Sympathetic chain

Looks like

Two strings of nerve knots running the length of the spine, one each side.

What it does

The accelerator: pupils, sweat, heart rate and blood pressure.

Keeping it well

Breathing practice and exercise turn it down; it is what races in panic and in shock.

Its parts

• Ganglia of sympathetic trunk
• Sympathetic nerves
• Sympathetic trunk

Related conditions

• Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
• Botulism
• Chickenpox (varicella)
• Chronic neuropathic pain
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Lyme disease
• Myasthenia gravis
• Neuroblastoma
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Rabies
• Restless legs syndrome
• Shingles (herpes zoster)
• Tetanus
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies