Found: the dial in the brain that controls the immune system
Scientists identify the brain cells that regulate inflammation, and pinpoint how they keep tabs on the immune response.
Scientists have long known that the brain plays a part in the immune system — but how it does so has been a mystery. Now, scientists have identified cells in the brainstem that sense immune cues from the periphery of the body and act as master regulators of the body’s inflammatory response.
The results, published on 1 May in Nature1, suggest that the brain maintains a delicate balance between the molecular signals that promote inflammation and those that dampen it — a finding that could lead to treatments for autoimmune diseases and other conditions caused by an excessive immune response.
The discovery is akin to a black-swan event — unexpected but making perfect sense once revealed, says Ruslan Medzhitov, an immunologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Scientists have known that the brainstem has many functions, such as controlling basic processes such as breathing. However, he adds, the study “shows that there is whole layer of biology that we haven’t even anticipated”.
Rest of this article available here - but NOT the actual paper which is firmly behind a paywall.
Scientists Just Made A Stunning Biological Discovery
Sometimes something happens that takes your breath away, in a good way.
Those who read my stuff know I’m not someone who gets carried away by optimism, to say the least.
But a new paper by scientists at Columbia has blown me away.
Researchers have made a discovery, which, if it holds up, has the potential to transform treatments for autoimmune diseases and post-viral illness like long covid and myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Because these scientists say they have found the dial in the brain that controls inflammation and the body’s immune response.
In their own words, they believe they have found “the master regulator.”
Because big pharma doesn't yet know if they can squeeze $100,000 out of us for 1 treatment. Once big pharma figures that out, then it will be breaking news and suffering folks will go bankrupt for relief.
helvella First of all, the articles you find and post have been unbelievably eye opening/dot-connecting for me.
I want to comment here, maybe it will resonate or be a light bulb for forum-mates who read it. Maybe not.
When I was diagnosed hashi in 2022 I had a symptom tracker going back 8 years… and as we all know, when we look back we can connect almost all of them to being hypo.
But one symptom was not hypo related : neurogenic cough.
In a nutshell, neurogenic cough is a chronic cough where other causes are ruled out… lung scan no issues, rule out infection, they give you asthma meds and when they don’t work they confirm it’s not asthma… so any actual physical cause is ruled out and they determine it’s “neurogenic” - a mis-communication between brain and cough reflex saying you have to cough when there is actually no reason to, which makes your chest spasm and compress all through the day making talking, laughing, laying down, and a whole bunch of other seemingly innocuous things trigger a fit. (Ps, mine comes and goes for months at a time for some unknown reason.)
So in 2022 upon diagnosis I googled and googled… is neurogenic cough related to hypo? I couldn’t find anything to say so, but in my research I learned about the role of the vagus nerve.
But there were no results linking “vagus nerve” and “thyroid.”
Further though, as I do the same googling right now, many (not all though) of the articles I am finding on the causes and treatment for neurogenic cough are published in 2021/2022 so it would make sense that I wouldn’t find them as easily back then.
Here’s one of those blog/sites that looks horrible but it’s actually one of the best summaries of what I learned if you’re interested:
Neurogenic cough is absolutely caused by a faulty signal in the vagus nerve. But in 2022 I could find nothing to link “vagus nerve” and thyroid.
So I read your article today, and the master switch they have found for inflammation is the vagus nerve.
from the article:
The confirms the vagus nerve as a critical component of the immune system, in essence the telephone line that enables the body to talk to the brain to tell it to activate an inflammatory response.
Now obviously saying two things relate to the vagus nerve might not be significant as the vagus nerve is core to so much between our brain and our body.
But it absolutely feels like a connection.
Lastly, one treatment of neurogenic cough is gabapentin. And I found this interesting when seeing that this is also used to treat neuropathic pain like fibromyalgia (which I’ve seen hints of in myself), restless leg (which I had post-partum)… and others listed as “medications for neurological manifestations of thyroid disease:”
However although I think the link to gabapentin is there, it could also be a little weak, as the class of drugs it’s in has also been suspected of interfering with thyroid function vs helping it.
Ps, I never considered gabaoentrin as a treatment, and in 2017-2022 I concluded there was actually nothing that could treat it. Many who suffer from this have significant impact to their social life, etc because it is impossible to have a conversation, or sometimes just breath, without having a suffocating coughing fit. My mom oddly enough said to try menthol cough drops… and oddly enough those worked when the menthol was in my mouth and strong. This also meant that I walked around smelling like menthol…. Greeeat. But no other cough suppressants or other remedies for physical coughs made any difference. It’s an awful condition …
I say thank goodness that I understood enough to refuse gabapentin (and every other standard medicine) for postherpetic neuralgia. I was lucky and find capsaicin cream is effective and without the side effects of all the other possibilities.
I think we need a huge "links" program where everyone can contribute information about links they have heard of, experienced, conquered, etc. (No idea how you'd do that!)
helevella, thanks for posting. Links programme is a brilliant idea. Does a link equate to anecdotal evidence? I have experienced things which I believe have a specific cause but because it has never been researched is usually just met with a shrug of the shoulders when mentioned to a doctor when discussing symptoms.
An example, in the past after going gluten free for a while I ate something which contained gluten (didn't know that at the time.)I developed painful swelling around my right thumb joint only. I found it happened each time I ate some gluten. Doesn't always happen now!
Yes - anything where someone thinks something might be connected. Though so many difficulties. For example, even trying to make sure people are not able to bias results to their own ends.
helevella, yes I get the difficulty re whether things are connected 0r possibly coincidental. I just think we know our own bodies and often medics can be dismissive about coincidences which really might provide clues/answers to the problem.
Achy thumb is one of my favorite anecdotes for something that WAS NOT hypo related.
It was on my symptom tracker… and I talked to my doctor about it (yes, one of those doctors that doesn’t understand thyroid and tried to give me antidepressants).
And he said - it’s not arthritis… it’s how you are holding your phone when texting.
I had to pause, never expecting him to make a point I hadn’t thought of before.
And for the first time I was like - huh! He’s right!!!
Referring to your cough... I had a relative who had a persistent cough that went on for years and could not be explained despite lots of investigation. It turned out to be a side effect of one of her medicines for high blood pressure. Changing her treatment eliminated the cough.
So read the Patient Information Leaflets of any drugs or supplements you take to see if any of them mention cough. If you want more information about your drugs then this website is worth knowing about :
When it started 2017 ish I wasn’t taking any medications. I was about 45, probably looked 10 years younger, running marathons, working at full capacity at my job, living life… it was (as it turns out) ~5 years before hashi diagnosis. Hence later imagining that it too had to be connected. At this point it seems completely decoupled, seemingly uncorrelated with anything I do.
Other than my Levo/Lio now, and misc supplements, I have never taken any pharmaceuticals.
At this point I think I am the poster child for a true neurogenic cough. I’m lucky it comes and goes, but when I have it it’s the worst!
Do you know if it was a late onset side-effect? My husband has a chronic cough, and tests have eliminated every cause known to man! And also, do you know which med it was?
I always have a cough when my b12 is too low and came across a connection between b12 and chronic cough some time ago. Perhaps when vitamins are optimised to assist thyroid function it also cures the cough.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Vitamin B12 deficiency causes sensory neuropathy, that might contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic cough and pharyngo-laryngeal dysfunction. Increased nerve growth factor (NGF) levels have been demonstrated in cobalamin deficiency. We investigated upper and lower airway responsiveness and cough threshold to histamine before and after vitamin B12 supplementation (cobalamin 1000 mcg weekly for 2 months) in 40 patients with chronic unexplained cough, 25 with B12 deficiency (serum value below 300 pg/ml) and 15 controls with no nutritional lack. In a subgroup of subjects, NGF expression in pharyngeal mucosa was assessed.
Tanitha yes that is another reason for it. Low B12, takes down stomach acid. We need B12, along with sea salt, potassium and a host of other things to build up good strong stomach acid.
Well researched FallinginReverse. Also menthol is an old off label tried and tested herb. I syspect it is soothing the throat and vocal cords. Another one is gargling twice a day with a couple of drops of Lugol's iodine in water. Did you ever get tested for silent reflux? It is on many occasions the culprit hiding in plain sight. Pepsin from the stomach coming up in a fine mist irritates the throat, vocal cords and nasal passages.. In silent reflux a fine unnoticeable mist keeps shooting up from the stomach to the back of the throat and voice box. Bicarbonate of soda in water, in a small spray bottle, misting the throat and the nose calms this down and eventually cures it. The stomach is linked to the throat and thyroid.
The bicarbonate of soda will be so good. It will not exacerbate low stomach acid. We get silent reflux because of low stomach acid. Bicarb dilutes the stomach acid pepsin so it does not eat away at the throat, voicebox and sinuses. I was reading the other day research papers on drinking bicarbonate of soda an hour before eating actually builds up low stomach acid. I will try and find research paper. Our body makes it's own bicarbonate but for many reasons our supply goes down. Lugol's iodine is brilliant, we do not want to be short of this. I know there is a lot of controversy about taken it with thyroid problems, but the jury is out. They have not really found any causation. In fact pregnant mothers should be taking iodine to make sure babies brains are healthy and intelligent. You would only be gargling with it. Just in case you have an infection there. Dr Sarah Myhill has a lot of info on iodine. It is so antibacterial kills on contact. I would lean more to silent reflux though. Silent reflux also plays havoc with the sinuses and fungal sinus infections, you get post nasal drip which makes cough worse.
Thanks for that blog link. One of my good friends works in an office with a guy who caught Covid a couple years ago and has been coughing ever since. Drives everyone crazy. He's been to the doctor too many times to count. Maybe she will be able to provide him with this article without offending him. Some people welcome benevolent attention, some people get shirty. But obviously whatever it is the doctors have prescribed for him nothing has worked.
Thank you for the link. Have seen this somewhere else… interesting of course but lots of work to do still. It would be wonderful being able to ´divert’ or abort rheumatoid arthritis, MS, etc.
I’ve let Cort Johnson at Healthrising.com, who does an amazing job informing the ME/fibro/long covid community of research relevant to them, know about this article & the research. Exciting news for us all. Thank you
Great read, I have actually been studying the vagus nerve for 4 to 6 weeks now. Mine is out of control and I am trying to bring it reel it back in. This results in a high heart rate and dumping not a nice thing to have. All caused by the vagus nerve and inflammation.
I am using ice packs on the neck, which work also more qigong which also works plus breathing i.e. youtube.
It does appear to be getting better. All caused by 20 months of messed up treatment of the thyroid meds.
This is a huge discovery and thank you for posting it. I am now looking for the switch to turn mine down a tad.
Great read, I have actually been studying the vagus nerve for 4 to 6 weeks now. Mine is out of control and I am trying to bring it reel it back in. This results in a high heart rate and dumping not a nice thing to have. All caused by the vagus nerve and inflammation.
I am using ice packs on the neck, which work also more qigong which also works plus breathing i.e. youtube.
It does appear to be getting better. All caused by 20 months of messed up treatment of the thyroid meds.
This is a huge discovery and thank you for posting it. I am now looking for the switch to turn mine down a tad.
It is interesting. We have known for a lot of years that our brain influences our immune system. Especially the cerebellum. One would think that changing the brains thought pathways, core beliefs, and reframing self talk, the way a person experiences their world, would be the way to go, after all we do have so many studies on it. Epigenetics has taught us this. The placebo versus the nocebo. Change the thoughts, change the terrain. But there is no money in it. Science these days is only concerned about the money aspect and profit margin. So they want to create a drug or a vaccine. We will only see this morph if they believe they can make lots of money. Lots of good research important for human health goes to the wayside, if they cannot make money. They will just bury it. Lots of off license medicine that could be repurposed to treat different health issues are shelved because patent has run out and there is no money to be made from it.
thank you Helvella for diligently and patiently taking time to find this information. I’ve recently had open heart surgery and almost every 2-3 weeks since, my immune system goes into overdrive with high crp 173, high fluctuating hr, temp 39.1 for something that after investigations (one a 6 day hospital stay) turns out to be relatively minor. Vagaries involvement makes sense
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Unfortunately you cannot trust wikipedia any more. I would use google scholar to do your research.
How much do TSH, FT3, and FT4 values change in healthy subjects?
Immune System
