Capstone: Biology of Disease
The brain is one of the most complex organ found in the human body. Only weighing in at three pounds, the brain is also one of the most powerful organ in the human body. There are still many mysteries to be discovered and questions to be answered. It's responsible for many functions throughout the body like movement, feeling, memories and sensation. It has the most complexity and importance in our bodies. Throughout the years, we have learned a great deal about the brain and connections of neurons that allows us to function. Our brain is an unbelievable organ and makes us who we are. Researchers are still exploring connections and the complexity of the brain to understand the mechanism of a healthy brain.
The brain is a well protected organ compared to other organs in your body. The first layer is known as the skull, which is like the armor for the brain. Between the skull and the brain are the next layers that are the meninges, they surround the brain and spinal cord. The outermost layer is called the Dura mater, which is made up of two layers of whitish membrane. The second layer is called Arachnoid, which is a thin layer and surrounds the brain loosely. The Pia mater is the layer that is found closest to the brain. There is a space between the Arachnoid and Pia is called subarachnoid space and that’s where the cerebrospinal fluid flows.
The brain has four lobes known as the frontal, parietal,temporal and occipital. The different regions work all together but certain regions are responsible for carrying certain functions. The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the brain and it's why the brain appears to be wrinkly. The reason behind the folding, bumps and grooves is to increase surface area. The bumps are called gyri and the groves are called sulci. The frontal lobe helps certain functions like emotional regulation, planning, and problem solving. The parietal lobe is responsible for sensation like touch, temperature, pressure and pain.The temporal lobe is responsible for hearing, language, and forming memories. The occipital lobe is responsible for processing your vision to see the depth distance and location of the object. The average brain is composed of around 80-90 billion neurons. Signals pass through neurons of different shapes, sizes to help us function. The neurons cell bodies form the gray matter and glial cells form the white matter.
Neurons send messages to other neurons by releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters. Different types of drugs affect the process of communication. The neurotransmitters work by being released from nerve endings into synaptic cleft, then joining the receptor proteins of the tissue. This allows the tissue to get excited or allows the tissue to function. There are different types of neurotransmitters in the body. There are more than 40 neurotransmitters in the nervous system, some examples are acetylcholine, dopamine and serotonin. A neurotransmitter can be classified as an excitatory or inhibitory. The difference between an excitatory and inhibitory is effects on a future action. An excitatory neurotransmitter increases the effects of a future action. An inhibitory works to prevent a future action. An example of an excitatory neurotransmitter is acetylcholine which helps muscle function and regulate sleep cycle. An example of an inhibitory neurotransmitter is serotonin which helps regulate emotions and body temperature. There is an exception with dopamine neurotransmitters which are both excitatory and inhibitory. It helps to prevent unnecessary movements and helps increase growth hormone.
Researchers don't know exactly the short term and long term effects that different drugs have on the brain. Drugs cause an imbalance to the brain's chemistry affecting the brain. Cough and cold medicines taken in high quantities or with no symptoms can cause effects similar to illegal drugs and it's known to cause addiction as well. Illegal drugs and prescription medicine change the way the brain works by changing the communication but these changes cause an imbalance in the brain. As we have seen in many cases that an unbalance in the body can have severe side effects. The communication between neurons via neurotransmitter is impacted by different drugs. There are drugs like marijuana and heroin that activate the neurons. They mimic the natural neurotransmitters in the body but it’s not the same as our natural communication. They don’t activate the neurons the same way and lead to uncommon messages being communicated. Other types of drugs like Amphetamine or cocaine, sometimes prevent normal communication. Or another effect is a release of a large number of neurotransmitters. Both cause an unbalance in the communication between the neurons. This unbalance causes different parts of the brain to be altered. The prefrontal cortex allows you to think, solve and make decisions. When in this area there is an unbalance, it has severe side effects especially in teens as it is the last part of the brain to mature. In the basal ganglia is another area drugs impact that reduces sensitivity and pleasure beside the drug. This is where addiction comes in and people need to use it to feel the sensation. Drugs have an effect on the body that creates dopamine, which makes you feel good. The truth is that dopamine's real job is to allow us to continue survival behavior, like sleeping and eating. The effects of the drug do not just end when the drug dies off. When the dopamine levels drop, you start to feel down and can’t really enjoy pleasures in life. The brain needs to find the balance and sometimes it takes hours or days to restore that balance. Teens are at more risk because they seek to find pleasure and usually don’t think about any consequences. Teens' brains are in the process of maturing and neurons aren’t fully protected. This causes teens to be more sensitive to drugs and are impacted more than adults. Having bigger impacts causes more negative experiences of emotion and addiction. Some long term effects are health issues like liver damage and heart problems. Also it impacts how you develop emotional and memory. Teens need to be more aware of the short-term and long term effects on any substance use.
Each year almost 100,000 people die of side effects of synthetic drugs. Almost eight percent of people who are hospitalized are from the side effects of synthetic drugs. Are Over the Counter drugs completely safe to take? Lot of people turn to herbal medicine which is used in Ayurveda medicine. Generally herbal medicine has a less stronger side effects or no effects at all. Ayurveda medicine focuses on not just treating one exact problem but supporting all the systems. Herbal medicines are very complex and have a lot of different compounds. There is still some risk of poisoning from medical plants that were shown. Overall herbal medicine is a safe way to go because it’s a more natural change rather than a huge shock to the body. There is still a lot of research that needs to be done but I would be really interested to see how some herbal medicines would be better to use than other types of drugs.
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