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Health

An expert's new book unravels the amazing secrets of the vagus nerve

Kevin Tracey's authoritative look at the vagus nerve and its healing potential is comprehensive and compelling, cutting through the hype

By Grace Wade

7 May 2025

2YF8KFA A man takes the ice bath in frozen lake, the icy water providing a refreshing and invigorating experience during winter swimming

Social media is full of posts claiming ice baths enhance vagal function

Uldis Laganovskis/Alamy

The Great Nerve
Kevin Tracey (Penguin on sale 13 May (US); 15 May (UK))

As a health reporter, I constantly come across promising new medical treatments. Many are exciting, but few have intrigued me as much as vagus nerve stimulation.

To understand why, you first have to grasp just how remarkable the vagus nerve is – and there is probably no one better to explain that than Kevin Tracey. A neurosurgeon at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York, he has been at…

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