This special edition episode features the latest installment of Healio Community's book club. Physician author Kevin J. Tracey, MD, discussed his book, The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes in which he explores the potential of stimulating the vagus nerve to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.

· Intro by Adam J. Brown, MD 0:14

· A warm welcome from Leonard H. Calabrese, DO 0:25

· Introducing Kevin J. Tracey, MD 0:58

· The connection between the brain and the immune system 3:25

· Where was the switch that combined neural networks and immune response? 5:55

· A brief summary of the main parts of The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes 9:18

· The science of vagal nerve stimulation 11:03

· What are the pros and cons of different strategies of stimulating the vagus nerve? 16:28

· Different inflammatory responses to implant devices 17:35

· Data on vagus nerve stimulation 21:38

· Adopting new technology 25:40

· Enhancing immune health through brain health 28:35

· Wellness behaviors 32:55

· A motivated patient 36:16

· Thank you, Dr. Tracey 38:03

· Thanks for listening 39:26

Don't miss out! To engage in future conversations like this with physician authors on Healio Community, register here.

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at rheuminationspodcast@healio.com. Follow us on Twitter @HRheuminations @AdamJBrownMD @HealioRheum.

To celebrate 101 episodes, I sit with Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, to discuss his unique career in Rheumatology, spanning immunology, HIV, MECFS, IRES, CNS vasculitis and more. We also discuss how medical history shaped our careers.

· Intro 0:12

· Welcome Leonard H. Calabrese, DO 3:11

· A quick friendship begins over medical history 4:14

· How Healio Rheuminations began and where the show is now 5:38

· How Dr. Calabrese got interested in medical history 7:11

· Serotherapy 10:52

· Why patients get certain diseases 12:33

· Dr. Calabrese's career trajectory 14:43

· One day in 1981… 17:52

· A few things happened in the 90's 20:20

· Tell us about CNS vasculitis 21:53

· Don't be afraid to reinvent yourself 24:30

· Checkpoint inhibitors 25:09

· How do you keep up? 26:43

· Placebo science 28:25

· Do you think we'll ever be able to answer where diseases come from? 29:33

· Thank you, Dr. Calabrese 31:01

· Thanks for listening 31:26

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at rheuminationspodcast@healio.com. Follow us on Twitter @HRheuminations @AdamJBrownMD @HealioRheum.

What does a goiter and syphilis have in common with the first descriptions of giant cell arteritis? Join us as we dive into the history of the most common type of vasculitis!

• Intro 0:13
• GCA at ACR 2025 00:30
• How Brown has approached framing this episode 1:01
• A primer leading us to GCA 3:15
• Let's get to the story 4:02
• The man who couldn't wear a hat 4:57
• Dr. Bayard Horton's 7:40
• A tangent on cluster headaches 8:27
• Let's get back to GCA 13:16
• The first temporal artery biopsy 14:28
• Vision loss and other puzzle pieces of GCA 16:27
• What about jaw claudication? 21:15
• Could GCA be transmissible? Injecting ground temporal arteries into healthy volunteers 24:13
• Oxygen? Histamines? Adrenal cortical extract? Looking for GCA treatments 26:55
• Steroids and GCA 28:40
• A quote from the 1959 Mayo Clinic Board of Governors 32:24
• Extracranial involvement in GCA 33:24
• When did we recognize aorta involvement? Syphilis enters the picture 35:08
• A recap of the history of GCA 41:25
• Thanks for listening 42:19

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at rheuminationspodcast@healio.com. Follow us on Twitter @HRheuminations @AdamJBrownMD @HealioRheum.

References:

Boes CJ, Cephalalgia. 2007;doi:10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01238.x

Cummer CL, et al. JAMA. 1912;doi:10.1001/jama.1912.04270080101004

Horton BT, Proc Cent SOC Clin Res. 1946

Sproul EE, et al. Am J Pathol. 1937;PMID: 19970328

Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.