Diseases of the vagus nerve

It happens that a person adheres to the principles of a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition, does not abuse alcohol and does not smoke, even does sports, but suddenly his health begins to deteriorate: severe headache, attacks of suffocation, interruptions in the heart, epigastric pain. Often the cause of these ailments are diseases of the vagus nerve. Where is the vagus nerve, what is it like, how it functions and affects our health?

• functions of the vagus nerve
• reasons for the defeat
• Symptoms
• inflammation of the vagus nerve( neuralgia)
• irritation of the vagus nerve( neurasthenia)
• disorders of the autonomic innervation( angioneurosis)
• Diagnostics
• Treatment
• Traditional medicine
• Removing the cause
• Symptomatic treatment
• Restorative
• therapyFolk remedies

Functions of the vagus nerve

There are twelve pairs of nerves that come from the base of the blackna. One of the most important among them is X pair. In medical literature this education is called "vagus" - wandering or wandering. The name is due to the fact that this nerve trunk has a long extension and a lot of ramifications.

There are 3 nuclei of the vagus nerve:

• motor - transfers the nerve signals from the brain to the muscle fibers of the larynx, pharynx and soft palate;
• sensitive - it receives impulses from the external auditory canal, respiratory system, esophagus, stomach and myocardium;
• secretory - it expresses the influence of the vagus nerve on the heart, bronchus clearance, blood vessels and intestinal motility.

Thus, the branches of the vagus nerve connect the brain and most vital organs. This is due to a wide range of functions performed by this nervous formation.

Processes controlled by the vagus nerve:

• activity of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, stomach and pancreas;
• speech;
• swallowing, vomiting and cough reflexes.

The wandering nerve reduces the heart rate and, as a consequence, arterial pressure, enlarges the lumen of the bronchi, increases the number of secretions produced by the stomach and pancreas, helps the body cope with stress, is an integral part of the solar plexus. The function of the vagus nerve is activated at night.

to contents ^

Causes of lesions

The nervous system is extremely vulnerable, and the vagus nerve is no exception. The main causes of its damage can be:

• diabetes mellitus - provokes inflammatory vascular lesions due to elevated blood glucose levels;
• chronic pathologies are often the effects of HIV or Parkinson's disease, as these diseases negatively affect nerve fibers;
• injuries and surgical interventions resulting in the nerve being damaged or pinched;
• tumors and hematomas that exert pressure on the nerve;
• alcoholism - it entails damage to the structure of nerve fibers( alcoholic neuropathy);
• severe infections;
• poisoning with toxic substances that have the ability to damage nerve structures;
• stressful situations.

to contents ^

Symptoms

Damage to the vagus nerve is a very diverse manifestation, which depends on the mechanism of development of pathology.

to contents ^

Inflammation of the vagus nerve( neuralgia)

Symptoms:

• voice disturbances, up to a significant change in it and difficulty in pronunciation;
• infringement of the act of swallowing with the subsequent development of pathological vomitive reflexes( causeless), followed by a feeling of lack of air;
• dizziness.

to contents ^

Vagus nerve irritation( neurasthenia)

Symptoms:

• sudden unilateral pain in the larynx;
• attacks of severe cough;
• general weakness;
• is an unconscious condition;
• increased activity of the endocrine glands, which causes excessive amounts of gastric juice and pancreatic enzymes;
• sharp increase in intestinal peristalsis, which adversely affects the digestive process;
• violation of cardiac and respiratory activity - dizziness, arrhythmia, chest pain, difficulty breathing;
• the extreme stage of nerve damage is characterized by serious abnormalities for the body, including deafness and urinary incontinence.
loading. ..

back to contents ^

Autonomic nervousness( angioneurosis) disorders

Symptoms: dizziness and hearing impairment caused by abnormalities of cerebral vessels due to diseases such as migraine, erythromelalgia, Ménière and Reynaud disease.

Sometimes the symptoms are not caused by damage, but by a change in the tone of the vagus nerve, which ensures the adaptation of the body to changes in environmental conditions, and the stresses on the body( emotional and physical).With a decrease in tone, apathy, a sense of loneliness, interruptions in the work of the heart are noted.

to the table of contents ^

Diagnosis

To determine the pathology, you can even visual inspection:

• evaluate the voice sound - there is a nasal, and the voice's voice is reduced;
• the person can not specially cough, relaxed owing to the paresis the soft sky slightly sags;
• pronouncing a vowel sound causes the tongue to deviate toward the lesion;
• disturbed the palatine and pharyngeal reflexes.

For final diagnosis it is necessary to use instrumental methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, radiographic examination of the skull and thorax.

to table of contents ^

Treatment of

Therapy in the defeat of the vagus nerve is a complex and lengthy process that should only be carried out in a specialized hospital, since vital organs can suffer.

You should never engage in self-medication, because incorrectly performed diagnostics or inappropriately prescribed treatment can lead to irreversible damage to the nervous system, and in severe cases even to death.

to contents ^

Traditional medicine

Traditional medicine provides treatment of pathology of the vagus nerve in several directions.

to table of contents ^

Removing the cause of

If infection is caused by an infection, antiviral or antibacterial medicines are of primary importance. With neoplasms and injuries, only surgical intervention that eliminates pressure on the neural stem can help.

to table of contents ^

Symptomatic treatment of

• Steroid hormonal drugs( prednisolone, dexamethasone) - are intended for the removal of inflammation, the course of treatment is long, and moreover, its regular correction is necessary;
• Proserin - is prescribed to normalize the secretion of gastric juice and intestinal motility;
• Dimedrol is an antihistamine and sedative;
• Multivitamin complexes in combination with group B vitamins.

to table of contents ^

Rehabilitation therapy

• Milgamma - for the normalization of the structure of the nerve fiber;
• Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve( meaning the use of currents directed to the area of ​​painful sensations) can soothe the vagus nerve;
• Plasmapheresis is the purification of blood at the cellular level.

to contents ^

Folk remedies

Traditional medicine methods do not play an important role in the treatment of pathologies of the vagus nerve, they can only slightly reduce the intensity of manifestations of symptoms and enhance the effect of traditional treatment. Use folk remedies only with the consent of the attending physician.

With the aim of improving well-being, you can take broths of thyme, clover, mint with melissa. To improve the patient's condition, therapeutic baths, including yarrow, root of ara, grass of oregano, pine buds, lavender, leaves of rosemary, leaves of peppermint are possible.

Unfortunately, the effects of the vagal nerve lesions practically do not lend themselves to definitive cure. Therefore, with the first alarming symptoms, you should immediately seek medical help.