side effects of\u00a0stimulating the right means that VNS concentrates almost\u00a0exclusively on the left.)<\/p>\n I started to feel I\u00a0had more energy just after the first week<\/p>\n Y\u014dj\u014d user Andrea<\/p>\n Most notably, VNS implants have long been used by doctors to treat epilepsy. But the vagus nerve can also be stimulated via the skin, usually in or around the left ear, using small electrical pulses that give a tingling sensation. A number of devices on the market claim to do this safely, and some have been shown to have positive effects for specific conditions. One, GammaCore, is available on the NHS to treat cluster headaches via neck-based VNS. Another, made by German firm tVNS Technologies, is being used in a \u00a32mn study (Triceps) at Sheffield University into treating arm weakness following a stroke, funded by the NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation board, the Association of British Neurologists and the Stroke Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n Y\u014dj\u014d vagus stimulation device and subscription, \u00a3399 per year<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n Manufacturers indicate that the nerve\u2019s size means that stimulating it could have wider beneficial effects relating to fatigue, digestive disorders and more. Parasym, makers of a device called Nurosym, has published more than 50 clinical studies including one showing a 32 per cent improvement in memory. Anecdotal evidence, meanwhile, is rich. \u201cMy energy levels have been such an obvious difference,\u201d says Andrea, COO of a medical education company, who uses a device called Y\u014dj\u014d to treat chronic migraines. \u201cI started to feel like I\u00a0had more energy just after the first week.\u201d<\/p>\n The word \u201cvague\u201d comes from the same Latin word, and could be used to describe some of the feelgood claims made for VNS devices. While users have credited them with improving sleep patterns, symptoms of IBS and much else, the\u00a0reasons are not properly understood. \u201cIt might improve someone\u2019s mental health, and if it works for them then who am I to argue, but as a doctor I can\u2019t prescribe it,\u201d says Professor Arshad Majid, chief investigator of the Triceps trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n TVNS\u00a0E with Legacy Electrode<\/p>\n Price:<\/strong> \u20ac3,500<\/p>\n BUY<\/strong><\/p>\n Nurosym<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>\u00a3599<\/p>\n BUY<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to understand which device is better, we would need some sort of signal of efficacy to measure,\u201d he continues. For its part, Y\u014dj\u014d pairs with an app that does a face scan via your phone\u2019s camera to estimate blood pressure, HRV and pulse, with the aim of building up a picture of said efficacy \u2013 but in my own tests its estimation of my blood pressure was rather different to readings from a cuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n \u201cStimulating the vagus nerve pathway via the ear is biologically plausible, but there are many questions left to answer \u2013 which stimulation settings? When? For how long?\u201d says Tiago da Silva Costa, senior research fellow in Psychiatry at Newcastle University. His colleague, Hamish McAllister-Williams, professor of affective disorders at the same institution, agrees. \u201cI think that the main benefit that people get from some devices may be more of a placebo response. But they are probably safe, probably do not harm and may at least get people to relax for periods of the day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Yes \u201cVagus\u201d is a Latin word meaning \u201cwandering\u201d, and the\u00a0nerves with that name (one on the right, one on\u00a0the left) meander around the body, connecting the brain to\u00a0the\u00a0heart, the lungs, the gut and beyond. They\u2019re<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[20936,20546,21765],"class_list":{"0":"post-40515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-nerve","9":"tag-stimulation","10":"tag-vagus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Yes<\/h2>\n
No<\/h2>\n