Curated Paper 1: Ayurveda and Diabetes - Brenna Fangupo

   Curated Paper: Ayurveda and Diabetes

 Ayurveda being the healing science that helps individuals lead and live a balanced life has been practiced for centuries. Ayurveda “is an ancient system of personalized medicine documented and practiced in India since 1500 B.C.” (Frishman et al.,2009). From this article we learn how practicing ayurveda is a type of complementary alternative medicine that supports ongoing research within the scientific field. It also discusses how ayurveda is the system in which “an individual's basic constitution to a large extent determines predisposition and prognosis to diseases, as well as therapy and lifestyle regime.” (Frishman et al.,2009). The idea of ayurveda being a therapeutic practice and a type of lifestyle that people choose to live gave rise to the idea of India's population. 

    The practice of ayurveda has been practiced before the times of Christ. This thought gave rise to the idea that ayurvedic practices may be beneficial and benefiting the people of India. Making them the largest population in the world. This makes you wonder how their population is flourishing and how the birth  rates are being maintained. This shows how practicing ayurveda is beneficial to our individual lives.

    “Ayurveda is widely practiced on the Indian subcontinent — more than 90 percent of Indians use some form of Ayurvedic medicine, according to the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing — and the tradition has gained popularity in the Western world, though it's still considered an alternative medical treatment.” (Lallanilla, 2015). Ayurveda is indeed prevalent in India and it goes to show that 90 percent of  India's population inquires and practices ayurveda. This could be a key point in which they are leading in population rates. There was a documentary called “Made in India” and it showcased the lives of Indian women and how they were used for surrogacy because of the success rates. Another reason why people choose an Indian surrogate was because of the cost as well. It was much cheaper in India than it was in the U. S. From here we see how the ayurveda lifestyle can be beneficial where it is contributing to our health, mental state, and spirituality which helps us avoid potential diseases we may fall subject to. 

    Ayurveda “is based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, spirit, and environment.” (Worth, 2023). This idea was from a blog and showed how the mind, body, and spirit are interconnected with each other in the environment that they are in. The instances in which I came up with my own ideas were examples. The first is when I thought of how we keep the mind healthy. We do this by meditating and feeding our brains knowledgeable facts and applying to our lives.

     The body stays healthy by doing yoga, exercising, and eating a balanced diet. These are the simple things that keep the mind and body healthy and even these tend to get messy. As for the spiritual side of things it’s our individual beliefs that help us stay spiritually healthy. Being a Christian I believe that through faith and prayer everything is attainable with God’s love. This is important to understand because those who are spiritual tend to forget that there are certain laws that God has set, but yet we still continue to practice the laws of man. This is the mistake that we as people make and it can disturb our spirituality as fellow Christians. 

    The environment we choose to be in  plays a big role in how diseases affect us. Knowing that ayurveda is a practiced technique that lowers the chances of getting a disease shows how our environment can influence us.  The surroundings and the conditions we let become our abode is the same for the people we surround ourselves with. This matters because people have an influence on us, same with our surrounding environment. What others do can change our behavior the more time we spend with them. This is why we are affected by others and their behavior. 

    When someone smokes around you, it increases the chances of getting cancer. “Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death in the U.S., and it is the leading cause of cancer worldwide, causing almost six million deaths each year.” (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2022). From this website the idea of how smoking can affect our lives and even cause death gives life to my idea of how the people we surround ourselves with can influence us. This shows how what they eat, drink, and do rubs off on us every time we allow ourselves to be with a certain set of people. For example, when someone smokes around you, it increases the chances of getting cancer and influences us to eventually try smoking.

    Taking care of our bodies is important and it starts with our metabolism. The metabolic pathways are the chemical reactions that are occurring within our body. It's  happening for a reason, it regulates the human body keeping us alive. These metabolic pathways have to be maintained and controlled for there to be balance. This is why ayurveda and metabolic pathways are interconnected because by practicing ayurveda our metabolism will be maintained and our individual bodies will stay healthy and balanced. 

    The imbalance of ayurveda where the mind, body, spirit and environment are out of place causes problems within our metabolic pathways. According to the national library of medicine “metabolism is the means by which the body derives energy and synthesizes the other molecules it needs from the fats, carbohydrates and proteins we eat as food, by enzymatic reactions helped by minerals and vitamins.” (National Center for Biotechnology Information (US)., 1998). Essentially how we get nutrients to sustain ourselves is through our individual metabolisms. Without it we would be deprived of the nutrients our body needs to function. If our body is not functioning the way it is supposed to we face health problems. These health problems give rise to diseases that could result in death. 

    One disease that occurs due to metabolic issues is diabetes. This imbalance occurs when our beta cells are not producing the hormone insulin or the cells in the body that are supposed to respond to insulin are not doing their job. The levels of glucose in our bodies depend on this and the problems occur when there is an imbalance of hormones. The diabetes slides in class goes over diabetes and how this disease occurs when our body loses control of our glucose levels. A build up of glucose in the bloodstream can cause problems with our health. 

    Insulin and glucagon are the hormones that act as antagonists that control glucose levels. When the levels of insulin are not where it is supposed to be the cells aren't able to metabolize the glucose. This is when we see an increase or buildup of glucose in the bloodstream and this buildup is called hyperglycemia. What happens is that the cells are starving even though there are sugars present. This is where the hormone glucagon sends more sugar into the bloodstream because the insulin levels are imbalanced. Hyperglycemia can be harmful and there are many negative impacts when it occurs. It can cause the impairment of phagocytosis, increased blood pressure, cause weight gain and skin disorders. 

     There are two types of diabetes 1 and 2. Type 1 diabetes can be hereditary and be caused by many different reasons. Viruses,  infections and the use of drugs and chemical toxins can cause type 1 diabetes. There are environmental factors that can cause diabetes as well. Type 2 diabetes could also be hereditary and is due to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. There are factors that cannot be controlled such as genetics, age, ethnicity and gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes occurs when women get pregnant. 

    Diabetes is a prevalent disease that is occurring within our society and “excessive food consumption, low quality of life, stress, hormonal factors and  physical  activity levels, become crucial factors for the development of this dyslipidemia.” (Santos et al., 2023). From this peer-reviewed journal we learn that unhealthy lifestyle choices lead to an increased risk of diabetes and to metabolic disorders. Dyslipidemia happens when the levels of lipids and lipoproteins are abnormal; this metabolic disorder happens due to our lifestyles. This idea of how we consume our food, the way we live, our stress levels, hormonal factors and physical activities made me shift thought onto my family and our personal lifestyles. 

    Diabetes is a disease that is hereditary within my family and the amount of relatives within my family that has diabetes is a concern that needs to be addressed. The family members who have diabetes have type 2 diabetes and the main reason why I think we have succumbed to diabetes is because of the cultural change with food and going from active lifestyles to inactive. My grandparents and their siblings moved here when my dad and his siblings were in their teenage years. Being from an island where there was no processed food. This change could cause their body to change in a negative way. With the way food was altered it was more likely to have more sugar, salt and fats. 

    My grandparents gained weight and their health started to decline. They used to harvest their own food by planting it and collecting it themselves. They would also walk and swim on a regular basis, but when they moved to the states their food went from organic to unhealthy foods. The physical activity decreased and a sedentary lifestyle began. What we eat and how active we are physically plays a big role in our lives. Eating right, being stress free, and staying physically active can help us avoid getting diabetes and other diseases too. 

    The disease diabetes happens because of the imbalance of metabolic pathways. There are other complications stemming from the disparity of the metabolism and implementing better choices by practicing ayurveda to keep the mind and body on track can improve our individual lifestyles in a healthier and better way. By being aware of what is causing our diseases we can improve our lives by researching and studying how to include ayurveda in our lives and how metabolic processes are important to understand. This will be beneficial leading our society into a brighter future with less diseases.

                                                                        References

Lallanilla, M. (2015, January 6). Ayurveda: Facts About Ayurvedic Medicine. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/42153-ayurveda.html.

American Institute for Cancer Research. (2022, December 13). Separate cancer myth from cancer fact. https://www.aicr.org/cancer-prevention/healthy-lifestyle/other-lifestyle-risks/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0Oq2BhCCARIsAA5hubVcEfYzM_sxSyebAGTAvVzOUcSjccZ1rxGAivLpnd-fiy4M0seLoCcaAjV8EALw_wcB#1579723955856-4437ecce-54a4.

Cardoso Santos, J. W., Silva de Sousa, G., & Martins Cunha, R. (2023). Effects of high-intensity training on glycemic metabolism in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Manual Therapy, Posturology & Rehabilitation Journal, 21, 1–9. https://doi-org.proxy.li.suu.edu:2443/10.17784/mtprehabjournal.2023.21.1275. 

Frishman, W. H., Beravol, P., & Carosella, C. (2009, February 10). Alternative and Complementary Medicine for Preventing and Treating Cardiovascular Disease. Disease a Month, 55(3), 121-192.   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0011502908001594.   

Worth, T. (2023, November 23). What Is Ayurveda? Treatments, Massage, Diet, and More. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/balance/ayurvedic-treatments.