The Great Nerve

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Brought to you by Penguin.

Your health and happiness depend on a bundle of 200,000 nerve fibres that holds the secrets to life itself

The vagus nerve is often referred to as the 'superhighway' which connects every organ of the body to the brain, and vice versa, but it is so much more than just traffic.

The 'great nerve' vibrates in tune with your health like the instruments of an orchestra: when your vagus nerve is healthy, so are you. When it isn’t, you experience everything from poor sleep to low mood, pain, suffering and chronic illness.

Recent scientific developments, including Dr Kevin Tracey's research showing how the vagus nerve is linked to the immune system, have brought the nerve to the attention of everyone from neuroscientists to TikTok influencers.

In The Great Nerve Dr Tracey shares the science of how the vagus nerve operates to regulate our health, how we can help it, and the truth behind popular 'vagus nerve stimulating' strategies such as ice baths, meditation, exercise and breathwork.

He reveals the extraordinary new science that promises to revolutionise healthcare, where computer chips may regulate your blood sugar, and electrical implants may replace your medications forever.

Trailblazing vagus nerve stimulation therapy, pioneered by Dr Tracey, is demonstrating potential to reverse life-altering diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, obesity, stroke, depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The Great Nerve not only revolutionises how we will understand and treat disease, it gives us unprecedented hope for our health.

© Dr Kevin Tracey 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

Comprehensive and compelling ... an authoritative look at the vagus nerve and its amazing healing potential
New Scientist
If anyone is able to sort fact from fiction, it's Dr Tracey
i News
Dr Tracey explains the workings of the Vagus Nerve like a painter, light and dark, perspectives and colourful anecdotes, both through the scientific lens and a humanistic lens. The Great Nerve is altogether a masterpiece and a timeless document for those who want to see what science is all about: faith, focus, patience and hard work
Wim Hof, author of The Wim Hof Method
The Great Nerve is a game changer. Dr Tracey connects cutting-edge science to real world health, showing how the vagus nerve can harmonise our gut microbes, optimise our immune system, and reduce inflammation. Grab this book today and learn how the connection between your brain, gut and immune system can transform your health
Will Bulsiewicz, MD MSCI, New York Times bestselling author of Fiber Fueled
The Great Nerve is an extraordinary journey into how modern medicine is innovating the way we treat chronic illness and autoimmune disorders. This is a groundbreaking, hopeful look at how vagus nerve stimulation will reshape medical treatments in the future
Terry Wahls, MD, author of The Wahls Protocol
Did you know that your brain can control your immune system? Neither did most doctors and scientists, until recently. In The Great Nerve, Kevin Tracey describes the science and medicine of the vagus nerve through a kaleidoscope of medical history, patient stories, accidental discoveries, and careful investigation. Readable, personal, and enthusiastic, this book brings Tracey's passion and style to a broad audience
Cori Bargmann PhD, neurobiologist
Dr Tracey's The Great Nerve is so fascinating that no reader will ever forget it, and for many the book will be lifesaving. The book is an easily understood operator's manual for the very core of our being, the vagus nerve, full of examples from transformed patients' lives and how-to guidance for the reader. After reading, I have no doubt that my body and my vagus nerve are synchronistic, and I know just what to do to help each help the other
Martine Rothblatt, PhD, inventor, creator of SiriusXM, and CEO of United Therapeutics Corp
The Great Nerve, a remarkable book, reveals the untapped potential of the vagus nerve to change the way we approach health and disease. Through vivid case studies, Dr Tracey, a pioneer in this field, demonstrates how vagus nerve stimulation has the power to treat inflammation and dramatically change lives by unlocking a patient's innate ability to heal. He even shows how this is true in rheumatoid arthritis patients resistant to drugs, introducing an exciting future for medical treatment
Sir Marc Feldmann FRS, immunologist and Lasker Prize Award Winner
Fascinating reading
New Statesman

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