Curated Paper #1

As I began reading about Ayurveda I learned that it originated in India more than 3,000 years ago. According to the John Hopkins Health Journal, Ayurveda embodies the concept that each individual has life forces at play in their lives. On top of this, each individual and their respective life forces are connected to the greater universe. If an imbalance occurs, this can set off the discontinuity of the person’s connection with the universe and they may experience adverse health effects. Before even looking for supporting information on the validity of Ayurveda, I already firmly believed in its truthfulness. I have found that when I let one facet of my life get out of balance, whether it be sleep, diet, or social interaction; my overall health suffers in a noticeable way. Although I don’t fully believe in the concept of everything being connected to the universe, I can clearly see how an imbalance can throw a person’s health out of whack. To illustrate this example, I will consider the example of someone who chooses a lifestyle that does not allow them to get adequate amounts of sleep. If this individual stays up until 3 AM every night, they likely will have trouble getting out of bed in the morning on time for their responsibilities. If they get behind on work projects/school responsibilities, their levels of stress and anxiety will likely rise. If they get behind on their work, they likely will not want to spend time cooking meals that will provide proper nutrition. They also probably won’t feel like exercising or exerting themselves if they are lacking energy from their bad diet and lack of sleep. I feel this example demonstrates that one imbalance can interfere in many areas of one’s health. The concept of Ayurveda has great worth and is something important for all of us to consider.

As I was reading through the module that was focused on Diabetes, I was amazed at all of the different ways in which diabetes can affect different pathways in the body. As I was looking through different papers, one thing that I noticed was that there have been a lot of studies looking at the cardiovascular consequences of diabetes. From collected data, the risk of cardiovascular diseases is significantly higher in patients that exhibit diabetes. Some of these diseases include stroke, atrial fibrillation flutter and left ventricle hypertrophy. Surprisingly events of mortality do not typically occur in patients from the side effects of diabetes, rather most events of mortality occur due to cardiovascular complications that may be correlated with the cases of diabetes. 

According to a journal found in the American physiological society, nonoxidative glucose pathways can become activated due to hyperglycemia. Once activated, these pathways are suspected to exhibit detrimental downstream effects on the epithelial cells that line the heart. In a similar literature review, it is stated that dyslipidemia, a condition in which a patient accumulates large amounts of LDL cholesterol, is a condition that many diabetic patients exhibit. Subsequently, the high amounts of LDL accumulate in the patient's vasculature which will undoubtedly cause hypertension. It also mentioned that hyperglycemia in diabetic patients commonly causes triglycerides to accumulate. When these triglycerides accumulate on the cardiac tissue, they can release toxins such as cytokines that can negatively affect the tissue. The interactions between cytokines and cardiac tissue is proposed to be a part of the reason as to why diabetic patients have lower diastolic function than non-diabetic patients. 

Another cardiovascular risk posed by diabetes is that of the accumulation of advanced glycation end products in the patient's vascular structures. Advanced glycation end products are formed when glucose sugars attach to proteins, lipids, or other structures without the mediation of an enzyme. In the cause of hyperglycemia, there are many opportunities for the high levels of glucose molecules to interact with other biological molecules to form the advanced glycation end products. Once formed, these AGEs can accumulate in organs and cross like proteins together. This is especially dangerous in cardiovascular organs, as the AGEs can cross link the collagen contained in arteries, veins, and cardiac tissue to cause significant detrimental effects in the organ’s elastic function. Thus, the accumulation of AGEs in cardiac tissue is yet another instance in which diabetes can play a role in the onset of diabetes.

While reading through the modules about diabetes, I was shocked to see the financial consequences that come from healthcare focused on diabetes. I did not understand that diabetes not only affects the economy beyond just the healthcare costs such as production of insulin, dialysis, as well as the wages of the healthcare worker you focus on taking care of individuals suffering from the disease. Rather, diabetes drastically affects our economy in decreased production and societal contributions from those affected by diabetes. In 2012, a study focused on the economic costs of the diabetes epidemic, it was estimated that the American economy missed out on 69 billion dollars due to people missing work or being less physically capable to contribute to society due to their health condition. Of the total 245 billion dollar economic cost of diabetes in 2012, 176 billion dollars was included in the direct costs treating individuals with diabetes. 

Reading about the economic consequences of diabetes made me think about the COVID-19 epidemic. During the COVID-19 epidemic, it was clear to see that this certain virus had extremely detrimental effects on our economy. There were stories on the news just about every night about restaurant owners that were forced to close down their businesses or who were just crawling to stay afloat. Due to the quick transmission of the virus, many people lost their jobs because they were no longer safely able to gather with their co-workers at the workplace. However, even though the virus exhibited negative economic effects, in other ways it led to later advancements that increased our nation’s productivity. The introduction of “Zoom” meetings taught us that it is not necessary to meet in person for every meeting. This has allowed people to get a lot of work done at home without having to spend time traveling and spend money on gasoline or public transportation. The development of the novel RNA producing vaccine has inspired other researchers to convert that design to start trying to attack other viruses that impact our society. The development of the vaccine also created many jobs. I think it is very possible that even though diabetes is causing so many problems it may also exhibit some economic upside. There are many people who have jobs due to the presence of dialysis clinics. There are also many people that may have jobs conducting research on diabetes so we can better manage patients who are suffering. We also likely have learned a lot about other pathological pathways as we have devoted much attention to studying diabetes. Though I still believe the costs of diabetes far outweigh the benefits, I think it is interesting to consider the ways in which the epidemic of diabetes has benefited our society as weird as it sounds. 

As I was reading through the module that was focused on Diabetes, I was amazed at all of the different ways in which diabetes can affect different pathways in the body. As I was looking through different papers, one thing that I noticed was that there have been a lot of studies looking at the cardiovascular consequences of diabetes. From collected data, the risk of cardiovascular diseases is significantly higher in patients that exhibit diabetes. Some of these diseases include stroke, atrial fibrillation flutter and left ventricle hypertrophy. Surprisingly events of mortality do not typically occur in patients from the side effects of diabetes, rather most events of mortality occur due to cardiovascular complications that may be correlated with the cases of diabetes. 

According to a journal found in the American physiological society, nonoxidative glucose pathways can become activated due to hyperglycemia. Once activated, these pathways are suspected to exhibit detrimental downstream effects on the epithelial cells that line the heart. In a similar literature review, it is stated that dyslipidemia, a condition in which a patient accumulates large amounts of LDL cholesterol, is a condition that many diabetic patients exhibit. Subsequently, the high amounts of LDL accumulate in the patient's vasculature which will undoubtedly cause hypertension. It also mentioned that hyperglycemia in diabetic patients commonly causes triglycerides to accumulate. When these triglycerides accumulate on the cardiac tissue, they can release toxins such as cytokines that can negatively affect the tissue. The interactions between cytokines and cardiac tissue is proposed to be a part of the reason as to why diabetic patients have lower diastolic function than non-diabetic patients. 

Another cardiovascular risk posed by diabetes is that of the accumulation of advanced glycation end products in the patient's vascular structures. Advanced glycation end products are formed when glucose sugars attach to proteins, lipids, or other structures without the mediation of an enzyme. In the cause of hyperglycemia, there are many opportunities for the high levels of glucose molecules to interact with other biological molecules to form the advanced glycation end products. Once formed, these AGEs can accumulate in organs and cross like proteins together. This is especially dangerous in cardiovascular organs, as the AGEs can cross link the collagen contained in arteries, veins, and cardiac tissue to cause significant detrimental effects in the organ’s elastic function. Thus, the accumulation of AGEs in cardiac tissue is yet another instance in which diabetes can play a role in the onset of diabetes.

While reading through the modules about diabetes, I was shocked to see the financial consequences that come from healthcare focused on diabetes. I did not understand that diabetes not only affects the economy beyond just the healthcare costs such as production of insulin, dialysis, as well as the wages of the healthcare worker you focus on taking care of individuals suffering from the disease. Rather, diabetes drastically affects our economy in decreased production and societal contributions from those affected by diabetes. In 2012, a study focused on the economic costs of the diabetes epidemic, it was estimated that the American economy missed out on 69 billion dollars due to people missing work or being less physically capable to contribute to society due to their health condition. Of the total 245 billion dollar economic cost of diabetes in 2012, 176 billion dollars was included in the direct costs treating individuals with diabetes. 

With all considered about the effects of diabetes, it is clear to recognize that diabetes typically does not just mess up one’s physical health. Rather, diabetes can also cripple people financially as they are forced to pay for insulin, dialysis, and other treatments to manage their symptoms. On top of this, these individuals will likely not be able to work as much; this likely draining them of more money. When a person’s health is affected by diabetes, they commonly will miss out on valuable opportunities to participate in physical activity. This can drain these patients’ of having fun with those they love, resulting in less social interaction. All mentioned above upholds the concept of Ayurveda mentioned earlier in the paper. When we consider all of the ways an individual’s life is affected by diabetes, it is clear to see they are negatively influenced in many ways outside of their physical health.