by A small device that could help improve fitness to improve fitness, an early attempt.
According to researchers who hope that one day, a day to help people who are not very active, to be able to wear the stimulator for only 30 minutes a day during training.
The device cut off on the outer ear sends gentle electrical impulses to increase the activity of the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in regulating the heart function.
The study under the direction of researchers at the University College London and the Queen Mary University of London comprised 28 healthy volunteers.
Half received the nerve stimulator for 30 minutes a day for a week, while the other half received a dummy device.
After a two -week break, the groups exchanged devices.
Everyone who took part in the attempt had an exercise test at the beginning and at the end of the week that they were wearing the stimulator.
The attempt published in the European Heart Journal showed that those who wore the nerve stimulator could train more intensively than when wearing the dummy device.
After a week, the stimulator increased oxygen absorption during training by 4%.
It also increased the maximum respiratory rate by an average of four breaths per minute and the maximum heart rate by four strokes per minute during training.
Gareth Ackland, professor of perioperative medicine at the Medical Faculty of the Queen Mary University of London, said: “The maintenance of physical activity is essential for every aspect of cardiovascular, emotional and cognitive health.
“The result of the experiment is correct with the significant evidence in accordance with an important role in the brain in optimizing the training performance and regulating the activity of the immune system.”
In addition, blood samples were taken from five people, with researchers proposing to carry the nerve stimulator for a week, contributing to reduce the inflammation.
Prof. Ackland added: “We have to carry out larger studies to confirm our results, but the results of this study in healthy volunteers indicate that an increasing activity of the vagus nerve can improve fitness and reduce inflammation, which may offer new approaches to improve heart health.”
Professor Bryan Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at the British Heart Foundation, which financed the study, said: “This early study suggests that a simple technology that uses the relationship between heart and brain can lead to improvements in fitness and training tolerance.
“While more research is required in which people with cardiovascular diseases are included, this could one day be used as an instrument to improve well -being and quality of life for people with heart failure.”
