Patent ID: 7149574

Claim:
A method of treating a subject for a condition caused by an abnormality in said subject's autonomic nervous system, said method comprising: electrically modulating at least a portion of said subject's autonomic nervous system to increase the parasympathetic activity/sympathetic activity ratio to a ratio analogous to that observed in a health subject in a manner effective to treat said subject for said condition, wherein said parasympathetic activity/to sympathetic activity ratio is increased by increasing activity in at least one parasympathetic nerve fiber and inhibiting activity in at least one sympathetic nerve fiber, wherein said at least one sympathetic nerve fiber is a cardiac nerve fiber, wherein said condition is chosen from neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammatory diseases, orthopedic diseases, lymphoproliferative diseases, inflammatory diseases, infectious diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine disorders, genitourinary disorders, skin disorders, conditions that cause hypoxia, conditions that cause hypercarbia, conditions that cause acidosis and Th-2 dominant conditions, wherein said condition is treated by applying electrical energy to at least one of the vagus nerve, cranial nerve III, cranial nerve VII, cranial nerve IX, sphenopalatine ganglion, ciliary ganglion, submandibular ganglion, otic ganglion, sympathetic nerve, sympathetic ganglia, spinal nerves, postganglionic fibers to spinal nerves, sympathetic chain ganglia, cardiac and pulmonary plexus, celiac plexus, hypogastric plexus, pelvic nerves, cervical sympathetic ganglia, coccygeal ganglia, greater splanchnic nerve, inferior mesenteric ganglion, celiac ganglion, superior mesenteric ganglion, lumber splanchnic nerves, and lesser splanchnic nerves.