halcyon
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I guess I don't understand the distinction. Aren't the neurons that project the vagus nerve autonomic? Aren't they involved in regulation of heart rate/blood pressure and digestive processes? Perhaps failure isn't the right word, more like dysfunction? We seem to have an idea of what vagus nerve stimulation does, as well as transection, but it's unclear what the effect would be of a chronic infection in the neurons that project the nerve. I think VanElzakker’s theory is interesting, especially in the context of enterovirus, but I don't think it's enough to explain the entire disease. Not every patient has an enterovirus infection. Some patients don't have any signs of autonomic dysfunction. I think it's folly to believe that we're going to find one single theory to explain what's going on in every single patient.And the list halcyon gives does not actually look like vagus nerve failure to me. Autonomic, mostly yes, but not specifically vagus failure. (Tinnitus is as far as I know cochlear nerve, not autonomic.)
Obviously the vagus nerve only enervates the ear canal and not the inner ear. I included it in that list because there may be some association between the vagus nerve and tinnitus as the NIH is conducting clinical studies on the use of vagus nerve stimulation to treat tinnitus.