Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.
The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.
Not medical advice.
At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.
As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.
My beliefs:
- Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
- All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.
- Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.
Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
- “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)
- “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)
- “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Mind & Matter
Vagus Nerve Stimulation & Inflammation | Kevin Tracey | 288
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How the vagus nerve regulates inflammation; bioelectronic therapies to treat inflammatory conditions.
Nick speaks with Dr. Kevin Tracey about inflammation as a major driver of modern diseases, the vagus nerve’s role in balancing immune responses via reflexes, limitations of anti-cytokine drugs, and emerging bioelectronic medicine using targeted nerve stimulation.
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- Inflammation is related to diseases that contribute to most deaths today: heart disease, diabetes, neurodegeneration, and cancer.
- Molecular signals involved in inflammation, such as cytokines.
- Homeostasis is maintained by push-pull mechanisms, with excitatory and inhibitory responses co-deployed in ways that maintains balance.
- The vagus nerve’s anatomy, sensory/motor fibers, and the inflammatory reflex that suppresses cytokine production in the spleen via acetylcholine and norepinephrine.
- Vagus nerve stimulation devices delivering brief daily pulses to reduce inflammation without broad immunosuppression, now FDA-approved for refractory rheumatoid arthritis.
- Challenges in measuring inflammation and oversimplifications online about “stimulating” the vagus nerve.
ABOUT THE GUEST: Kevin Tracey, MD is a neurosurgeon, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, and professor of molecular medicine and neurosurgery. He discovered the inflammatory reflex, showing how the vagus nerve controls immune responses, and co-founded SetPoint Medical to develop FDA-approved vagus nerve stimulation for rheumatoid arthritis.
RELATED EPISODE:
- M&M 143: Gut-Brain Communication, Vagus Nerve, Fats & Sugars, Food Addiction, Gut Hormones & Weight Loss Drugs | Will de Lartigue
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