Running from your brainstem down through your body, two long nerve pathways—called the vagus nerves—connect your brain to your heart, lungs, abdomen, and intestines.
These nerves act like busy highways, carrying messages back and forth between your brain and other organs, helping to regulate things like heart rate and digestion.
For decades, scientists have known that stimulating the left vagus nerve can have real medical benefits.
It has been used to reduce seizures in people with epilepsy and to help recovery after a stroke.
Now, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that this same approach could be life-changing for people with the most severe forms of depression—those whose symptoms have not improved despite years of treatment.
The therapy, called vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), involves implanting a small, pacemaker-like device under the skin in the chest.
This device sends gentle, painless electrical pulses to the vagus nerve in the neck, which then signals the brain. In this new study, nearly 500 people with treatment-resistant depression received the implant.
On average, these patients had already tried 13 different types of antidepressant treatments without success. Their depression was so severe that about three-quarters were unemployed and many struggled with basic daily tasks.
“They are extremely ill, and most have been for a very long time,” says Dr. Charles R. Conway, the study’s lead researcher. “Many are essentially paralyzed by life.”
For the first year of the study, half of the participants had their devices switched on, while the other half had implants that were left inactive. Everyone continued to see their regular mental health providers and could keep taking any medications they were already using, though they were discouraged from starting new ones.
Researchers began measuring symptoms from the third month onward, using a mix of self-reported surveys and independent assessments.
By the final three months of the study, the differences were clear: people whose devices were switched on experienced more frequent periods of relief from depression and reported better ability to manage everyday life. Many also said their quality of life had improved significantly.
“What’s really important here is that patients themselves were reporting that their lives were improving,” Conway notes.
The benefits for many patients have lasted well beyond the first year, with some continuing to experience reduced depression symptoms into a second year and beyond. Conway’s team is now also studying whether VNS can help lower suicidal thoughts in this population.
Currently, the treatment is not widely available for depression because many insurance companies don’t cover the device or the surgery.
However, this trial was conducted in partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide the evidence needed for coverage decisions.
If CMS agrees to cover VNS for treatment-resistant depression, it could pave the way for many more patients to access this potentially life-changing therapy.
If you care about health, please read studies about why beetroot juice could help lower blood pressure in older adults, and potassium may be key to lowering blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about rosemary compound that could fight Alzheimer’s disease, and too much of this vitamin B may harm heart health.
Source: Washington University in St. Louis.
