Curated Paper 1

Gregory Cox

Sept. 22, 2018

Biology of Disease

Curated Paper 1 - Diabetes

The main subject of this course, Ayurveda, will be very interesting to explore during the remainder of the semester as we discuss some of the diseases in biological organisms.  The idea that a mind, body, and spirit all work together perfectly for an organism to function properly is fascinating. I think the two categories that are hardest to distinguish between are the mind and spirit.  For me, my mind is my thoughts and how I problem solve on a day to day basis. It thinks about questions such as, “How am I going to pay for my tuition this semester?” or “When am I going to have time to study for my next test?”.  The list of questions can go on, but these are usually the nature of the things the mind deals with. The spirit on the other hand is much more personal. I happen to be a religious person, so the spirit to me is who you are morally and my personal relationship with God.  What my thoughts and actions are when no one is around, or what I think the purpose of this life is and what’s going to happen to me after I die. These are the things of a spiritual nature. I talk about these subjects of body, mind, and spirit as if they are all separate distinct things when in reality there is some overlap in these subjects.  For instance, the spiritual aspects of an individual can influence the way a person thinks, and in turn, the way a person treats their body. Also, the way we eat and fuel our body can affect the way we think and alter our spiritual nature.

I have found from personal experience that as I implement the concept of Ayurveda in my life, everything seems to flow a lot better.  When I have a good balance between body, mind, and spirit I am able to be more efficient throughout the day, I have much more energy, and I feel more positive.  One example that I have seen in my life is making sure that I have a correct balance of spiritual things. As I balance these spiritual things with the body and the mind I have much more time to accomplish the things that I need to do on a daily basis.  I honestly don’t know how it works, but having a correct balance of these things will help in all aspects of life.

Some individuals refer to this concept of Ayurveda as the earliest form of healthcare and the first type of life science.  Before modern science came about, some individuals would look at how the body, mind, and spirit work together in order to see how a disease effects these individuals on a person level.  In my mind, this sounds a lot like the personalized medicine that some scientists and health professionals are trying to accomplish today with modern technology. Every individual is different in some shape or form and there are certain things that will help each person more than others.  Each individual has a different mindset on the purpose of life, they could have different spiritual beliefs, or they could have a different chemical makeup of DNA in their body, predisposing them to certain diseases such as diabetes.

Diabetes is one of the world’s deadliest killing machine.  More than 8000 people in the world die every day from the effects of diabetes, and more than twice that many develop diabetes in the same amount of time.  The world is experiencing a new plague that if not hindered will turn into a major world health epidemic. Ironically, most cases of diabetes can be prevented with a few lifestyle adjustments.  Many studies show that exercise, eating healthy eating, and maintaining a healthy weight will decrease the odds of one developing diabetes significantly. Those who cannot avoid diabetes, due to being genetically predisposed, can receive help through a variety of medications and procedures.  Diabetes should not be some unknown disease, it is totally preventable and treatable.

As we discussed in class, diabetes is no more than a mistake in the regulation of blood sugar levels.  It is amazing how if one regulatory process is not functioning properly the whole body will suffer as a result.  This disease relates directly to the theme of this course, Ayurveda. If the body’s internal environment is not balanced everything will eventually fall apart.  There must be a balance in all things. However, more and more people are developing diabetes every year. Numerous people know that by exercising they will be healthier and avoid diseases such as diabetes, but they still don’t exercise.  Many people know they have troubles with regulating their insulin levels but they won’t trust their doctor’s knowledge in taking their prescribed insulin. How can this be? For this reason diabetes is becoming a world epidemic. It is much harder to change the mindset and habits of humans than it is to treat and prevent diseases.  

Another subtopic of diabetes that I found to be very interesting was how type 1 diabetes occurs because of a genetic predisposition.  Individuals with type one diabetes have the genes that when exposed to some unknown environmental factor will cause their genetic make up to change resulting in a difficulty of regulating blood sugar levels.  It’s so crazy to me that these people can live completely normal healthy lives, but when some factor flips the switch they come down with diabetes despite their healthy lifestyle choices. If we could somehow discover these factors that are causing predisposed individuals to develop diabetes, we could potentially prevent someone from getting diabetes and possibly reverse the effects of someone with diabetes.  Personal medicine is all about trying to find that perfect balance of internal and environmental factors tailored to fit each individual.

One of the research articles that I found to be interesting was the paper on obesity, diabetes, and cancer.  According to this paper, obesity is one of the leading factors contributing to cancer. The article explains how obese individuals are much more likely to develop diabetes than the average person due to changes in regulatory processes.  Researchers are also finding connections between individuals who are obese and have diabetes with individuals developing cancer. It is unbelievable how a few small choices can make such a big difference in the long run. If one aspect of Ayurveda goes out of balance the whole system seems to fall apart.  

I think my education at Southern Utah University has helped me learn how to apply the principles of Ayurveda without me knowing it.  The first time I have heard of the term Ayurveda was in class this semester, however, college has trained me to have more balance in my life.  I found this lesson out the hard way by solely focusing on the mind, homework, and school. These choices can have terrible effects on the body and spirit.  At the beginning of my college career I was too focused on school and homework that I wasn’t eating like I was supposed to, I didn’t make time to exercise, or even go on activities with my friends.  My life was to eat, sleep, and drink school every second of the day. I quickly found out that this is a terrible way to live and that my life was completely out of balance, so I quickly made some changes.  Now, I feel like I have a much better grasp on how to manage my time in order to make everything balanced. I am nowhere close to being perfectly balanced but I think everyone should make it a goal to seek after their own balance to live life to its fullest.