>Further research revealed that the brain communicates with the spleen – an organ that plays a critical role in the immune system – by sending electrical signals down the vagus nerve. These trigger the release of a chemical called acetylcholine that tells immune cells to switch off inflammation. Electrically stimulating the vagus nerve with an implanted device achieved the same feat.
One might also achieve comparable effects by drinking baking soda.
>"We think the cholinergic (acetylcholine) signals that we know mediate this anti-inflammatory response aren't coming directly from the vagal nerve innervating the spleen, but from the mesothelial cells that form these connections to the spleen," O'Connor says.
>While there is no known direct connection between the vagal nerve and the spleen -- and O'Connor and his team looked again for one -- the treatment also attenuates inflammation and disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis, researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research reported in 2016 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
O'Connor hopes drinking baking soda can one day produce similar results for people with autoimmune disease.
One might also achieve comparable effects by drinking baking soda.
>"We think the cholinergic (acetylcholine) signals that we know mediate this anti-inflammatory response aren't coming directly from the vagal nerve innervating the spleen, but from the mesothelial cells that form these connections to the spleen," O'Connor says.
>While there is no known direct connection between the vagal nerve and the spleen -- and O'Connor and his team looked again for one -- the treatment also attenuates inflammation and disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis, researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research reported in 2016 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
O'Connor hopes drinking baking soda can one day produce similar results for people with autoimmune disease.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180425093745.h...