Lung - Brain connections: 'feeling' respiratory infections

and is there really a 'man flu' ? PREMIUM CONTENT subscriber access

Mar 24, 2024

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In past newsletters, I explained how our breaths influence our minds, moods and physiology. And the vagus nerve is the highway for their back and forth communication.

Now we have data that suggest that respiratory infections, are ‘perceived’ in the brain via these same connections, and not just by inflammatory chemokines released into the bloodstream. Perhaps, we should treat the nervous system in addition to the infection.

Breath Work

BioMedWorks

May 14, 2023

Over the past few decades, the popular zeitgeist embraced the concept of ‘breathing’ in response to all things anxiety-producing. Now it is pervasive across cultures as the first attempt in calming. Dr. Herbert Benson may be credited with spreading the word on the relaxation response. It is meant to counter the stress (or “fight or flight” survival mec…

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Vagaries of the Vagus

BioMedWorks

February 28, 2022

When writing past BioMedWorks newsletters, on the influences of acid/base state and ectopic SCFA olfactory receptors, I kept seeing The Vagus nerve as a prominent player. This cranial nerve X is the longest and it innervates organs and smooth muscle throughout the body. I did not realize that it carries nearly all of the internal body sensory information back up to the brain. We clinicians do routinely use ‘Vagal Maneuvers’ in urgent care to alter heart rate, Carotid Massage being one:

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