The article “Ayurveda and natural products drug discovery” (Patwardhan et al. 2004) tells about how we have gone back to relying on natural medicine stemming from plants and animals because modern day medicine has failed us time and time again with unacceptable and adverse side effects. I feel like plant medicine is a much safer option because it has been around for so long, and studied for thousands of years that we know the effects that it can have in the human body.
I like how the article talks about how natural medicines used to be all we had, so why would we not go back to what used to work. I think that there is something to be said about boiling things down and simplifying processes when it comes to your body. Our bodies crave natural things that the earth has to offer. I think that relying on natural medicine to heal us really helps us to tap into more of an ayurvedic state and be at peace with ourselves, I think that it can really help to ground us and add needed balance that our bodies need.
I learned a lot about illicit drugs from the slides provided. I’ve been naive to how addictive drugs work all my life because I have never been around them. Until recently, I did not know anyone that actively does cocaine. However, this summer I worked on a sales team and almost everyone I knew partook in this drug. It was shocking to find out. So it’s been very interesting to me to learn what cocaine really does in your body, and ponder if you can really have true ayurveda in your life if you partake in this substance.
I did not realize that cocaine increases dopamine in the body due to inhibition of dopamine reuptake, so it eventually leads to the body producing less dopamine and thus the body becomes dependent on cocaine and craves the drug to receive regular levels of dopamine. I think that as a part of living a life that follows ayurvedic practices, you can not be dependent on any substance and you should be able to produce the correct amount of dopamine that leads to peace in your life. Ayurveda is all about balance and living a life of harmony. I truly do not believe that being addicted to any sort of drug can lead to balance or harmony in one's life.
I have never been tempted by illegal drugs because my mom and grandma have always told me that “addiction runs in our family.” So I always knew that I could not try drugs even once because my risk for becoming addicted was higher than someone else. Until recently I took this statement of “addiction runs in our family” at face value. But I recently asked the question to myself of “is this really true? Is predisposition to drug addiction a real thing based on your family's genes?” So I did some research and this is what I came to find out. Based on the genes that people have, they in fact can be at greater risk for addiction, no matter what the substance may be. This finding is helping to aid in more tailored programs to help individuals be able to fight addiction and make more informed choices on drug use.
Just as drug addiction can be hereditary, so can mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar, and obsessive compulsive disorder. However you do not always have to have a genetic predisposition to these disorders to suffer from them. They can also come from traumatic brain injuries . Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can affect people in a wide variety of ways. They can cause memory loss, cognitive and motor dysfunction, and alterations in behavior or emotions. The reason why these injuries are hard to understand is because no TBIs are the same. Each person's injury can vary in extent and location where it occurred, and then come along with different symptoms. Since no case is the exact same it makes it harder to learn about TBIs and apply that knowledge to future injuries.
In the article “Mind, Brain, and Personality Disorders” (Gabbard, 2005) he quotes Michael Rutter and explains that psychosocial stressors can have an effect on the brain, and so can psychotherapy. So to make a distinction between “psychologically based disorders” and “biologically based disorders” is too narrow of a distinction and a more integrated approach would be better. I agree with that, because though some disorders may stem from the environment, such as trauma that an individual may go through, that does not mean that their brain chemistry wasn’t also altered by that event. Because of this an integrative approach is necessary in treating this disorder.
I thought that it was really interesting in that same article when it talks about how stress or traumatic events that happen early on in a human's life can alter their hippocampus, resulting in possible borderline personality disorder. It was also interesting to read about hemispheric lateralization which adversely affects the integration of the right and left hemispheres. This was interesting to me because it seems like in response to trauma, these patients use their brains differently than those without trauma. It begs the question, is this trauma response is genetic or not?
I did some of my own research and the article (Malatesta et al., 2021) suggests that there is not enough evidence to say that these things are genetically heritable. But it does say that the way caregivers interact with infants, such as through behaviors like the left-cradling bias, can shape how the brain's specialization develops in babies. It also suggests that epigenetics could play a large role in hemispheric lateralization. Epigenetics is when there is an alteration in gene expression that does not entail changes to the DNA sequence but are instead influenced by environmental factors. This viewpoint indicates that experiences and interactions with the environment can impact how genes are expressed.
TBIs can relate to imbalances in the body in a variety of ways, but I am going to focus on hormonal imbalances. Damage to the hypothalamus and/or pituitary gland (which are structures that regulate the body's hormones) can lead to insufficient or increased release of one or more hormones, which decreases the body's homeostasis. It can lead to hypopituitarism, some symptoms of this disease include; muscle weakness, reduced body hair, irregular periods or loss of normal menstrual function, reduced fertility, increased sensitivity to cold, constipation, dry skin, depression, sexual difficulties, fatigue, mood swings, headaches, and vision disturbance. The issue is that most people that suffer a TBI go through severe hormonal interruptions, so it is hard to diagnose hypopituitarism until later down the line. And on top of that a lot of those symptoms overlap with regular TBI vs. damages to the hypothalamus and/or pituitary gland.
I can imagine it would be extremely difficult to live a life of true ayurveda whilst going through severe hormonal challenges. Hormones regulate so many parts of our healthy life. If I was going through severe mood changes it would be hard to be motivated to do the things that lead to a healthy lifestyle, such eating healthy or working out. Being wracked with fatigue would throw off your sleep schedule I’m sure, and depression would definitely suck away all motivation to do any of the things that lead to a balanced lifestyle.
In conclusion, TBIs impact mental health with disorders like PTSD, depression, and anxiety, while causing cognitive issues such as memory loss and behavioral changes. The variability in injury location and severity creates a wide range of symptoms, complicating treatment. Hormonal imbalances from TBI-induced damage to the hypothalamus and pituitary gland further challenge recovery, disrupting key wellness practices. The shift towards natural medicine reflects a desire for safer, time-tested remedies in contrast to the adverse effects of modern pharmaceuticals and substances like cocaine, underscoring the need for a balanced approach that integrates both ancient wisdom and modern insights for better health.
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