What Most Has My Attention Right Now — Credible (vs. Bogus) Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Kevin J. Tracey, MD is president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, a pioneer of vagus nerve research and author of the recent book, The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes. This episode is brought to you by: Eight Sleep Pod Cover 5 sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: EightSleep.com/Tim (use code TIM to get $350 off your very own Pod 5 Ultra.) AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://DrinkAG1.com/Tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D plus 5 free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription purchase.) Wealthfront high-yield cash account: https://Wealthfront.com/Tim (Start earning 4.00% APY on your short-term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when new clients open an account today, you can get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.) Terms apply. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage, LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here. Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ [00:00] Start. [00:38] Alleviating my skepticism about vagus nerve stimulation. [05:21] SetPoint Medical receives FDA approval for vagus nerve stimulation device to treat rheumatoid arthritis. [7:21] How Crohn's disease sufferer Kelly Owens went from a wheelchair to running up stairs in Amsterdam. [14:47] Placebo effect concerns and what drove my interest in bioelectric medicine. [19:52] Vagus nerve anatomy 101. [25:57] What happens when the vagus nerve is stimulated. [26:49] Accidental finding of brain-body inflammation connection. [28:46] Bioelectronic medicine approach vs. pharmaceutical approach. [31:25] Mice don't wheeze. [33:22] Depression and inflammation connection: SSRIs may work through anti-inflammatory effects. [36:00] My personal experience with vagus nerve stimulation and mood stability. [37:40] The pros and cons of inflammation, and how controlling it may lead to even longer lifespans. [44:09] Weighing the safety of VNS vs. biologics in cytokine suppression. [49:55] Cold exposure, meditation, and breathing practices affecting the vagus nerve. [52:32] A population-level increase in chronic inflammatory diseases. [54:19] H. pylori: For when you can't blame stress, God, or the patient for that nagging ulcer. [56:44] Stress, cortisol, and inflammation connections. [59:13] SetPoint device vs. non-invasive alternatives for different patient populations. [01:04:50] Auricular therapy's curious French origins. [01:07:16] There's something fishy about this vestigial vagus nerve pathway. [01:09:52] Brain imaging studies of ear stimulation. [01:12:47] DARPA support and Geoff Ling's "What if it's yes?" attitude. [01:15:47] Neurocognition and vagus nerve inputs. [01:21:12] How Ulf Andersson turned his depression around with a TENS unit. [01:25:55] Heart rate variability complexity and measurement challenges. [01:27:09] A breathing exercise for directly controlling heart rate. [01:29:27] Using a common antacid as a pharmacological vagus nerve stimulator during COVID. [01:30:31] A call for more inflammation-based depression research. [01:33:59] SSRIs and anti-inflammatory mechanisms in depression treatment. [01:36:29] Interoception: The body's inflammatory signals reaching the brain via vagus nerve. [01:37:32] Ulf's published protocol for TENS unit ear stimulation. [01:38:46] VNS, acupuncture, fertility, and Martine Rothblatt. [01:41:27] Chronic low back pain and an inflammatory overreaction analogy. [01:42:50] Implications of Asya Rolls' engram research and inflammation memories in the brain. [01:57:10] Cervical TENS vs. true VNS. [02:01:51] Charles Sherrington's reflex theory and nervous system integration. [02:06:55] Blue energy meditation and vagus nerve pathways with the Dalai Lama. [02:11:21] Serious medical conditions vs. self-help approaches. Corrections: 02:09:25 Dr. Tracey meant "Liz Blackburn."

Dr. Kevin J. TraceyguestTim Ferrisshost

Aug 27, 20252h 13mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: August 27, 2025
Duration: 2h 13m
Channel: Tim Ferriss
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Kevin J. Tracey, MD is president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, a pioneer of vagus nerve research and author of the recent book, The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes. This episode is brought to you by: Eight Sleep Pod Cover 5 sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: EightSleep.com/Tim (use code TIM to get $350 off your very own Pod 5 Ultra.) AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://DrinkAG1.com/Tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D plus 5 free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription purchase.) Wealthfront high-yield cash account: https://Wealthfront.com/Tim (Start earning 4.00% APY on your short-term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when new clients open an account today, you can get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.) Terms apply. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage, LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here. Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ [00:00] Start. [00:38] Alleviating my skepticism about vagus nerve stimulation. [05:21] SetPoint Medical receives FDA approval for vagus nerve stimulation device to treat rheumatoid arthritis. [7:21] How Crohn's disease sufferer Kelly Owens went from a wheelchair to running up stairs in Amsterdam. [14:47] Placebo effect concerns and what drove my interest in bioelectric medicine. [19:52] Vagus nerve anatomy 101. [25:57] What happens when the vagus nerve is stimulated. [26:49] Accidental finding of brain-body inflammation connection. [28:46] Bioelectronic medicine approach vs. pharmaceutical approach. [31:25] Mice don't wheeze. [33:22] Depression and inflammation connection: SSRIs may work through anti-inflammatory effects. [36:00] My personal experience with vagus nerve stimulation and mood stability. [37:40] The pros and cons of inflammation, and how controlling it may lead to even longer lifespans. [44:09] Weighing the safety of VNS vs. biologics in cytokine suppression. [49:55] Cold exposure, meditation, and breathing practices affecting the vagus nerve. [52:32] A population-level increase in chronic inflammatory diseases. [54:19] H. pylori: For when you can't blame stress, God, or the patient for that nagging ulcer. [56:44] Stress, cortisol, and inflammation connections. [59:13] SetPoint device vs. non-invasive alternatives for different patient populations. [01:04:50] Auricular therapy's curious French origins. [01:07:16] There's something fishy about this vestigial vagus nerve pathway. [01:09:52] Brain imaging studies of ear stimulation. [01:12:47] DARPA support and Geoff Ling's "What if it's yes?" attitude. [01:15:47] Neurocognition and vagus nerve inputs. [01:21:12] How Ulf Andersson turned his depression around with a TENS unit. [01:25:55] Heart rate variability complexity and measurement challenges. [01:27:09] A breathing exercise for directly controlling heart rate. [01:29:27] Using a common antacid as a pharmacological vagus nerve stimulator during COVID. [01:30:31] A call for more inflammation-based depression research. [01:33:59] SSRIs and anti-inflammatory mechanisms in depression treatment. [01:36:29] Interoception: The body's inflammatory signals reaching the brain via vagus nerve. [01:37:32] Ulf's published protocol for TENS unit ear stimulation. [01:38:46] VNS, acupuncture, fertility, and Martine Rothblatt. [01:41:27] Chronic low back pain and an inflammatory overreaction analogy. [01:42:50] Implications of Asya Rolls' engram research and inflammation memories in the brain. [01:57:10] Cervical TENS vs. true VNS. [02:01:51] Charles Sherrington's reflex theory and nervous system integration. [02:06:55] Blue energy meditation and vagus nerve pathways with the Dalai Lama. [02:11:21] Serious medical conditions vs. self-help approaches. Corrections: 02:09:25 Dr. Tracey meant "Liz Blackburn."

SPEAKERS

Dr. Kevin J. Tracey
guest
Physician-scientist and bioelectronic medicine pioneer known for vagus nerve stimulation research and co-founding SetPoint Medical.
Tim Ferriss
host
Podcast host and interviewer of The Tim Ferriss Show.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Tim Ferriss, featuring Dr. Kevin J. Tracey and Tim Ferriss, What Most Has My Attention Right Now — Credible (vs. Bogus) Vagus Nerve Stimulation explores fDA-approved vagus nerve stimulation, inflammation control, and big open questions Dr. Kevin J. Tracey explains that SetPoint Medical has received FDA approval for an implanted device that stimulates the vagus nerve to treat rheumatoid arthritis by engaging what he calls the “inflammatory reflex.”

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