Curated Paper 1- Ashley Rice

Ashley Rice

Biol 4500-01

Dr. Karpel

Curated Paper 1

            In class, we were introduced to the concept of Ayurveda, and how balance is incredibly important to one’s health and lifestyle. An interesting part of Ayurveda is that there are three energies, and that the proper combination of these can help us achieve balance. One part of this is internal factors, such as the mind and spirituality. This led to an interesting discussion on what the difference is between the mind and the spirit. I think that to everyone this difference is unique. It will be special to each person, depending on how they perceive the mind, and also how their own belief system of spirituality works. To me, the mind is how we think. It is our own thoughts and thought processes. The mind to me is that little voice in your head that makes internal comments while making connections or listening to a discussion. It is our conscious and how we reason. Then there is our spirit, or as I like to think, our souls. I am a religious person, so I do believe in an afterlife and that I have a soul. I believe in ghosts and angels and that there is a God. This is what spirit is to me. For others that may not be religious, spirit may be the way we are in touch with a greater being or with nature. I think that culture can also play a role in the different ways individuals can describe spirit. I also think that the mind and spirit can go hand in hand or influence each other. They can also make up for what the other cannot do. Take religion for instance. To me, having faith that God is real and there is an afterlife where we can reside forever is spiritual. The mind cannot really grasp how long forever really is.

            The balance of mind and body is not the only part of Ayurveda, but so is mind and body. I was reading the section of the Ayurveda article about “Ayurveda as a Complementary System of Healing” and found the part where it talked about minimal stress and the flow of energy interesting. The paragraph says that with a low level of stress and the flow of energy in balance, then the body is at its strongest to fight off disease and illness. I wondered then, is that why people that are stressed all the time get sick easier? I have heard that when someone is stressed, it is more likely for the person to get sick and to get sick more often. With the immune system suppressed because of the stress, the body is not at its strongest, and cannot fight illness as well as it would if there was minimal stress and the balance in flow of energy. Another part in that same paragraph in the article mentions how sometimes we just do not feel right, but we go to the doctor and are told nothing is wrong. This is an imbalance of Ayurveda. There may be nothing physically or visibly wrong, but we can feel something is off and that we are not at one hundred percent health. I have experiences like this, and they happen often. With me, it is mostly in the form of headaches. Sometimes during the summer while I am working, or many times during the school year, I start to get headaches. The first time I had these rounds of headaches, I did not realize why. After going to the doctor and finding out nothing was wrong, we came to the conclusion that it was stress. I get stressed very easily and tend to hold it all in, and I think that is why I get such bad headaches. After reading that paragraph, I felt better that I had a connection and a sort of explanation. The stress throws off the balance of my three energies, resulting in discomfort and tension headaches.

            After learning more about the three energies in Ayurveda, I have come to the conclusion that I am a Kapha type, which is the energy of lubrication. After reading the section, I was kind of in shock how well it described me. There are a few examples that helped me realize my predominant energy of Ayurveda. Kapha types have sweet and lovely dispositions according to the article. They also have oily and smooth skin, and tend to gain weight easily. It also says they tend to shun exercise, and shun exercise I do. To stay in balance, however, I am supposed to stay active and exercise often. Kapha people are tolerant and forgiving, but the article says we can become lethargic. Kapha types are also more likely to have diseases like the flu, sinus infections, and other mucous diseases. These are the only types of sick that I get. It amazes me how many connections I can make with my own life and energy with Ayurveda. It provides an explanation for certain things when I cannot seem to find one. It is interesting to me to read how one little thing can throw everything off balance, and to force the mind, conscious, and body to not work properly. Everything is connected.

            We have related Ayurveda to our own lives and made all of these connections. Examples include a balanced diet, a balance between exercise and rest, etc. There are so many examples of Ayurveda with human processes, such as the immune system, mental illness, metabolism, etc. They are the connection with balance and disease. Being off balance in any one of these things can lead to disease or illness. I was just thinking about the diets that are suggested with the article. I had never heard of Ayurveda until the other day, and most certainly not Ayurveda diets. Reading through the three energies and their diets, they all seem to be healthy foods, or food categories that do not really involve processed foods. We have all learned that there is supposed to be a certain balance in our diets, and a certain percentage of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins that we are supposed to eat. This is usually different for each person or varies somewhat. These dosha energy diets should provide that. After figuring out what energy type a person is, I wonder how much of a difference incorporating the respective diet into their daily lives will change their lifestyle itself. It would be interesting if these diets could also be used for weight loss or as a weight loss program, or if they are just meant to maintain weight and health.

            A good example of the importance of balance in life and how it relates to disease is diabetes. With diabetes, there is an excessive amount of glucose in the blood. This can be because of lack of insulin to regulate glucose levels because beta-cells are attacked, which would be type 1 diabetes. This can also be because of increased insulin resistance, which would be type 2 diabetes. The uncontrolled amounts of glucose leads to hyperglycemia. This can lead to glycation end products (AGEs). I looked up a little bit more about these AGEs and found that they are proteins or lipids that become glycated after being exposed to sugars. They can lead to aging, but in this case they worsen the disease or can lead to the development of it. This is a disease I am very familiar with and have had personal experiences with. My great grandma had diabetes. She had type 2 diabetes and was very overweight. She suffered from the nerve damage part of the glycation end products. She lost feeling in them more often than not. Also, her feet were usually swollen, but more-so when she stood for long periods of time. I wonder if this is because she was so overweight, that the extra adipose tissue led to inflammation, and that is what led to her feet being swollen all the time.

            There are physical factors that can worsen because of diabetes as mentioned above, but there are also certain social factors that contribute to diabetes. Some of these factors include the influence of a person’s physical and social environment, such as low income or education. Another factor is the conditions a person is raised in or works in. I want to look at being unable to afford healthy foods can lead to obesity and diabetes. It is always common to hear that it is too expensive to eat for some people. In some cases this is true, especially for organic foods. Many people will argue that it is much cheaper to get fast food than to buy healthy foods. I do not think this is true, as over time the cost of going out will outweigh the cost of buying healthy food for the week. Also, a lot of healthy produce is not very expensive. An exception to this would be someone that lives alone. Buying the produce could eventually go to waste, which would end up being more expensive in the end. However, I think for most people it is the convenience of unhealthy options rather than the cost of healthy options that leads them to having an unhealthy diet. Whether it be getting take-out, or buying a few boxes of Mac-N-Cheese, these things are easier and less time consuming to cook than to put together a healthy home cooked meal. Many people probably really cannot afford healthier options for the ones that eat fast food every day because it is “cheaper” should be able to change their lifestyle. This is the kind of mentality that leads to obesity and eventually diabetes. This unhealthy and imbalanced lifestyle opens the door for something more on the mental side of Ayurveda; depression.

            I read an article on how chronic illnesses can lead to depression. I found this super interesting, and after reading the article it makes sense. Whether it be from being diagnosed with a disease, or living a lifestyle that you did not originally want, this sadness or mentality of those with chronic disease leaves them perfectly susceptible to getting depression. While reading the article I began to think about how it would be to get diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If it were me, I would be devastated. I absolutely love sugar and sweets, so this would be a very hard thing for me. I could indeed see myself becoming sad or being put at a higher risk to getting depression with that lifestyle change. I think for those that contract type 2 diabetes and get depression, it is harder to treat them. I think this because exercise is a huge part for treating type 2 diabetes, and it has also been shown that it can be very helpful in treating diabetes as well. With a person who has type 2 diabetes and depression, I imagine they do not want to exercise. Assuming a person develops diabetes because they have a very unhealthy diet and do not exercise, they will not want to exercise if they do not think they need to. Add the symptoms of depression, such as sadness and no motivation, then it can become extremely hard to treat a person. The depression can be worse if they drink alcohol.

            I have always known that alcohol is damaging to the body, but it seems to be more so with those that have a disease or illness. I also knew that alcohol negatively affects the liver and should not be consumed when taking certain medications. After reading the article Diabetes, Alcohol, and Social Drinking, I learned a few more things. It has always been a no-brainer that one should not drink alcohol while taking medications. With diabetic medications, this is because it can mess with glucose levels in the blood and cause someone to suffer from hypoglycemia, which is very dangerous. There was something else in the article that was very interesting. I have never thought to put these things together. Alcohol damages the liver, as it works to remove alcohol from the blood. Well because of this, it cannot do its normal function, which is assisting in regulating blood glucose. This can also be very dangerous. It makes me wonder how people with diabetes will still drink a lot of alcohol, knowing their body cannot handle it. I have known a couple people in my life that have done this. I think their mentality is that their body does not function properly anyway, and so what would drinking alcohol do? Obviously, it can cause more damage. I feel that many people do not see that, or they are just not educated about it. I think that having diabetes and trying to control it would be very difficult, as I am sure controlling blood sugar levels can be finicky, so why add alcohol to the mix?

            Ayurveda is an important concept to remember. It is important to understand how imbalance in our lives can really affect our health or the way we live. Diabetes is a good example. It shows how the imbalance of the mind, body, and spirit need to work together to maintain a healthy and fulfilling life. Without it, many problems occur, and a chain reaction of these negative problems can take place.

Ayurveda and Diabetes

Curated Paper 1

Biology of Disease 4500

Reggie Allen

What is Ayurveda? How does diabetes affect it?

Today in class we talked about Ayurveda, which basically is balance in the world. This idea and practice originated in India and is very popular in India. The first thing I thought about is yoga, and other meditations people use; which these things and Ayurveda are very alike. Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu system of medicine so it is a bit more in depth then your regular yoga.

We talked more about Ayurveda in class today. We talked about what imbalance would look like especially in regards to disease. Many things were mentioned on the subject. For example how the bacteria in ones body can become imbalanced. The brain, and metabolism, and various things can become unbalanced. So in essence Ayurveda is this idea of balance, of body, spirit and mind. Someone brought up the question what is the difference between spirit and mind, but I think that it depends on one’s background and perspective. However, I do believe they do affect each other when it comes to keeping balanced.

Ayurveda is a personal approach to health. Balanced diet and lifestyle are essential to having this, Ayurveda. For example energy is important in metabolism giving your body and mind energy to perform their function. The article mentioned, health is order; disease is disorder. The website I researched on Ayurveda had a daily routine one can do to reach greater balance in their life. I will list a few here: wake up early, say a pray before leaving bed, clean the face, mouth and eyes, drink water in the morning, exercising and other daily rituals one can do. These habits can help prevent disease and keep balance.

Diabetes is an example of imbalance in the body. The study that I read was titled, Inhibition of GSK3 Promotes Replication and Survival of Pancreatic Beta Cells. Diabetes basically is little to no insulin, or your body does not react to insulin like it should. Beta cells play a big part in diabetes. In type one, beta cells are destroyed by the person’s own immune system. Type two, the beta cells fail, or there is some insulin resistance. Something interesting I never knew beta cells were so important when it comes to diabetes and that the regeneration of them can make a big difference. Diabetes is a disease which is cause by an imbalance in the body.

Furthermore, diabetes is a disease most people have heard about it mainly because it has become more prevalent and more diagnosed in the USA. Like many I know several people with diabetes whether it be type 1 or type 2. I think for me it is good know the difference between type 1 diabetes, and type 2. Type one is a autoimmune response compared to type 2 which is not autoimmune but insulin-resistance.

Diabetes has an economic cost that I have never thought of before. There is a direct and indirect cost to diabetes. Directly diabetes cost money to buy insulin, and to pay for medical bills. Indirectly it cost businesses because they lose some workers, and productivity because of it. I know over the summer I worked a landscaping job and one of my coworkers was diabetic. Because of this, he had to be checking his blood sugar frequently and if it got to high or low he had to take a break. Also he could only work limited hours. It is a disease that can be debilitating for some and keep them from being able to work. When someone has diabetes; it has to be checked on frequently and regulated. This takes time and costs money.

We discussed diabetes in class about some of the social factors, and ways that we can change behavior. My personal thoughts are, not just telling people what to change, but inspiring them to change. People normally do not change something that is working seemingly fine. In the case of diabetes people usually don’t start changing until it gets to the point they need to visit their doctor or becomes a problem and danger to themselves. Which leads to greater costs for that person, and their family. Diabetes tends to run in families as well which may be a reason one may be more vulnerable. So I think that teaching people while they are young could help this, and just giving people a reason to change before it gets bad. Letting people know that they can change and be the healthiest version of themselves.

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death, and their are ways that we can personally help. As far as social causes it’s difficult to say what is the right way to change behavior. So focusing on the person and getting them involved in physical activities can help. This also means making those physical activities available and affordable. I was involved in lots of sports growing up this included, swimming, soccer, and basketball. If these sports were not affordable I probably wouldn't of been able to participate in those things. So I think it's personally important as kids are growing up to have those physical activity opportunities affordable to instill those healthy habits. Also kids and families these days are more likely to stay inside and play video games, and movies then get outside and play. Therefore, parents can have an important impact on the child by teaching and showing them how to live an active life. Teaching parents how to live, teach, and be an example to their children can have a big impact on that social role. Rarely do you see an obese person with very healthy parents. I was able to learn a lot more about diabetes, and the economic impact it has.

As was previously mentioned Ayurveda, essentially balance, is important in preventing serious diseases like diabetes. Sometimes it is an inevitable disease in certain circumstances. However, I believe we ourselves have responsibility to teach and live principles of balance to prevent this disease if possible.

Mussmann, R., Geese, M., Harder, F., Kegel, S., Andag. U., Lomow, A., Burk, U., Onichtchouk, D., Dohrmann, C. and Austen, M. (2007) Inhibition of GSK3 Promotes Replication and Survival of Pancreatic Beta Cells. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 12030-12037.

https://www.ayurveda.com/resources/articles/ayurveda-a-brief-introduction-and-guide

Curated Paper 1

Gregory Cox

Sept. 22, 2018

Biology of Disease

Curated Paper 1 - Diabetes

The main subject of this course, Ayurveda, will be very interesting to explore during the remainder of the semester as we discuss some of the diseases in biological organisms.  The idea that a mind, body, and spirit all work together perfectly for an organism to function properly is fascinating. I think the two categories that are hardest to distinguish between are the mind and spirit.  For me, my mind is my thoughts and how I problem solve on a day to day basis. It thinks about questions such as, “How am I going to pay for my tuition this semester?” or “When am I going to have time to study for my next test?”.  The list of questions can go on, but these are usually the nature of the things the mind deals with. The spirit on the other hand is much more personal. I happen to be a religious person, so the spirit to me is who you are morally and my personal relationship with God.  What my thoughts and actions are when no one is around, or what I think the purpose of this life is and what’s going to happen to me after I die. These are the things of a spiritual nature. I talk about these subjects of body, mind, and spirit as if they are all separate distinct things when in reality there is some overlap in these subjects.  For instance, the spiritual aspects of an individual can influence the way a person thinks, and in turn, the way a person treats their body. Also, the way we eat and fuel our body can affect the way we think and alter our spiritual nature.

I have found from personal experience that as I implement the concept of Ayurveda in my life, everything seems to flow a lot better.  When I have a good balance between body, mind, and spirit I am able to be more efficient throughout the day, I have much more energy, and I feel more positive.  One example that I have seen in my life is making sure that I have a correct balance of spiritual things. As I balance these spiritual things with the body and the mind I have much more time to accomplish the things that I need to do on a daily basis.  I honestly don’t know how it works, but having a correct balance of these things will help in all aspects of life.

Some individuals refer to this concept of Ayurveda as the earliest form of healthcare and the first type of life science.  Before modern science came about, some individuals would look at how the body, mind, and spirit work together in order to see how a disease effects these individuals on a person level.  In my mind, this sounds a lot like the personalized medicine that some scientists and health professionals are trying to accomplish today with modern technology. Every individual is different in some shape or form and there are certain things that will help each person more than others.  Each individual has a different mindset on the purpose of life, they could have different spiritual beliefs, or they could have a different chemical makeup of DNA in their body, predisposing them to certain diseases such as diabetes.

Diabetes is one of the world’s deadliest killing machine.  More than 8000 people in the world die every day from the effects of diabetes, and more than twice that many develop diabetes in the same amount of time.  The world is experiencing a new plague that if not hindered will turn into a major world health epidemic. Ironically, most cases of diabetes can be prevented with a few lifestyle adjustments.  Many studies show that exercise, eating healthy eating, and maintaining a healthy weight will decrease the odds of one developing diabetes significantly. Those who cannot avoid diabetes, due to being genetically predisposed, can receive help through a variety of medications and procedures.  Diabetes should not be some unknown disease, it is totally preventable and treatable.

As we discussed in class, diabetes is no more than a mistake in the regulation of blood sugar levels.  It is amazing how if one regulatory process is not functioning properly the whole body will suffer as a result.  This disease relates directly to the theme of this course, Ayurveda. If the body’s internal environment is not balanced everything will eventually fall apart.  There must be a balance in all things. However, more and more people are developing diabetes every year. Numerous people know that by exercising they will be healthier and avoid diseases such as diabetes, but they still don’t exercise.  Many people know they have troubles with regulating their insulin levels but they won’t trust their doctor’s knowledge in taking their prescribed insulin. How can this be? For this reason diabetes is becoming a world epidemic. It is much harder to change the mindset and habits of humans than it is to treat and prevent diseases.  

Another subtopic of diabetes that I found to be very interesting was how type 1 diabetes occurs because of a genetic predisposition.  Individuals with type one diabetes have the genes that when exposed to some unknown environmental factor will cause their genetic make up to change resulting in a difficulty of regulating blood sugar levels.  It’s so crazy to me that these people can live completely normal healthy lives, but when some factor flips the switch they come down with diabetes despite their healthy lifestyle choices. If we could somehow discover these factors that are causing predisposed individuals to develop diabetes, we could potentially prevent someone from getting diabetes and possibly reverse the effects of someone with diabetes.  Personal medicine is all about trying to find that perfect balance of internal and environmental factors tailored to fit each individual.

One of the research articles that I found to be interesting was the paper on obesity, diabetes, and cancer.  According to this paper, obesity is one of the leading factors contributing to cancer. The article explains how obese individuals are much more likely to develop diabetes than the average person due to changes in regulatory processes.  Researchers are also finding connections between individuals who are obese and have diabetes with individuals developing cancer. It is unbelievable how a few small choices can make such a big difference in the long run. If one aspect of Ayurveda goes out of balance the whole system seems to fall apart.  

I think my education at Southern Utah University has helped me learn how to apply the principles of Ayurveda without me knowing it.  The first time I have heard of the term Ayurveda was in class this semester, however, college has trained me to have more balance in my life.  I found this lesson out the hard way by solely focusing on the mind, homework, and school. These choices can have terrible effects on the body and spirit.  At the beginning of my college career I was too focused on school and homework that I wasn’t eating like I was supposed to, I didn’t make time to exercise, or even go on activities with my friends.  My life was to eat, sleep, and drink school every second of the day. I quickly found out that this is a terrible way to live and that my life was completely out of balance, so I quickly made some changes.  Now, I feel like I have a much better grasp on how to manage my time in order to make everything balanced. I am nowhere close to being perfectly balanced but I think everyone should make it a goal to seek after their own balance to live life to its fullest.  

Curated Paper 1 - Emily Olson

Emily Olson

BIOL 4500

Curated Paper 1

The concept of Ayurveda was interesting. Honestly, it sounds like a hippie religion but with some good ideas. I agree that we should find a balance in everything. Physiologically we need balance in order to function. Spiritually and mentally we need balance to feel whole and at peace. When things are out of balance, even small things are thrown off and needs to be realigned.

Personally, I understand Ayurveda as a balance of the body, mind, and spirit. But sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between spirit and mind, or mind and body. I see the mind as how we think, and the chemistry in the brain. The spirit is more of our feelings and the character of who we are and what we stand for. But this means something different to each person. It is open for interpretation. They also are very intertwined. We don't need to separate the three because they blend into and affect each other.

To relate Ayurveda to myself, I am terrible at working out. I just don’t have the motivation to do it. I’m fine once I’m going, but I can never seem to get myself to start. As a result, I don’t work out that much. My sister just started the PE class on campus so I bought an SUU gym pass so I could go with her. It has helped in motivating me because I paid for the pass. Anyway, I have been exercising with her for the last little bit and I have noticed a difference in myself, and in my Ayurveda. When I exercise, it gives energy to my mind and body. By energizing my body and getting blood flowing, it helps me wake up and get my mind going too. It also helps me feel better about myself physically, my self esteem, which enhances my spiritual aspect. So by exercising, I have raised my level of Ayurveda to a better state in all three categories.

I had learned a little about diabetes in my physiology class, but not very in-depth. When I learned about hyperglycemia and all the implications, it got a little more real than I had thought. One thing can affect so many other things in the body. On a graph of islet cell mass over time in years with type 1 diabetes mellitus, the intervention is far to the right of the x-axis, late in the diseases development. I asked the question if there was a way to test the cell mass to indicate the disease earlier. I don’t know what technology is out there, but I think there should be something that can estimate cell mass and measure if it is below a certain ‘normal’ range. That would be a very useful tool in trying to identify very early stages before much damage has been done.

I found a magazine that had an article about dementia and diabetes. The article asked if Alzheimer’s Disease is “Type 3 Diabetes”.  It explained how several studies say an Alzheimer brain is in a diabetic state due to the decrease and insensitivity to insulin. Diabetics are at least twice as likely to develop dementia. The brain cells become insulin-resistant like other cells do in the body. The beta amyloid plaque buildup is associated with the lack of insulin that affects cognition. These studies are great examples of what happens when there is a lack of Ayurveda. A pathway doesn’t work in the body, and it messes with the mind.

I want to briefly discuss the connection between low-income, poor diets, and high crime areas all associated with diabetes. In low-income areas, people are working more to provide and may not have time to keep themselves healthy. A lot of times this causes them to rely on the convenience of unhealthy food. To further this, low income areas typically have higher crime ratings. No one wants to go out for an evening jog if they are afraid of being mugged. This cumulates to a very unhealthy lifestyle that is the perfect breeding grounds for obesity and/or diabetes.

To bring all this together, exercising creates a healthy lifestyle and Ayurveda. It is one of the main preventative measures you can take to avoid Type 2 diabetes. By keeping your body healthy and stimulating beneficial pathways in your body, your mind is sharper and you feel better. Your body, mind, and spirit are in harmony and function normally. When neglected, you may develop very detrimental problems that have lasting and sometimes permanent consequences.

Curated Paper 1 Ayurveda & Diabetes

Haley Yates

Capstone 4500

Curated Paper 1

            For this capstone course, a central theme that we will be focusing on is balance. Part of the idea of balance is a term Ayurveda. I have never heard the term Ayurveda once in my entire 21 years of living. I’ve heard of the concept of mind, body, and spirit and how they are all connected, but I never knew there was term for it. The root word “ayur” means life, and “veda” refers to knowledge, or science. So, in whole it’s the connection of science to life. We’ve talked about how there needs to be a balance between various things in the body. For example, there are different antagonistic systems that use opposing hormones, like insulin and glucagon, to keep the body in a balance. When we step out of this balance is when there can be disease, such as diabetes in this example. Other examples include the cell cycle getting out of balance resulting in cancer, threshold effect resulting in autoimmune diseases, etc. This term, Ayurveda, is our theme for the semester, so I’m going to try to find connections between these different elements, not only in this class, but in my everyday life. Something interesting we talked about today was the difference between mind and spirit and how our backgrounds could influence how we define these terms. We all have different experiences and values and so we all have a different perspective on this class, SUU, Utah, and life in general. We all have something to add to the conversation because we are all different and see the world differently. And we can use our past experiences from previous classes to make connections in this capstone class.

            I tried to find connections from my previous classes in my everyday life. I’m currently a biology tutor in the tutoring center and students are coming in with questions about the chemistry portion of their Biology 1610 course. I tried to show them that electron movement and the various different bonds come into play when they start talking about structure of proteins, or the electron transport chain in cellular respiration and photosynthesis. It may not seem relevant to them now, but it is important to know so they can understand content later in the course. It applies to the idea of this capstone class. Previous knowledge from all our classes applies to this one. In regard to Ayurveda, I’ve noticed that when I feel sick, or my body is out of balance, my mind suffers as well. I often feel tired, unable to pay attention, and am easily distracted. So that’s a connection between body and mind that I experience all the time.

            After some further research on Ayurveda, I’ve found that there is a whole institution dedicated to living this balanced lifestyle. Ayurveda isn’t just a word, it’s a way of life. The website I found talked about the maintenance of healthy living through balance in right thinking, diet, lifestyle, and the use of herbs. To me, it seems a little strange to dedicate your life to this stuff. I understand the connection between mind, body, and spirit, and can see that balance is important to health, but this just isn’t for me.

            The website also stated that balance is order, unbalance is disorder; heath is order, disease is disorder. I can see how this now relates to this course. According to this definition, when there is an imbalance in the body, the result is a disease. However, the body does a pretty good job of keeping itself in balance. There are various systems in place for that specific reason. When the body gets too far out of balance or these regulatory systems malfunction, then there is some sort of disease. I also thought it was interesting that they have three different energies of the body. They each govern a different aspect of the body and depending on which one is out of balance can result in a different disorder. And to maintain that balance is different for everybody because we all have our own energy. There’s not a lot we can control, but they mention that we do have control over diet and lifestyle and that we can strengthen the body, mind, and consciousness. I’m not sure I buy into the idea that changing the way I think or what I eat can make a disease go away. I guess I’ve been more exposed to western medicine and would rather take a drug or have a surgery to help me heal.

            Diabetes is a good example of the need for balance in the body. An imbalance of hormones in the blood, specifically insulin, results in the disease. There can either be no insulin secreted or cells don’t respond to it. Either way, the increased glucose now causes an imbalance resulting in a disease. It demonstrates the need for balance with hormones and their pathways in the body. The effects of diabetes reach out beyond the biology of the body as well. Imbalances in your lifestyle can lead to diabetes too. This goes back the Ayurveda concept of control. We have control over our diet and exercise and so can strengthen, or weaken in the case of diabetes, our body, mind, and consciousness.

Diabetes is something that I’m familiar with. My grandpa and my aunt both had it, and both died from diabetes related complications. I also have a friend that has type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed when she was little and has lived with it her whole life. One of the papers we read for class talked about ways to manage diabetes and a big preventative was lifestyle changes. My grandpa lost his legs because of diabetes, and ultimately died because of heart failure. My aunt also mismanaged her diabetes and lost her life as well. My friend with type 1 has always been diligent about checking her blood sugar and watching what she eats. She’s had some medical complications because of the disease, but she’s managed it well enough that the disease doesn’t dictate her life. I watched the health of my grandpa and aunt decline because they weren’t willing to make little lifestyle changes that would have helped manage the effects of having diabetes that would have led to a better quality of life, and maybe even a longer life.

Diabetes has genetic tendencies and so with several of my family members diagnosed, I always wonder if I might be diagnosed someday. But I think type 2 diabetes relies heavily on lifestyle. The paper we read for class said that the reduction in the incidence of diabetes was directly associated with the degree of lifestyle change. If I manage my lifestyle by exercising and watching what I eat, I can prevent being diagnosed with diabetes. And according to Ayurveda, strengthen my mind as well as my body. I’ve seen my mom make the same types of lifestyle changes to prevent a diagnosis as well. This goes into the education part of a disease. I’ve seen firsthand the burden that diabetes can have. And I’ve also seen the effects of a healthy lifestyle. I’ve learned from personal experience as well as in a classroom. Not everyone has the opportunity to learn like that. And even other students on SUU’s campus won’t hear about diseases in a classroom. It’s easier for me to make the choice to lead a healthy lifestyle because I’ve seen the effects of diabetes being managed and mismanaged. It might be harder for someone to change their lifestyle when they’ve been diagnosed at age 65, and have been living a certain way for so long.

While we’ve been talking about diabetes and exercise, I was reminded of a class I took as a freshman. It was Wellness Dynamics and I had forgotten I even took that class until today. This is another example of education having a role with disease. I honestly don’t remember a lot from that class, but I remember going through the different body systems and talking a little bit about the diseases associated with the body systems. I was exercising a lot more while I was taking this class. The effects of being exposed to possible diseases and the benefits of exercising motivated me to go running. Maybe, the more people hear about diabetes and its risks, the more people would be willing to make lifestyle changes. The paper talked about health care professionals specifically identifying high-risk patients to help them prevent a diagnosis. However, I don’t think it should just fall on them. Doctors can only do so much. It should be a responsibility for all community members. But I guess it ultimately falls on the individual. They must make the choice themselves. It just might be easier if they’re more informed.

For me, diseases just don’t seem real until it’s happening to me. I didn’t think I’d break a bone, until I crashed a dirt bike. I didn’t know that kind of pain until I experienced it. Sometimes people won’t change their lifestyle until they get diagnosed with diabetes. But then it’s too late. I can sit here and educate people on the risks of diabetes all day long, but if they’re like me, they won’t think it applies to them. This disconnect between mind and body could be the downfall of many people getting diagnosed with diabetes, or any other disease for that matter. If more people, myself included, can learn to apply this idea of Ayurveda and take control of their lifestyle, diet, and exercise, in turn strengthening their body and mind, perhaps the increase of diabetes diagnosis will slow down.  

Curated Paper 1 - Austin Martinez

Austin Martinez

BIOL 4500

Dr. Jonathan Karpel

9/21/2018

Curated Paper 1

              This course began with an exotic study of the philosophy of “Ayurveda”, an Indian healing art that takes in to account the body, mind, and spirit and studies their interconnections.  These are collectively known as the dosha, and dictate how the body affects the mind, or the spirit affects the body, and so forth.

My entire has been spent as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I am devout in my observations of that religious belief.  Naturally, the most inquisitive piece of discussion that caught my attention was the discussion of what constitutes the ‘spirit’.  Being religious, I understandably will have a different hardline definition of what ‘spirit’ means than someone who does not believe in a post-mortal existence.  Despite those differences, I think that the term ‘spirit’ supersedes religious aspects and can be consolidated by what we decided it was – the heart, or character of an individual.  Our discussion focused on what the difference was between mind and spirit, with the consensus being that mind was what our cognition dictates, while spirit is what our heart yearns or strives to do.  ‘Spirit’, rather than being a term describing ethereal existentialism, seems to be a definition of one’s character and I think that most people could agree on that general definition – it seemed like the class was in agreement with that idea.

              While I believe in balance, I believe personally that the spirit has the most profound effect on the mind and body.  Surely the mind and body also have an effect on the spirit, but for a person to be truly defeated?  I think it has to be the spirit, the character of that person that must be defeated.  After reflecting on this, I read more on the Ayurvedic Institute’s views of dosha, or the mind, body, and spirit.  They seem to agree that each of these aspects are not of equal strength in every person – each person is going to have a predominant or strongest trait, a middle trait, and a weakest trait.  Despite the layers of these traits, it is important that they can remain in equilibrium to ensure the whole health of the person in question.

             So which part of the dosha is predominant?  That varies from person to person I would say.  I am not a physical masterpiece, but I consider myself physically able and healthy.  My mind is able to memorize and analyze information thoroughly, though I can think of many examples of people who have a ‘harder’ personality.  I feel like my spirit is my strength, and that it can help me to alleviate pressure in physical and mental areas more than physical or mental fortitude can affect my overall well-being.

              This idea of some aspect of the dosha being strongest in some people has made me think about a book I recently read, ‘Lone Survivor’ by Marcus Luttrell.  He describes the Navy Seal dogma that you essentially fight until you die.  He talks about his friends that died next to him, all having been mortally wounded, literally fighting until their last breath.  There was a particular example of Michael Murphy, the commanding officer, who got on a satellite phone to call in backup.  In order to get phone service, he had to wander out into open gunfire.  He sat down on a rock and called headquarters – while on the line with command, he was shot through his upper back and dropped the phone, but calmly reached down and picked up the phone, and continued the phone call.  He finished the call and made his way back to the team without showing he was injured, all to maintain his dignity – that was, after all, his last day alive.  I don’t think the fortitude to do something like that is solely physical in nature – I think it has more to do with the mind and the spirit than the body’s capacity.  I do want to make it exceptionally clear that for other people, the body or the mind might be their strong suit.  The aforementioned example is just to illustrate how I think the dosha are a bit different in everyone.

              I think that in exploring the balance of the human body and its ability to fight off disease, we have to understand that each individual has their own strengths and by focusing on a holistic approach of using that strength to heal their overall self, that gives us opportunities to help other people or even to help ourselves.  This can be done at home, by looking at ways the Ayurvedic institute methods for diet, mindfulness, and other healing techniques.

             The Ayurvedic institute is located in New Mexico.  With my family coming from Northern New Mexico, I have seen firsthand that the land is truly a place of enchantment, as they say, and I think it is appropriate that Ayurveda is pressed here in the United States from a land that is full of tradition.  Native American tribes have practiced holistic medicine (albeit different from the Ayurveda approach) in those lands for a very long time.  I find it interesting that two sources of seemingly mystical healing methods have roots in the same place.  It them makes me wonder if the Native Americans were more receptive to this type of healing and view of life, and if that was something that allows Ayurveda to be taught and brought about more here in the United States, outside of its native India.

              With a background in the knowledge of the dosha we turned our horizons to apply it to the pathophysiology of disease.  Remember, all things in the world are connected.  This isn’t meant to mean to the extent of Chaos Theory, but really things in the world of health especially are all connected.  An individual frequently has high blood glucose?  That isn’t just going to affect insulin production.  It’s going to affect a lot of different physiological processes, and it isn’t going to solely cause diabetes.  Because it affects so many things that are all chained together, it is going to make a person at risk for many different conditions.

              Nutrition labels have almost been regarded as a horoscope, rather than a scientific recommendation.  I think this comes from an ultimately incorrect perspective in the human mind – that is, that our body is indestructible.  Our body is so good at handling problems day-to-day, that I think people simply think, ‘That excess sugar won’t bother me’ or ‘A little extra salt here won’t do me any harm’.  Both salt and sugar are very important to the body’s function, but when we don’t regulate what we take in it builds up over time and eventually can pose a threat to our lives because we chronically overconsume. 

There is a “whole cost” to disease.  I use the term “whole cost”, because often the pathophysiology is looked at and the dollar amount is overlooked, so by “whole cost” I mean a combination of these two aspects.  A thing I now see that is overlooked probably by the world in general is the dollar amount behind a disease.  Sure, there are some diseases that occur in people that they have no control over; however, there are plenty of diseases we can prevent by proper diet in particular.  If people knew more about how much something was going to cost them in the long run, they might be more careful about it. 

              We had a really good discussion on EBT cards following our Beyond Biology discussion.  There were some good points thrown around from all perspectives – the overarching theme being that each person seemed to have the best interest of people in mind, even if those involved different methods.  Someone mentioned the idea that there could be a rewards system based on nutrition, and I think that strikes a good balance between forcing people to eat healthy and not.  People love “free” things, and any incentive is sure to garner attention.  If we really did have a rewards system revolving around nutrition, I think there would be a lot of people who would go for it.  People in general want to be healthy I think, but just don’t know how.  It almost seems a trend to be healthy, especially with portrayal in media of thinness.

This really wouldn’t be hard to track.  We know that a store can track if you’re buying ice cream or spinach.  Since I believe most people want to be healthy, I really don’t think this would be hard to do.  I really think that lots of people would embrace it.  Sure, there are people who will always entirely disregard nutrition and health advice, but there are just as many who would embrace something like that.

To view this through a political lens, I really think that an approach like that would appeal to people in both wings of politics, and society as a whole because it strikes a balance between telling people what to do and encouraging people what to do for a healthier society.  There seems to be some pretty viable tenderness for why it would or would not be a good idea to implement a nutrition aspect.  This would fall right in the middle.

We can streamline all of this in a clear, linear progression – nutrition is lacking, nutrition is pushed by the government, many people eat healthier, due to eating healthier their bodies are healthier, because their bodies have been enriched so also have their minds and spirits been enriched through the idea of Ayurveda.  This extends beyond the sphere of health diagnostics, but also into companies.  More companies spend money on providing healthier food options as a result of government programs, so it becomes easier for society as a whole to purchase healthy food.  This was a really good concept pointed out in class – how are people to afford it?  By swinging the trend towards healthy eating, it also affects how companies might function and make it easier on us as individuals, and prove for a better, healthier society in the future.

Porter Harris

Capstone: Biology of Disease

September 20, 2018

Curated Paper 1

Back in January of 2014 I began my journey here at Southern Utah University. During this time of my life I was eager to begin my higher education, hoping to understand more about myself and what I want for my future. This moment was pivotal for my future. Reflecting on my previous years in grade school, I was determined to keep my passion for discovering new things in the classroom each day. General classes helped me realize that I needed to make a decision quickly as to what I wanted to focus my time around here at SUU. Although some other subjects interested me, I chose to run the course of science in my education. After a couple of encounters with some doctors, I decided that medicine was the field that I wanted to pursue for my own career. There is a great balance between known and unknown within the medical field that I find myself obsessing over. With every new patient walking into a medical clinic there is some type of unsolved mystery that they want answers to. Doctors have to reflect on what they know and then inquire what they do not know to help with this great medical dilemma. Constant change is brought into this profession, which changes how doctors go about each day. This balance has been the main topic of discussion in our biology of disease capstone course. 

            Ayurveda is not commonly spoken of here in the United States. After some research and discussion on the topic I have been able to formulate my own understanding of the meaning when talking about Ayurveda. This ancient form of healing has been around for as long as the world began documenting information. A balance in all things has been the core to Ayurveda and continues to shape the way we have analyzed the human body. When disease comes into play, balance has almost everything to do with how we go about treating/curing the disease. Almost all aspects of the human body require being in some sort of balance. Too much or too little of fluid levels, chemicals, hormones, vitamins or minerals could play an enormous role in determining whether the body functions properly or not. The body has the ability to regulate these levels and acts on those imbalances through the nervous system. Our bodies are able to make changes on their own in order to fix issues, but this does not always work the way that it should, increase the need of outside sources. It is critical that we can further explore the thousands of disease that our bodies could encounter.

            Diabetes is a disease that draws a lot of concern to the health care professionals of the world. According to statistical analysis, diabetes is on the rise globally and we are expected to more than double the number of diagnoses in many different countries around the world. Educating everyone about the risks that diabetes brings to the body and the ways to prevent this deadly disease can be a major factor to reducing the number of diagnoses each year. Some major factors to micro-manage within the body are blood pressure, fat intake, and blood glucose levels will ensure that we minimize the probability of developing diabetes.

            The sad fact is this disease could absolutely be prevented if individuals had a more in depth knowledge of diabetes and the pre-conditions that come with it. A friend of mine was diagnosed with diabetes when he was only 16 years old. He had no sign of being overweight, but his unhealthy eating and drinking habits had lead him to his diagnosis. I was a missionary companion with him for 4 months; so everyday I was able to observe how he coped with his disease. Levels of blood sugar were taken multiple times a day often followed by an insulin shot. The level of attention that he had to give to this disease on a daily basis gave me a strong desire to get acquainted with diabetes. From this experience I have learned more about how the disease can occur, the mechanism behind it, and ways to prevent myself from getting it.

            My career here at SUU has helped me obtain crucial knowledge that others are not as fortunate of receiving. I have been in many courses that have helped me understand how the body works both anatomically and physiologically. This education will catapult me to where I need to be in order to achieve my long-term goals in the medical field.