Effect of adding noninvasive auricular Vagal nerve stimulation to exercise program on emotional eating and stress responsiveness in patient with metabolic syndrome.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on selected health-related outcomes in MetS. METHODS: Seventy men with metabolic syndrome (MetS) aged between 45 and 55, with a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 30 to 35 kg/m 2 , were randomly divided into study group that received a vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and circuit weight training (CWT) and control group which underwent a CWT. An Emotional Eating Scale (EES) and a Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction (SAPS) were used to evaluate emotional eating and patient satisfaction with their therapy, respectively. Salivary cortisol levels were measured between 8 and 9 am, and body weight was detected after 8 h of fasting. The clinical trial ID was NCT05785117. RESULTS: There was a significant change in EES and SAPS scale scores in both groups post-intervention; however, the study group showed higher scores than the control group. Furthermore, the change percentage of weight and salivary cortisol in the study group was 8.9% and 44.5%, respectively, which were higher than in the control group (2.9% and 40.6%, respectively). CONCLUSION: VNS and CWT were considered promising, simple, and cost-effective interventions for improving emotional eating, patient satisfaction, salivary cortisol, and body weight in individuals with MetS. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: The study provided a promising intervention that had the potential to improve emotional eating behavior and decrease body weight so that it might overcome the metabolic syndrome. The vagus nerve plays a vital role in maintaining physiological homeostasis of body function without any invasive interference. Noninvasive auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation is a low-cost, simple, and effective modality. Noninvasive auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation appears to have a promising future in the treatment of metabolic syndrome.