BIOL 4500 - Curated Paper 1

Life is all about balance. Organisms are in a constant state of imbalance, and are constantly trying to regain balance. This process is known as homeostasis. If we never tried to reach a balance in our bodies, then we would be ridden with diseases. Our bodies have to be able to try and gain balance when everything around us is in a constant state of change. For centuries, we have been studying this idea of balance and disease. From this, the topic of ayurveda was created. The main teaching of ayurveda is to focus on the balance between the body, mind, and spirit. When all three are in balance, then a person is at their strongest and not diseased. However, when one of these things becomes unbalanced, then the person goes into a diseased state. 

In the world right now, there are major issues with non-communicable diseases. Non communicable diseases account for more than 60% of mortality rates worldwide. These non-communicable diseases are stemming from people being unbalanced. One of the major contributors to unbalance in the world right now is the obesity pandemic. Since 1975, obesity rates have nearly tripled. There are a few reasons why obesity, which is a preventable issue, has become so prevalent in today’s society. One of these reasons is that people now consume highly processed foods, which have large amounts of fats and sugars. This is an issue because now a smaller amount of food is a lot more calories. Therefore, people will eat larger portions of more calorie rich foods, which causes them to consume more calories than they are burning daily. This imbalance of eating too many calories is causing people to store them as excess fat instead of using it for energy. Another issue which is adding to the obesity problem is more people are physically inactive. This is due to a wide variety of reasons such as urbanization, different modes of transportation, and sedentary jobs. People are spending most of their day sitting whether at their jobs or driving, which means that they are not burning as many calories as someone who does manual labor or walks to work. Our society is failing at balancing their lifestyle to make sure they are making the right decisions regarding their food consumption and physical exercise. 

This obesity pandemic is one of the main causes of why our society is suffering from many other non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your body cannot control your glucose levels, and they become too high. There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is when your pancreas either does not produce insulin, or produces too little. In type 1 diabetes, your own body destroys the cells that produce insulin. Once these cells have been destroyed, you do not produce enough insulin so your cells cannot intake glucose, causing it to stay and build up in your bloodstream. Type 2 diabetes is when your body does not handle insulin, and your cells become insulin resistant. When your cells become insulin resistant, they can no longer uptake the glucose in your bloodstream, so it builds up causing high blood sugar. Both types of diabetes cause imbalances not only inside the body but socially and economically as well. 

34.2 million Americans have diabetes. This equates to roughly 1 in every 10 people having diabetes in the US. Due to the mass amounts of people with diabetes, our economy is being strained since the medical costs associated with diabetes is very high. In 2012, diabetes directly cost our medical system $176 billion, and it cost $69 billion from people having reduced productivity rates due to having this disease. People who have diabetes have medical costs that are approximately 2.3 times higher than if they did not have diabetes. Our economy is not equipped to keep up with the costs that accompany diabetes, and if we continue this upwards trend in the amount of people with diabetes, our economy will not be able to handle it. 

In addition to the economic imbalance this disease causes, it is also causing a social strain as well. There are numerous studies on the connection between self-control, aggression, and glucose. The first study found that when people consumed a glucose drink, they behaved less aggressively than people who drank the placebo drink. The second study found an indirect relationship between diabetes and low self control which caused aggressiveness. Since people with diabetes are known to have low glucose and poor glucose metabolism, they are less likely to be able to exhibit self control. The third study found that in states where there are higher levels of diabetes, there are also higher violent crime rates. The last study found that countries that had high levels of people with metabolic disorders, causing low glucose levels such as diabetes, they have higher killing rates. Therefore, all studies show that when our cells do not have glucose, people are more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors. We need a balance of glucose in our body that way we can use it to not act out of impulse.

It has also been shown that people who have chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, are more likely to develop depression. When people have both depression and another medical illness, they are more likely to have worse symptoms for both diseases. This goes to show that when our bodies are not in balance, it has catastrophic effects. Depression is already a major issue for our society, and with the amount of cases of diabetes expecting to rise, we need to look closely at this relationship to try and regain balance. 

Our society is facing numerous issues involving diseases. Western medicine is simply not enough. We need to begin to focus more on why these diseases are occurring and treat the root of the issue, not just simply treating the symptoms. In conjunction with western medicine, ayurvedic techniques can drastically improve our healthcare. Ayurveda can help make it so people are less likely to get sick, and western medicine is good at healing people who are already sick. Or bodies depend on balance. Therefore, we need to begin looking more into how we can help restore balance in our bodies. If we do this, we can get a better grasp on our global health and hopefully put an end to these chronic illnesses, such as diabetes.