Ayurveda, Diabetes, and Mental Health

Ayurveda research really struck a chord of interest in me. This interest actually started when one of my friends began her training in a holistic approach of massage therapy. She had asked me if I would let her practice her new learned techniques on me. I was extremely skeptical as I laid on her table that day while she strategically placed crystals on various parts of my body. The aroma of sage filled the room as she waved it around. She then continued to hover her hands over each crystal and began telling me which muscles were feeling tense and why. I left my session with her feeling a little less skeptical, but there was still some doubt. This past summer I had also met a student who had decided to further her studies in the concept of herbal medicine. It intrigued me as she pointed out various plants and shared that each one of them have a different healing property. 

With Ayurveda it has been accounted for, in classical Ayurveda text, that the Gods had passed down medical knowledge to the sages, which then in turn went from human knowledge to the physicians. When I read this, it reminded me of the student from this summer and I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was right, and maybe the plants really did have healing properties. I came across an article that had mentioned all the harmful things to humans that have been found in many Ayurveda medicines and became skeptical once again. How could putting harmful things into your body be beneficial and healing in any way? Simply put, it isn’t. 

I do think the environment has an impact on health in some way. Even physicians will tell you that diet, exercise, and even stress management are extremely important to personal health. All of those things depend on the environment in one way or another. As for connection between parts of the body, I think there is absolutely a connection. If we just listen to our bodies they tell us exactly what they need, but it is up to us to listen and be able to recognize that. Diseases require a little more attention and some even go undetected for years due to lack of symptoms. I am hesitant to believe that Ayurveda alone could “heal” any disease; diseases are just too strong. Take Diabetes as an example. I find it hard to believe that Ayurveda could essentially “heal” this disease. It is far too complex in how it operates and attacks the body.

Diabetes' connection to metabolic pathways is extremely interesting to me. When I was in high school I learned that my softball coach was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a very young age. He regularly had to keep track of his blood sugar, and we could always tell when it was getting low. Coach would get agitated and leave practice suddenly only to return about 15 minutes later with a juice box and a sucker. I never knew about the other side effects that come with it or really what was happening underneath the skin that caused Type 1 diabetes. I now understand that it has to do with the body's metabolic pathways and whether or not it is able to produce its own insulin. 

Beta cells are the cells that help to produce insulin, and diabetes stops that by damaging these beta cells and even sometimes causes beta cell death. One driver of type 2 diabetes is obesity. Obesity is one of the most prevalent diseases taking over America today, and it is shown statistically to be of greater effect with type 2 diabetes in some states rather than others. I found it particularly intriguing reading about the connection with mental health and diabetes in the article , Chronic Illness and Mental Health, published by the National Institute of Mental Health. I never thought about the connection between the two before, but I am always interested in anything having to do with mental health. It makes sense that individuals suffering from this disease will go through many ups and downs and that sort of instability can attend to a decrease in mental health. It may even be taken as far as to be a cause for depression which can often lead to suicidal tendencies. With mental illnesses, such as depression, many come with symptoms that further worsen the chronic illness that they already have. In the, Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2012, scientific statement article it was concluded that the economic burden of diabetes is only continuing to grow as years pass. According to the article, Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017, from 2012 to 2017 the economic cost of diabetes increased by 26%. This was due to the increase in prevalence of diabetes and the increase of cost per person. This further supports that by being a victim to this awful disease one can become economically burdened. This, in turn, leads to worsening mental health. 

Works Cited

American Diabetes Association. “Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017.”    Diabetes        Care, American Diabetes Association, 1 May 2018, care.diabetesjournals.org/content/41/5/917. 

American Diabetes Association. “Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2012.” Diabetes Care, vol. 36, no. 4, 2013, pp. 1033–1046., doi:10.2337/dc12-2625. 

“Chronic Illness & Mental Health.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/chronic-illness-mental-health-2015/index.shtml.