Tag Archive for: vagus nerve

Here Comes the Stress

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We’ve entered the stress zone for many people: the holiday season, the hustle, the bustle, the people, the shopping, even in the cyber age. But mostly, it’s the people. There seems to be so many of them, and they all seem to congregate wherever you’re going. What seemed so exciting when you were a child isn’t as exciting as an adult.

Here’s a little secret: the time of year doesn’t really matter. Stress will always be there. It just seems worse this time of the year as we bounce from one holiday event to another. In reality, it’s not the stress; it’s how we respond to it that can impact us. And impact us it does, from the nervous system, the endocrine system, the cardiovascular system, and on and on.

What can you do about it? Beginning on Saturday, I’m going to spend some time explaining what the stress response is and how you can deal with it. But something you can do right now is very simple. Take a deep breath in, a real deep breath, and let it out. Do that two or three times. It can reset the vagus nerve and give you some instant relief.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Freeze Your Way to Weight Loss?

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If you pay any attention to the news, you may have heard about a recent pilot study: researchers exposed the vagus nerve to freezing temperatures—the nerve that controls hunger. They apparently didn’t freeze it solid, but just enough to slow down the transmission of signals. Without any other interventions, the 10 subjects lost an average of 3.6% of their initial body weight in 90 days. The purpose of the study was to make sure there were no hazardous side effects. The comments by scientists were what they always are: “Interesting, but much research has to be done.”

No, it doesn’t. This is not normal! Does anyone think that exposing oneself to magnetic waves while a needle is inserted into a nerve to freeze that nerve to lose weight is normal? Looking at the study’s average weight loss for someone 5’4” tall with a BMI of 35, that would be about seven pounds. Over 13 weeks. And at the end, no one has learned how to change his or her lifestyle to maintain whatever weight was lost, as minimal as it was. I know we’re always looking for an easy way out, but there are much better and safer ways to lose a half pound a week. Let’s move on.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology. Los Angeles, CA. 03-21-2018.