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  • Published: 23 June 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405978507
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $26.99
Categories:

The Great Nerve

The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes




Explore the astonishing potential of the vagus nerve to regulate your body’s vital systems and transform your health

‘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

‘A game changer … learn how the connection between your brain, gut and immune system can transform your health,’ – Will Bulsiewicz, New York Times bestselling author of Fibre Fuelled

Unlock the secrets to your health and happiness with the power of the vagus nerve

The 200,000 fibres of the vagus nerve vibrate in tune with your health like the instruments of an orchestra. When your vagus nerve is harmonious, you thrive; when it is not, you suffer from poor sleep, low mood, pain, and chronic illness.

In The Great Nerve, Dr Kevin Tracey’s pioneering research reveals how the vagus nerve is linked to regulating the immune system and your overall health. Learn how to support this vital nerve and uncover the truth behind stimulating strategies such as ice baths, meditation, exercise, and breathwork.

Discover the extraordinary science that promises to transform healthcare, where computer chips may regulate blood sugar, and electrical implants may replace medications forever.

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

  • Published: 23 June 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405978507
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $26.99
Categories:

Praise for The Great Nerve

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

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

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

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

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

Fascinating reading

New Statesman
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