Curated Paper 2

Personal relation to Psychology and Neurology:

Ever since I was in elementary school, I have been very interested in learning about the brain and behavior. Neurology really enticed me, and all of my career goals have always surrounded the concept of the brain/mind. Currently, I am aiming at entering the workforce as a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. I strongly believe that a strong mind translates into a strong body. As someone who has worked with patients with various brain diseases, both neurological and mental, I understand the consequences that these diseases can have on people’s everyday lives; it is a very difficult thing to witness. But I enjoy figuring out how to help people who suffer with these problems.

Frequency and Outcomes of a Symptom-Free Waiting Period After Sport-Related Concussion:

As someone who has experienced multiple concussions due to a sport, this article was enlightening. Even during the four years I did college gymnastics, the concussion protocols had changed a lot. I had noticed that this led to better and better ways to deal with sports-related concessions. The return to play time used to be very short, with some athletic trainers even letting athletes return to play the day of their concussion injury (which was very deranged, in my opinion). Now, there are very strict guidelines that must be followed to ensure the safety of the athlete both right after the SRC and in the future as well. Mental baseline testing is recorded at the beginning of each sport season just in case an athlete encounters concussions during the season. This way, if an SRC does occur, it will be easier to tell how much brain damage was caused. Although the guidelines that are now in place are much more catered towards looking after the brain health of athletes, there will most likely be more effective ways to test for brain injury due to SRC in the future.

Psychological brain diseases:

Mental disorders can range from mild to detrimental. Like I said previously, I am fascinated by how mental functioning influences our overall health, especially because there is so much we still need to learn about this topic. In order to begin to understand mental disorders, it is imperative to understand that while a person’s mindset does play a big role in the extent of a mental illness, an even larger part of it is due to actual biological implications. This is why therapy alone can help in mild cases, but for more extreme illnesses, medication is usually required to see physical changes in the manifestation of behaviors. I would say that ayurveda plays into this because if there are psychological (whether biological, mental, or both) imbalances, this very much so leads to negative physical responses, which in turn heavily impacts overall health.

Traumatic Brain Injury:

Traumatic brain injuries are a very unique type of injury. They never truly heal due to the peculiar nature of nerve cells. Once a nerve cell is destroyed, it never grows back, therefore, you can never regain its original function. The brain can, however, somewhat regain general functioning as a whole by forming new brain cells to replace old ones. In this case, new connections between neurons are being formed in order to make up for the connections that were lost. This is one way that personality changes occur from brain injuries. Personality changes also occur if certain parts of the brain are damaged. Various cognitive skills are affected with neurological injuries, too. This also includes emotional changes in some people. Ayurveda relates to brain injuries because they are physical imbalances at play. Not only are there repercussions that the body faces, but the mind also experiences turmoil from physical harm to the brain.

What are drugs?:

Research centered around drugs has always fascinated me because their effects, while witnessed through various behaviors and physical symptoms, vary greatly depending on what exactly the substance is. There are so many different types of drugs, from prescription medications that are meant to better your health, to recreational drugs that can damage the brain and body long-term. Drugs are broken down in the body and processed, resulting in changes to the way that neurotransmitters are released and used within the body. Dopamine is usually the neurotransmitter that is affected. Drugs like opioids, cocaine, and nicotine work by flooding synapses with dopamine. The excess dopamine triggers reward centers in the brain that make the user feel good, leading to the desire for more of the drug. After using a substance like this, the brain begins to crave it more and more, which ultimately leads to addiction and dependence. While short-term use of drugs changes the chemistry of the brain temporarily, long-term drug use can lead to permanent damage to neurons and neurological pathways. This occurs because the brain is trying to acclimate to the constant modifications that take place. Sometimes the brain can revert back to its normal functioning after drug usage if the substance was not being used for long periods of time (but it still takes a while for psychological, biological, and physical effects to return to previous health). Other times, full recovery is not possible because too much damage has been done. 

Drugs pose a huge threat to the wellbeing of many individuals. There are regular people who become victims of drug addiction every day. It can develop extremely quickly due to how fast it begins changing the chemistry of the brain, and therefore, initiating the desire for more of the drug. When an addiction becomes substantial, loss of overall motivation, productivity, and personality changes sometimes leads to detrimental social consequences. Interpersonal relationships are commonly affected in negative ways when an individual is experiencing substance abuse. This becomes one of the most difficult parts of addiction because it can decrease a person’s support system. Drugs can also create various social ramifications. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are arrested for drug related crimes each year (however, less and less people are getting put in jail each year, probably due to relaxations of drug laws).

Drugs and ayurveda:

Most of the time, drugs do pose a challenge for balance in the body. Recall that ayurvedic medicine is all about fixing imbalances and restoring the body. Because drugs can create changes to the brain and therefore aggravate the doshas, the body will undergo the ramifications. However, drugs such as prescription medicines actually help restore other issues within the body. For example, epinephrine can be used as a drug in order to get rid of imbalances from the aggravation of a dosha due to an allergen. In this case, the drug is returning the body’s balance to its usual state. I think it is very important that drugs be evaluated for their advantages and disadvantages so that we may understand what drugs may be beneficial and which ones will result in ramifications.

Connection to cancer:

Psychology, neurology, drugs, and ayurveda all play a role in someone’s life when they have cancer (or even when someone close to them has the illness). Firstly, it should not have to be said that dealing with cancer leaves an enormous impact on the mental well-being of the patient. It is beneficial to have support from loved ones; however, not everyone is fortunate enough to have this kind of mental and physical support. Luckily, there are support groups for those that need extra psychological help from others. It is especially helpful to hear stories from those that are going through the same thing as you. Taking care of your mental health while having cancer looks different for everyone, but it is crucial for everyone.

Many drugs have substantial use when it comes to trying to get rid of cancer. As a first resort, there are drugs that can be used to target PD-1 proteins that reside on certain immune cells. By blocking PD-1, these drugs aim to boost immune responses against cancer cells in order to stop progression and to ultimately rid a person of all cancer-spreading cells. Along with immunotherapy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are also used to target cancer cells. While chemotherapy utilizes powerful drugs that target cells that are in the process of dividing, radiation therapy uses high energy particles to destroy and/or damage cancer cells to stop them from multiplying. There is also a type of radiation therapy, called systemic radiation therapy, which uses liquid drugs made of radioactive substances that travel throughout the body. Ultimately, the best cancer treatment route depends on what type of cancer the patient has, but overall, a combination of surgical removal, radiation, and chemotherapy have been suggested to provide the best results.

Because of the need to go through treatments for the prevention and destruction of cancer forming cells such as the ones previously mentioned, patients are likely presented with economic devastations. For example, the average cancer patient ends up spending 150,000 dollars for treatments. It can be terrifying to have to put out so much money, especially if someone is not seeing progress with what they are doing. Of course, patients could end up spending more or less than the average based on multiple factors such as type of insurance, which doctor they visit, what type of cancer they have, and what external resources are available. Cancer is known to be a devastating disease, but you never know exactly what to expect until you are put in that situation yourself. Luckily, there are a wide array of resources that are available to cancer patients. But everything is contingent on how aware the patient is about their options. This is why it is so important to be informed about the mental and physical help that is offered, not just when it comes to cancer, but any disease that someone is dealing with.