{"id":2197,"date":"2018-08-14T14:44:52","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T14:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2021-07-22T09:01:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T09:01:53","slug":"the-vagus-nerve-and-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/the-vagus-nerve-and-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"The vagus nerve and cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2066\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2066\" class=\"wp-image-2066 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/6-principles-of-mind-body-medicine-image-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"DNA with light shining behind it\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/6-principles-of-mind-body-medicine-image-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/6-principles-of-mind-body-medicine-image.jpg 425w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2066\" class=\"wp-image-2066 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/6-principles-of-mind-body-medicine-image-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"DNA with light shining behind it\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/6-principles-of-mind-body-medicine-image-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/6-principles-of-mind-body-medicine-image.jpg 425w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><p id=\"caption-attachment-2066\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">image: iStock photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I recently read a scientific paper, published this year in the Journal of Oncology (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindawi.com\/journals\/jo\/2018\/1236787\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">see paper<\/a>), with great interest. It linked the activity of the vagus nerve with cancer prognosis.<\/p>\n<p>Why is this important?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve written quite a bit about the vagus nerve in some of my blogs and books (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Five-Side-Effects-Kindness-Happier\/dp\/1781808139\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1534256955&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+five+side+effects+of+kindness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Five Side Effects of Kindness<\/a>), mainly because the vagus nerve produces an anti-inflammatory effect in the body. I\u2019ve also emphasised how this effect is even amplified by the experience of compassion.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I found the paper so exciting because it reviewed 12 scientific studies, involving 1822 patients, and suggested a link between high vagus nerve activity and better cancer prognosis. The effect, the authors wrote, was most likely due to an anti-inflammatory effect created by the vagus nerve.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve summarised the main findings of the paper below.<\/p>\n<p>The authors pointed out that three main biological factors contribute to the onset and progression of tumours. These are: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oxidative_stress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">oxidative stress<\/a> (free radicals), <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Inflammation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">inflammation<\/a>, and excessive sympathetic [nervous] activity (stress).<\/p>\n<p>Amazingly, the vagus nerve seems to inhibit all three.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the studies measured <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Heart_rate_variability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">heart rate variability<\/a> (HRV), which is the main index of vagus nerve activity. Briefly, when we breathe in, heart rate quickens a little, only to slow down again when we breathe out. The vagus nerve is responsible for the slowing down, and thus the difference between this increase and decrease (high and low) of heart rate \u2013 heart rate variability (HRV) \u2013 is considered an indicator of vagus nerve activity.<\/p>\n<p>Generally, the paper found that the higher a person\u2019s HRV, or vagus nerve activity (also known as vagal tone), the slower the progression of cancer, and this was true for all cancers studied. The effect was especially pronounced in late stage, metastatic cancers.<\/p>\n<p>The authors suggested that in early stages of cancer, the treatment a person receives is the overwhelming positive factor and so swamps out any observable effects of the vagus nerve, but at later stages, when treatments are often less effective, the vagus nerve\u2019s workings are far more apparent and the vagus nerve becomes the main determining factor.<\/p>\n<p>So much so, in fact, that the authors found that survival time in patients with high HRV (or vagus nerve activity) was 4 times greater than in patients with low HRV (or vagus nerve activity).<\/p>\n<p>The effect of the vagus nerve on inflammation was suggested as the main factor. It is known as the \u2018Inflammatory Reflex\u2019. The vagus nerve basically turns off inflammation at the genetic level by turning down a gene that produces TNF-alpha (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tumor_necrosis_factor_alpha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tumour Necrosis Factor<\/a>), which is an inflammatory protein in the body that sets off a cascade of inflammation. Thus, the vagus nerve can effectively control inflammation in this way. Therefore, higher vagus nerve activity usually means lower inflammation.<\/p>\n<p>In one study of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, for example, patients with high HRV (or vagus nerve activity) survived longer and had lower inflammation levels than patients with low HRV (vagus nerve activity).<\/p>\n<p>The study authors wrote that, the vagus nerve \u201cmay modulate cancer progression by inhibiting inflammation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study also showed that tumour markers in other cancers (like PSA \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Prostate-specific_antigen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prostate specific antigen<\/a> \u2013 for example) were also lower in patients with highest vagus nerve activity.<\/p>\n<p>So, the question is: can we increase our vagus nerve activity?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is yes.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few ways, in fact, that include:<\/p>\n<p>-exercise<\/p>\n<p>-meditation<\/p>\n<p>-yoga<\/p>\n<p>-practice of compassion<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to draw your attention to the latter because I\u2019ve written about this before and it demonstrates a powerful link between mind and emotions and physical health.<\/p>\n<p>Studies have shown a link between compassion and vagus nerve activity, an idea first put forward by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stephen_Porges\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephen Porges<\/a>, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and now widely known as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Polyvagal_theory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">polyvagal theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For example, vagus nerve activity has been shown to increase through regular practice of a compassion meditation (the Buddhist\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mett\u0101\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">metta bhavana<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>or \u2018Loving Kindness\u2019 meditation). Here, we consistently cultivate a feeling of kindness and compassion for ourselves and others.<\/p>\n<p>The same meditation has also been shown to lower a person\u2019s inflammatory response to stress, presumably via increasing vagus nerve activity.<\/p>\n<p>So, yes, we can increase vagal tone!<\/p>\n<p>For me, this research is extra evidence that exercise, meditation, yoga, and even compassion, offer us far more protection from illness than we have imagined up until now. Now we are beginning to see the underlying biological mechanisms that explain <em>why\u00a0<\/em>these practices are so beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, exercising, meditating, doing yoga or being a nice person doesn\u2019t mean a person will be immune to cancer. We all know that\u2019s not true. But it might mean that they offer us a degree of protection, perhaps lessening the impact of some of the factors that do cause cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently read a scientific paper, published this year in the Journal of Oncology (see paper), with great interest. It linked the activity of the vagus nerve with cancer prognosis. Why is this important? I\u2019ve written quite a bit about the vagus nerve in some of my blogs and books (The Five Side Effects of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,34],"tags":[38,77,12,33,35,213],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The vagus nerve and cancer - David R Hamilton PHD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recently read a scientific paper, published this year in the Journal of Oncology (see paper), with great interest. 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