Health Studies

A study published in the scientific journal Immunity has shown that stimulating the nerve in the outer ear may help reduce inflammation in the lungs, potentially representing a new therapeutic approach in the future. Researchers examined the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, the only part of this nerve that reaches the skin’s surface. During experiments, this branch was stimulated in laboratory mice suffering from allergic airway inflammation. The stimulation was found to increase the level of signaling molecules in the airways, significantly reducing lung inflammation. In contrast, when the activity of the nerve fibers was inhibited, the disease became more severe. According to the researchers, this procedure demonstrated for the first time the existence of a neural mechanism linking the skin of the outer ear to immune processes in the lungs, paving the way for the development of bioelectronic therapeutic methods for inflammatory diseases, as an alternative to traditional pharmacological treatments. Despite these findings, scientists are already working on designing a clinical trial to test the efficacy of a specialized device for stimulating the auricular nerve in human asthma patients. It is worth noting that a study conducted by Brazilian researchers also showed that acupuncture in the ear region may help alleviate pain from chronic migraine and reduce its negative impact on daily life. Source: Lenta.ru