Curated Paper 1 - Emily Olson

Emily Olson

BIOL 4500

Curated Paper 1

The concept of Ayurveda was interesting. Honestly, it sounds like a hippie religion but with some good ideas. I agree that we should find a balance in everything. Physiologically we need balance in order to function. Spiritually and mentally we need balance to feel whole and at peace. When things are out of balance, even small things are thrown off and needs to be realigned.

Personally, I understand Ayurveda as a balance of the body, mind, and spirit. But sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between spirit and mind, or mind and body. I see the mind as how we think, and the chemistry in the brain. The spirit is more of our feelings and the character of who we are and what we stand for. But this means something different to each person. It is open for interpretation. They also are very intertwined. We don't need to separate the three because they blend into and affect each other.

To relate Ayurveda to myself, I am terrible at working out. I just don’t have the motivation to do it. I’m fine once I’m going, but I can never seem to get myself to start. As a result, I don’t work out that much. My sister just started the PE class on campus so I bought an SUU gym pass so I could go with her. It has helped in motivating me because I paid for the pass. Anyway, I have been exercising with her for the last little bit and I have noticed a difference in myself, and in my Ayurveda. When I exercise, it gives energy to my mind and body. By energizing my body and getting blood flowing, it helps me wake up and get my mind going too. It also helps me feel better about myself physically, my self esteem, which enhances my spiritual aspect. So by exercising, I have raised my level of Ayurveda to a better state in all three categories.

I had learned a little about diabetes in my physiology class, but not very in-depth. When I learned about hyperglycemia and all the implications, it got a little more real than I had thought. One thing can affect so many other things in the body. On a graph of islet cell mass over time in years with type 1 diabetes mellitus, the intervention is far to the right of the x-axis, late in the diseases development. I asked the question if there was a way to test the cell mass to indicate the disease earlier. I don’t know what technology is out there, but I think there should be something that can estimate cell mass and measure if it is below a certain ‘normal’ range. That would be a very useful tool in trying to identify very early stages before much damage has been done.

I found a magazine that had an article about dementia and diabetes. The article asked if Alzheimer’s Disease is “Type 3 Diabetes”.  It explained how several studies say an Alzheimer brain is in a diabetic state due to the decrease and insensitivity to insulin. Diabetics are at least twice as likely to develop dementia. The brain cells become insulin-resistant like other cells do in the body. The beta amyloid plaque buildup is associated with the lack of insulin that affects cognition. These studies are great examples of what happens when there is a lack of Ayurveda. A pathway doesn’t work in the body, and it messes with the mind.

I want to briefly discuss the connection between low-income, poor diets, and high crime areas all associated with diabetes. In low-income areas, people are working more to provide and may not have time to keep themselves healthy. A lot of times this causes them to rely on the convenience of unhealthy food. To further this, low income areas typically have higher crime ratings. No one wants to go out for an evening jog if they are afraid of being mugged. This cumulates to a very unhealthy lifestyle that is the perfect breeding grounds for obesity and/or diabetes.

To bring all this together, exercising creates a healthy lifestyle and Ayurveda. It is one of the main preventative measures you can take to avoid Type 2 diabetes. By keeping your body healthy and stimulating beneficial pathways in your body, your mind is sharper and you feel better. Your body, mind, and spirit are in harmony and function normally. When neglected, you may develop very detrimental problems that have lasting and sometimes permanent consequences.