curated paper 1.

 The Role the Gut Microbiome Plays in Metabolic Disorders like Diabetes and its Relationship to Ayurveda Medicine Treatment

Ayurveda is an ancient medical approach originating from India and is sometimes referred to as the “science of life”.  The idea behind this approach is that there are connections between the mind, body, and soul, referred to as doshas, that must be balanced to maintain good health and prevent disease.  Practicers of Ayurveda claim that the imbalance between these components is what causes diseases. In conjunction, it is widely accepted in modern medicine that diseases occur when there is an imbalance or disorder of a particular bodily process.  These processes can be disturbed by both internal and external factors, including diet, emotions, and environment.  Because bodily processes are interconnected, a disturbance in one area of the body could easily affect another area. 

For adequate physiological regulation, the doshas must be balanced.  Lack of balance between the doshas results in disease and worsens with unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as exposure to physical and chemical agents, unhealthy diets, and mental and physical overexertion.  Treatment with Ayurveda not only addresses the disease but also the lifestyle and environmental factors that may be causing imbalance in an individual’s doshas.  Physical exercise, yoga, and massage are integrated with spiritual nurturing, breathing exercises, and the removal of excessive worry in an attempt to balance doshas.  The use of spices and herbs, as well as an improved diet, are used to treat chronic disorders, remove toxins, and cleanse the body of waste products to prevent reoccurrence.  

Ayurveda has been shown to be effective in treating a variety of diseases such as anxiety, arthritis, asthma, digestive issues, hypertension, eczema, high cholesterol, and problems associated with stress.  It has been proven that by participating in routine daily activities, eating a healthy diet, and leading a healthy lifestyle, diseases can be eliminated and prevented.  A major component of the body that is influenced by diet and lifestyle practices is the gut microbiome.  When this microbiome is disturbed, it can cause issues and diseases in other areas of the body. 

The microbiome consists of the overall community of bacteria that inhabits the gastrointestinal tract and varies between individuals.  The composition of bacteria types inhabiting the GI tract is influenced by several factors including diet, antibiotic use, and environmental exposure.  The microbiome is associated with numerous other processes in the body such as sleeping patterns, neurological development, and immunity.  Lacking a unique microbiome in childhood can negatively affect brain development, and disruption of the microbiome can alter responses from the immune system.  Additionally, an inadequate microbiome can contribute to obesity, affecting weight gain, weight loss, and metabolism.  The cardiovascular system can be affected by the metabolites produced by gut bacteria and bowel disorders like IBS and IBD are associated with certain microbiome bacteria.  Balance of gut bacteria is affected by genetics, diet, and environment, and is crucial to maintaining overall health.  

The gut microbiome is responsible for harvesting energy from food and creating neurotransmitters, enzymes, and vitamins which are all involved in immune and metabolic functions.  The proper functioning of the GI tract is crucial to maintaining health and productivity in other areas of the body.  Antibiotic use in early life alters the microbiota found in the GI tract and can shift the profile to one that promotes obesity, metabolic abnormalities, and autoimmune diseases. 

Research shows that a wide diversity of the gut microbiome leads to a healthier composition of bacteria and is mainly achieved through diet.  A diet that is varied with fruits and vegetables will have more diversity than a protein-based diet.  The enterotype, the classification of an organism based on the bacteriological composition of its gut microbiota, is developed as a result of long-term diet types and can change with shifts in diet.  The makeup of the gut microbiome can be altered solely through diet and could potentially help treat or resolve GI tract-related diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and IBD. 

Since the gut microbiota is responsible for maintaining balance in the body in several ways such as hormone regulation, immune dysregulation, and digestion, a disruption or lack of diversity in the microbiota can lead to serious complications and diseases.  Most notably, issues with the GI tract can have a profound effect on metabolism and lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes.  These issues can also affect feelings of satiety, leading to an increase in appetite and contributing to obesity, another driving factor of diabetes.  

Metabolism describes all the chemical reactions that occur within a cell, and these reactions are often linked together in chains or pathways.  The pathways are firmly regulated to ensure a balance is maintained and that the flow of metabolites passes through them correctly.  Metabolic regulation is extremely important since the pathways’ activity changes under different conditions.  When metabolic regulation is no longer achievable, usually due to a metabolic disease like diabetes, our health is impacted in a major way.  

Diabetes, one of the most prevalent and chronic metabolic disorders in the world that affects nearly 422 million people, is considered a pandemic in the United States.  It is characterized by high levels of glucose in the blood which can lead to major damage in various other areas of the body.  Type 2 diabetes, the most common type and mostly occurring in adults, makes the body underproduce or become resistant to insulin.  Type 1 diabetes, usually found in children but able to affect those of any age, occurs when the pancreas makes little to no insulin on its own.  Since insulin metabolizes blood glucose, maintaining proper insulin levels is crucial to managing this disease.  

Diabetes is a classic example of imbalance or disruption of ayurveda in the body, showcasing how this imbalance can affect other pathways and organs whose proper function is required for optimal health.  Some pathways and organs that are affected by diabetes include the pancreatic beta-cells, defects in alpha-cells, immune dysregulation, and the kidneys, liver, stomach, colon, and brain.  Additionally, many organs and hormones are involved in the regulation of proper glucose levels in the body, so the effect diabetes has on their efficiency only compounds the disease.  

Diabetes can lead to eye problems such as retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma, and a kidney condition called nephropathy.  It can cause neuropathy and bad circulation in the extremities which can result in amputation and puts individuals at risk of hyperglycemic events.  There is an increased risk of stroke, coronary disease, hypertension, and cognitive impairment.  It can also lead to behavioral problems, such as anxiety and depression.  The comorbidities associated with diabetes highlight how the disruption of one aspect of the body can harm and cause disease in other areas.  The body has several working parts that are intertwined and rely on one another to promote optimal functioning and health of an individual, so maintaining a proper balance of the separate parts, or doshas, is crucial.  

Type 1 diabetes has several causes that are uncontrollable, such as endocrine and autoimmune diseases, damage or removal of the pancreas, and hereditary predisposition.  However, type 2 diabetes is a gradual process that can be avoided by eliminating risk factors that lead to the disease.  Some modifiable risk factors include physical inactivity, high percentage of body fat or high weight, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.  Considering obesity is one of the biggest drivers of type 2 diabetes progression, increasing physical activity and altering diet are the most crucial steps that can be taken to prevent the disease.  

Other than obesity, physical inactivity can result in different diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, mood disorders, osteoporosis, arthritis, and of course, diabetes.  In fact, physical inactivity is the 4th leading risk factor of death.  Physical inactivity can be modified by environmental and behavioral intervention, which can lead to an eventual change in behavior that promotes one to habitually lead a more active and healthy lifestyle.  Utilizing these intervention techniques can prevent a multitude of diseases, including diabetes, and falls in line with Ayurveda treatment for disease.  

Despite the nature of the disease, whether it being physical or mental, Ayurveda medicine is designed to treat them all.  One success story comes from a retired orthapedic surgeon named Lorraine Day who claims to have beat her breast cancer by changing her diet, excercise patterns, the way she deals with stress, and also strengthening her relationship with a Higher Power.  She has been in remission for roughly 2 decades and resolved her disease without the help of traditional cancer treatments, such as radiation or chemotherapy.  Her journey to recovery using Ayurveda methods is convincing considering the lack of additional, modern medicine techniques.  

There is also evidence linking gut health to cancer.  When the relationship between the host and the gut microbiota is disturbed, it can affect tumor progression, oncogenesis, and host’s repronse to cancer therapy medications.  Knowing this, it is reasonable to conclude that changing one’s diet could directly influence the progression of cancer in an individual.  In conjunction with the other aspects of Ayurveda treatment, such as lifestyle changes and balancing of the mind, body, and soul, it is possible to treat and cure certain diseases that develop as a result of our current lifestyles.  Dr. Lorraine Day highlights that concept greatly in her books, that disease is caused by a disruption in our bodies that results from the way we treat them and live our lives.  By focusing on taking care of all aspects of our selves, we are able to maintain optimal health and avoid the diseases that come with leading unhealthy lifestyles.  

References

CDC. (2024). National diabetes statistic report. Diabetes. doi: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/php/data-research/index.html#:~:text=Among%20the%20U.S.%20population%20overall,Table%201a%3B%20Table%201b). 

Cryan, J. F., & O’Mahoney, S. M. (2011). The microbiome-gut-brain axis: from bowel to behavior. Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 23, 187-192. 

Day, L. (2013). What does it take to get well? Rockford Press. 

Ferranti, E., Dunbar, S. B., Dunlop, A. L., & Corwin, E. J. (2014). 20 things you didn’t know about the human gut microbiome. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 29(6), 479-481.

FRAC. (2018). Obesity in the U.S. Food Research and Action Center. doi: https://frac.org/obesity-health/obesity-u-s-2#:~:text=The%20latest%20data%20indicate%20that.7.7%20percent%20are%severely%20obese.) 

Hankey. A. (2005). The scientific value of ayurveda. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 11(2), 221-225. 

Mishra, L. C., Singh, B. B., & Dagenais, S. (2001). Healthcare and disease management in ayurveda. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 7(2), 44-50. 

World Health Organization. (2024). Diabetes. Health Topics. doi: https://www.who.int/health-topics/diabetes#tab=tab_1 

Zitvogel, L., Galluzzi, L., Viaud, S., Vetizou, M., Daillere, R., Merad, M., & Kroemer, G. (2015). Cancer and the gut microbiota: an unexpected link. Science Translational Medicine, 21(7), 271. 

Curated Paper 1

 I agree with this idea of Ayurveda. I believe that if there is no harmony or peace  in your life, if you are constantly worrying, or if you are eating an imbalanced diet, it can absolutely lead to illness and disease. Personally, I know when my mental health is struggling I tend to get stomach aches and an overall feeling of unwellness. I blame it on the things I eat or maybe it “just happened, sometimes you get stomach aches for no reason.” But what I really believe is that it comes from anxiety, disharmony in my life, AND not eating a healthy diet. This past summer I was eating really good foods, exercising, and telling myself positive affirmations, and overall my health was really good. I think that because there was more harmony in my life it led to an overall better wellbeing.

Billie Eilish has a song and here is one of the lyrics that reminds me of this idea of ayurveda, 

“Thought I was depressed or losing my mind

My stomach upset almost all of the time

But after I left, it was obvious why 

Because for you,

I was the love of your life, 

But you were not mine”

It reminds me of ayurveda because she is talking about how she felt physically ill, and she thought that maybe she just had depression and anxiety. But then she realized she was with the wrong person and was not happy in the relationship, and once she got out, she felt physically better. I think this goes to show how in sync our minds, souls, and body are in touch. I think that listening to our gut is a real thing. 

I took a look at the link that was put on the slides about chronic illness and its links to mental health challenges. There was a section labeled “can depression lead to chronic disease?” I thought that was enticing because I am a person who struggles pretty severely with depression, and it would be interesting to know if this mental illness could lead to another chronic illness. 

I read a paper (Wicke et al.) that suggests that the association between having depression and having type 2 diabetes is bidirectional. It says that since patients with depression tend to lack in physical activity which can lead to obesity, they are more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Regardless of weight, physical activity helps to reduce the symptoms of diabetes by changing the muscle metabolism of glucose. The article also suggests that some antidepressants can lead to weight gain which can be linked to type 2 diabetes. 

This makes me wonder exactly how much weight gain is significant enough for it to lead to diabetes? This also makes me wonder about “skinny fat” people. People who appear physically slim, but have a high body fat percentage and very little muscle tone. I wonder how many people with type 2 diabetes appear to “look skinny” but actually suffer from this disease due to a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet. 

I’m really intrigued by the idea of intermittent fasting and time restricted eating and how it can increase your ayurveda. I’m not very good at chemistry, but from my understanding, when we eat, our body uses sugars from carbohydrates for energy. But when we fast we are forced to use stored fat as a source of energy and convert those fats into ketones. This can help with weight loss. I was curious if this type of diet is sustainable for a diabetic and if it could help clear up some symptoms for them. 

I read an article and it said that type 1 diabetics need to be very careful so that they do not go into diabetic ketoacidosis. However, several studies show that intermittent fasting for type 2 diabetics has led to reduced fasting glucose levels and A1C levels, as well as weight loss and an increase in adiponectin which is a natural hormone shown to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce inflammation. 

I believe that intermittent fasting is a powerful way to take control over your life for those with diabetes and those without. It ties in with this idea of ayurveda because it focuses on balancing when you eat and how you use your time. If you can feel good physically because of the food you eat, it can help you have a clear mind and gain control and harmony over your life. 

I am really interested in this idea that if you are able to return your gut microbiome to a healthy state, then you are able to make yourself feel better overall and perhaps even alleviate symptoms of chronic illnesses. For the last year I have been very interested in eating more fermented foods to increase the good bacteria in my gut. I was having constipation issues, so I decided to start really diving deep into changing my diet and eating for a healthy gut. 

I started to include foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, probiotic drinks, yogurt, sourdough bread and tempeh. I also knew that I needed to give the “good bacteria” something to eat, so I included lots of prebiotics as well, such as greens, garlic, berries, steel cut oats, flax seeds, and red onion. While I was following this diet I made sure to also limit my consumption of added sugars. Sugars can feed the bad bacteria and thus throw off your microbiome. And it worked! My bowel movements became very regular and the stool consistency was in line with type 4 from the Bristol Stool Chart- which type 4 is a good place to be. It indicates good gut health. 

However, I was recently listening to a podcast called, “The Doctors Farmacy” (yes, that is really how they spell pharmacy.) They mentioned that it is hard to know exactly which bacteria in your gut is imbalanced so it is hard to know which probiotics you need to take, if you are taking a supplement. It might take some trial and error. And if you introduce a “good” bacteria that you are sensitive to, it might make you sick. This really deters me from wanting to take a probiotic supplement, because they are expensive and I worry that I am going to get one that is not beneficial to me. So this begs the question, can you balance your microbiome by just eating the “right” foods? Or can you never know exactly which bacteria your gut needs. Are supplements necessary? And if they are, what is the best one to take?

I believe that taking control of your life by controlling what you put into your body can greatly increase ayurveda, and increase a healthy gut microbiome. The two go hand in hand. I truly believe that you can not obtain true ayurveda or harmony in your life if you are fighting a (curable) chronic illness. In order to feel better in mind and spirit, you need to feel well physically as well. 

I have experienced this firsthand. I do door to door sales and you can imagine that is a pretty tough job, mentally and physically. In order to stay sharp on the doors I know that I can not just roll out of bed, eat a poptart, and start knocking. I need to have ayurveda in my life. So I do this by having a strict time that I wake up in the morning, workout, eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I am sure to challenge my mind in some way by listening to a podcast and or reading a book. I have seen great benefits to this lifestyle and I believe it is because I have increased my ayurveda and am doing my best to have a balanced microbiome. 

Citations

Wicke, F. S., Otten, D., Schulz, A., Wild, P. S., Lackner, K. J., Münzel, T., König, J., Ernst, M., Wiltink, J., Reiner, I., Ghaemi Kerahrodi, J., Pfeiffer, N., & Beutel, M. E. (2024). Current and past depression as risk factors for incident type 2 diabetes mellitus and pre-diabetes in men and women: evidence from a longitudinal community cohort. Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi-org.proxy.li.suu.edu:2443/10.1186/s13098-024-01273-4

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/chronic-illness-mental-health

Curated Paper 2

        There are many connections that can be made between scientific ideas and ideas from different fields of endeavor. One really interesting connection that can be made is between the brain and psychology. The brain is in charge of many important functions that can affect every part of a person’s day to day life. When we look at these many brain functions there are a lot of ways that they interact with a person’s mood and emotions and when the brain is damaged there can be long lasting and damaging effects to a person’s emotional state. Another connection that can be made is between cancer and the economy. Cancer has a big impact on national and global economies resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars being spent each year to fight cancer. The last connection that will be made is between drugs, psychology and the economy. Drugs can affect a person’s psychology in a wide variety of different ways. There is also a lot of money that is spent each year on both legal and illegal drugs which can have both negative and positive effects on the economy. 

When most people think of psychology and the brain they often think of Traumatic Brain Injuries. Many people may have even learned about how Traumatic Brain Injuries can sometimes alter a person’s personality quite drastically. One of the first case studies that was recorded was of a man named Phineas P. Gage. Phineas was born in 1823 and at the age of 25 he suffered a severe head injury, an almost 4 foot, 1.25 inch diameter rod went through his brain (left frontal lobe). In less than a year he was able to make an almost complete recovery, which is quite amazing given the severity of the injury. Following his recovery, his family was dismayed to find that Phineas’s personality had changed from easy going to quite severe/extreme. Following the accident he became very impatient, stubborn and treated others with little to no respect. It is crazy how much his accident affected his personality and as a result he became an almost completely new person in the worst way. 

The effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries can be varied in severity, no one person’s TBI is the same as another person’s. These injuries are often very difficult to understand because there is so much that we don’t know about how the brain works. The human brain is also very complex which makes it a very difficult organ to study. Often we are forced to learn about TBIs from a variety of different case studies like that of Phineas P. Gage. We know so much more about how the human brain works than we did 100 years ago because of all the advancements in the scientific and medical fields but we are still far from knowing all that we need to know. As a result scientists are constantly making new discoveries about the human brain.

 I have some experience interacting and working with people who have suffered from TBIs while I worked at Chrysalis a few years ago. Chrysalis is a company that provides many different services for individuals with intellectual disabilities and while I worked for Chrysalis I helped to provide consistent support to individuals in order for them to become as independent as possible. One of the houses that I worked at had an individual who tried to commit suicide when he was around 30 years old. He tried to take his own life with a gunshot to the headshot but miraculously he was found in time to receive life saving care and survived this traumatic wound. This individual is now around 60 years old and lives full time at one of the homes Chrysalis owns and because of his Traumatic Brain Injury he has a diminished intellectual capacity and also needs to take a wide variety of medication everyday. In my interactions with him, he went from being very calm to very aggressive in a matter of seconds, the littlest inconvenience could and would set him off. When he didn’t get what he wanted, like going for a walk, he would have fits of anger where he would swear nonstop and threaten violence. He also suffered from extreme paranoia and would constantly look out the windows and claim that there were people watching him and the house. This could be if there was a car that he didn’t recognize parked across the street or if there was someone walking past the house. Overall I learned a lot working with this individual and found that he was all bark and no bite and there were also many times where I had positive interactions with him. Almost all of these problems that this individual suffered from resulted from his TBI and many of these problems are common symptoms of those who suffer from TBIs. 

Cancer has a very big impact on the United States economy because according to the American Cancer Society in 2022 there were an estimated 1.9 million new cancer cases that were diagnosed as well as 609,360 cancer deaths in the United States alone. There are so many different types of cancer some of which include: breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer and colon/rectal cancer. Since there are so many different types of cancers there are many more people who are at risk of developing cancer at some point in their lives. The cost of cancer related research and cancer treatment is very substantial in the U.S. and continues to rise each year. According to the American Association for Cancer Research the national cancer-attributable costs in the United States are projected to increase by over 30 percent from 2015 to 2030, corresponding to a total cost of over $245 billion.

Cancer affects many more people than just the person that develops cancer such as family members because when just one person is diagnosed with cancer a whole community can suffer the consequences. In my family there have been two cases of cancers, I have an aunt who developed breast cancer and a niece who developed Leukemia. In both of these cases friends and family as well as communities banded together to raise money for cancer treatments as well as providing support to both individuals. This isn’t just unique to my two family members and when most people are diagnosed with cancer many people are affected. This is important to remember when looking at cancer statistics. The actual number of people who are directly or indirectly affected by cancer may well be in the tens of millions or hundreds of millions in the United States. 

There are thousands of different types of drugs and many different ways they are classified. The use of both legal and illegal drugs have an impact on many aspects of our society.  Drugs can alter the way a person’s brain works because they interfere with how neurons send, receive, and even process signals via neurotransmitters. This interference within a person’s brain can cause many different effects. Some of these effects make the user feel active and energetic while others cause a person to feel relaxed and calm. With all of the different effects drugs can have on a person’s brain and body there is a large need and use for prescription drugs in the medical field. According to statista the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported prescription drug expenditure in the United States came to some 378 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. This is a massive amount of money that was spent in 2021 and it is projected that the cost spent on prescription medication is expected to continue to rise. Prescription drugs play an important role in the healthcare system because of the many benefits they can have on a person’s recovery and prolongment of life. However these benefits can be reduced if people are unable to afford prescription drugs. According to the Peter G Peterson Foundation 24 percent of people taking prescription drugs noted that they had difficulty affording their medication, and this finding was more pronounced for lower-income individuals as well as for those nearing retirement age.

There are many connections that can be made between the brain, cancer, drugs and the impact that they have on both the economy and a person’s psychology. Many of these connections have a lot of overlap when compared to one another. One example of this overlap could be a cancer patient will be prescribed medication that may alter their emotions. The majority of this paper came from my journaling of cancer, brain and drug topics. There was a lot that I added to each section as well as a lot of research that I did to support the different ideas that I discussed. There were a lot of really interesting topics from all these sections and there was a lot that I was able to learn.

Curated Paper #2

    The brain is one of the most complex organs of the entire body, driving life through electric pulses. In fact, the brain is able to outlive the body by many years but due to the nature of deterioration of the DNA and mechanisms replenishing the body, the physical form is the main issue to an increasing life span. Although the brain is evolutionarily advanced, many things can go wrong that contribute to different types of disorders forming.

    Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s can severely affect motor function and inhibit cognitive or emotional function and growth. Storage disorders such as Tay-Sachs are very rare but destroy nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to loss of senses, seizures, and in most cases, a short life expectancy. Personality and mood disorders such as depression, OCD, and schizophrenia are becoming more common and talked about in the new generation. According to the American Psychiatric Association, about 9% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with at least one personality disorder. Amongst the younger population who are in college and high school, an increase in depression and anxiety has been noted. Developmental disorders such as autism and spectrum disorders have also been talked about more in the newer generation and more resources have been available for the wider population. The last type of brain disease are Prion diseases such as Kuru and spongiform encephalopathy.

The brain is one of the most interesting topics to me as I’ve been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. I have also been tested for sclerosis and know someone personally who has been affected by it. Multiple sclerosis is a progressive neurological disease that causes demyelination in the brain and spinal cord and we have yet to find a cause while the course of the disease varies from case to case.

One of the most well-known and disturbing diseases is dementia. Huntington’s disease rapidly progresses into dementia by affecting changes in mood and character and creating defects in memory and attention. Strokes, Korsakoff’s syndrome and Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease are the known causes of dementia. 

Another cause of brain diseases and disorders is physical trauma. A prime example is Phineas P. Gage who was struck with a tamping iron. The tamping iron passed through his brain, mostly the left frontal lobe, and Gage was able to make a complete physical recovery; however, his personality changed and Gage became an impatient, raging, and stubborn man. TBI or traumatic brain injury usually results in a diminished state of consciousness and impairs cognitive abilities. Mood and personality can drastically change after a TBI occurs and can further develop into psychiatric disorders.

TBI can be caused by many diverse causes such as concussions, tumors, car accidents, toxics, and more. TBI has a very high prevalence rate with 5.3 million Americans being affected. The elderly, substance abusers, males in the 15 to 24 year old range, infants, and prior head injury individuals are considered to be high risk groups to the effects of TBI. There are approximately 62% to 67% of severe and 10% to 21% of mild behavioral changes and approximately 60% to 80% of personality changes after TBI. The most common shifts are liability, aggression, disinhibition, apathy, and paranoia.

The effects of TBI and treatments are still being studied today. There has been evidence for a strong linkage between early abuse and the development of borderline personality disorders. One of the main reasons treatments for brain injuries are long and slow is due to the lack of information known about the brain. For example, Henry Molaison developed seizures and a loss of consciousness after experiencing a TBI from an accident. The proposed treatment was to cut out the hippocampus from the brain. While the seizures did stop, all memory was wiped from Molaison and he could not hold any new information. Another example is Eugene Pauly who suffered an illness that destroyed a 5cm oval of tissue in the medial temporal lobe which is responsible for many cognitive tasks. Pauly could not form new memories and could not recall and draw out maps of places he knew how to transverse well. 

We know a lot about the brain and how different parts work and what they control but our knowledge on how they all function together is still low. We are unable to take major parts of the brain out without causing some unseen consequences. It is similar to why we are unable to genetically modify humans, we do not fully understand the effect of removing or adding genetic code. We may know how each part works separately, but once we change one section, a bunch of sections in other areas are affected. It is difficult to have moral and inexpensive experiments on the brain and our genetic code which inhibits our ability to fully understand ourselves.

While physical trauma like TBI can negatively affect the brain by disrupting nerves and killing tissues which can then develop into many different disorders and diseases, drugs can also play a huge role in brain health. Due to how similar drugs are to the chemicals naturally produced, they are able to bind to receptor sites. Typically, drugs bind to neurotransmitters in the brain and affect behavior and mood. Due to the addictive nature of drugs, the disease of addiction  changes the structure of the brain. This causes the cycle of addiction where users must continue to increase the dosage to feel the same effects of the first high.

In order to achieve the wanted high, some drugs abusers may begin to mix drugs. Most easily attained drugs are safe when taken as directed and one at a time. A drug antagonism is when a user takes two different drugs that cancel or reduce the effect of one another. A drug synergism is when the combined drugs generate a greater effect than on their own. Another issue with drugs is the impurities it may contain. One of the biggest epidemics currently is the use of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and morphine that have been laced with fentanyl. While it takes a lot more of the other opioids to seriously harm the user, according to the DEA, two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to be fatal. 

Neuroadaptivity, the dulling of the pleasure center, hypofrontality, interference with decision making, and memory loss can all occur due to the overuse of drugs. Typically, dopamine is the natural chemical released when a natural need like food or survival is met. In the case of drugs, there is an immediate increase in dopamine and when overused, the amount is reduced in each high. Due to the reward system, the brain then craves the amount of dopamine during a drug high, and addiction can occur. With longer term usage, the neurons change and alter their function. There can be a rearranging of synapses and connections as well as a change in the number of receptors. This can change behaviors, processing in the brain, memory, decision making, and many more crucial parts of brain function.

cancer, drugs and the brain

 Cancer, Brain and Drugs

Being such a powerful, complex disease, it is no wonder that cancer is the big bad wolf in society. Everyone has a close friend or family member who was diagnosed with cancer. Every time someone goes to the doctor or vet they hope that it is anything but cancer. How did cancer earn such a reputation? I think it is due in part to the fact that there isn’t a cure as well as no one is safe from it. While we have come a long way in our advances for treating cancer, its difficulty to cure is because “Each broad cancer type has many sub-types, and they all look and behave differently because they are different on a genetic and molecular level. This is because cancer arises from our own cells, so each cancer can be as different and diverse as people are”(https://www.worldwidecancerresearch.org/news-opinion/2021/march/why-havent-we-cured-cancer-yet/). Cancer is defined as “a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body” and has the ability to take over any part of the body (https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer#definition).  Interesting to learn that antibiotics and/or intra-abdominal infections were linked to an increase in colorectal cancer. I think this really shows the importance of the gut microbiome to our overall health. Happy microbes happy life “ the pharmacological manipulation of the gut microbiota holds great promise as an adjuvant to improve the therapeutic index of anticancer therapy”. Antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics are the four avenues that can be taken to affect the gut microbiota during cancer treatments. The microbiota found in the gut influence oncogenesis, tumor progression and response to treatments whether beneficial or not. Seeing as cancer is an imbalance, abnormal cells who were supposed to die off doing the opposite, it would come as no surprise to any of us that it is damaging to the mind, body and spirit. We all have seen this first hand with patients diagnosed with cancer where it seems like either the disease or the treatment is draining them in every aspect.

The brain is still a great mystery to us despite being one of the most significant organs in the human body. This is even more interesting when you think about how there was a chicken named Mike that lived for a year and a half without his head, ultimately dying after choking on a piece of corn (https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34198390). He was able to stay alive due to his remaining brainstem taking care of bodily functions After a little digging I read that the reason that chickens can survive decapitation is because the important part of their brain isn’t severed, “ This means that while some of the brain may be sliced away, a very important part remains” (https://modernfarmer.com/2014/08/heres-chicken-can-live-without-head/).

The brain is divided into two halves: right and left. Majority of the brain is a wrinkly sight called the cerebrum which is divided into 4 lobes. The frontal lobe is in charge of intellect, problem solving, muscle movement, behavior, judgment and controls attention.The parietal lobe is in charge of pain, pressure, touch and visual functions. Next up is the temporal lobe, its job is visual and auditory memory. Lastly, the occipital lobe which aids in the recognition of colors, words and movement. The cerebellum is in charge of balance, posture and coordination.

The 5 types of brain diseases are neurological, storage, personality and mood, developmental and prion. Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease where there is myelin loss in the brain and spinal cord with an unknown cause. Usually onsets between 20-40 years old and is seen more in women than men. Traumatic brain injuries are considered a risk factor for psychiatric disorders and are caused by an external physical force. High risk groups are males between the ages of 15-24, substance abusers, infants, elderly and those who have had a previous brain injury. The “5 major subtypes of personality changes are affective liability, aggression, disinhibition, apathetic and paranoid” and negative emotions such as anger. There is a strong link between trauma and personality disorder. Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by difficulties communicating, social impairments and patterns of behavior. This impacts learning, processing, attention, basic social behaviors and environmental interactions. Autism is more common in boys than girls, however I have previously read that this is likely due to bias (https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/why-many-autistic-girls-go-undiagnosed/). There isn’t one cause of autism identified, mostly attributed to several genetic and environmental factors. 

Brain injuries can affect behavior, cognitive and physical abilities.These injuries are harder to understand because no two are the same and may be attributed to the complexity of the brain and how it heals. “ Environmental influences on genes make nature-nurture distinctions difficult. Psychosocial factors produce biological changes in the brain. Medication and psychotherapy work synergistically to make changes in the brain over time. The languages of “brain” and “mind” are both necessary in the treatment of personality disorders. “

Going back to ayurveda, brain injuries affect the physical, behavioral and cognitive health of the individual which also affect one another. “ Similarly, psychosocial stressors, such as interpersonal trauma, have profound effects of a biological nature by changing the functioning of the brain “. Childhood abuse is linked to many diseases of the brain. Distinction between the brain and the mind is a topic of heavy discussion, I think of it as the mind is not confined to the brain and is intangible. The brain is tangible and is the boss of our body.  “The mind uses the brain, and the brain responds to the mind. The mind also changes the brain.”(https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/difference-between-mind-and-brain-neuroscientist).

The word drug generally elicits negative feelings of addiction and going down the wrong path in life. In truth drugs simply represent chemical substances which bring about a biological effect by affecting cell pathways. They accomplish this by interfering with “ the way neurons send, receive, and process signals via neurotransmitters”. This changes the balance of the brain for better or for worse. Tying this into ayurveda may explain why people prescribed drugs end up having other issues due to the imbalance. A common example is people going off of antidepressants because of other issues experienced which they did not have prior. These include nausea, fatigue, insomnia/sleep issues, constipation, etc and may be explained by “Because serotonin regulates many adaptive processes, antidepressants could have many adverse health effects. For instance, while antidepressants are modestly effective in reducing depressive symptoms, they increase the brain’s susceptibility to future episodes after they have been discontinued.”(https://www.wellnessresources.com/news/ssri-antidepressants-do-more-harm-than-good). This seems to be a case where you pick your battles. The consequences of regularly messing with the brain's chemistry are unknown and to me this sort of feels like when people thought cigarettes were good for you. Everyone thinks “wow they were such idiots” but are we in that same position again?

Method of administration affects how quickly the drug can act, orally is the slowest and inhalation and injection are the quickest. This makes sense when you think about recreational drug administration. Blood-brain barrier separates the brain from potential danger in the nervous system. Access is modeled by a lock and key. The choice is between inhibition or excitation of the receiving neuron leading to increase of neurotransmitters. Drug is introduced, circulates bloodstream, attaches to specific receptor site, liver breaks down those in bloodstream, dissipates at receptor sites and the metabolized chemicals are excreted from the body. Multiple drugs can either cancel(antagonism) or amplify(synergism) eachother. Prior to the development of the frontal cortex, the ways in which time is spent guides the structure of the brain. Dopamine is the reward system's primary neurotransmitter. Continued drug use reduces dopamine production, does this mean that antidepressants may make matters worse? Drug misuse is any use of a drug not for its intended purpose. “Drug abuse is the excessive use of drugs”. Addiction is the reliance on a drug/produced behavior as a habit. Controlled substances are put into categories depending on their abuse potential vs. medicinal purpose. Interesting to see that ER visits due to drug abuse/misuse are highest with pharmaceutical drugs and not illicit drugs. Almost half of Americans over the age of 12 have used an illicit drug, with women less likely than men. Illegal drugs costs mount to almost $200 billion, the same amount as economic damages caused by tobacco and nine times the number of deaths. 

Plant products and their derivatives account for the majority of natural pharmaceuticals. The basis of medicine is rooted in traditional medicines and therapies, modern medicine derived from natural wisdom. Marginalization of indigenous populations breaks indigenous medicinal systems. “Great traditions have relatively organized database, and more exhaustive description of botanical material is available that can be tested using modern scientific methods. Ayurveda and Chinese medical systems thus have an important role in bioprospecting of new medicines”.Our renewed interest in natural medicine is attributed to side effects, shortcomings and drug resistance. I think that there is also a perceived safety when it comes to natural medicines compared to modern medicine which has not always been best to marginalized groups. This may be another reason individuals prefer natural remedies “ revealed that patients often feel prohibited from speaking up, even when they are extremely concerned about safety or the quality of care they are receiving” (https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3178#:~:text=There%20is%20good%20evidence%20that%20attitudinal%20barriers%20are,expect%20people%20to%20express%20their%20preferences%20about%20%E2%80%A6). However, issues do arise from herbal and naturopathic remedies. Botanical medicine is difficult to standardize and regulate given the current practice. Also the systems of development for natural and modern are different with observation coming at the beginning or end. Combining ayurvedic practices with modern technology can provide new advances in drug development and therapies. 

curated paper 2

 The principles of Ayurveda focus on the mind, the body, and the environment. For me, the mind can refer to our soul and its spiritual aspect. I believe the mind refers more to our Soul. Nevertheless, with discoveries and scientific research, scientists have observed the link between the brain and our body. We know that our brain controls our body by sending electrical messages through neurons and that drugs can inhibit or enhance these messages. Drugs are chemicals that interact with our nervous system to modify or interfere with the synaptic transmission between dendrites. This will then affect the way we feel and act. We can conclude from the definition of drugs that some ayurvedic treatments, such as herbs, could be considered drugs. For example, Azadirachta indica, or neem, is a plant recognized as a weed for its insecticide properties in Asia and the Middle East. It’s been used in traditional medicine since ancient times as an insecticide. It’s crazy to think about how human’s curiosity is responsible for our survival. Through evolution, our brain communicates with the environment and distinguishes between harmful and useful remedies.

The paper “Mind, Brain, and Personality Disorder” associates the mind and the brain with the environment, genes, and society. It defines the mind as the activity of the brain. 

This paper highlights the role of the environment in altering genetics and, therefore, creating divergences in behavior between individuals. They also show that an individual's environment shapes his behavior. For example, people who have been abused at an early age have a higher risk of developing borderline personality disorder because abuse may increase the activity of their hypothalamus and therefore change the environmental response (hormone production from the hypothalamus). According to this study, chemical treatments improve the symptoms of personality disorders. They showed that serotonin inhibitors could control anger and impulsive, aggressive behavior. Also, psychotherapy is a good method for changing brain configuration. It can be considered a biological treatment, but it takes more time. I think that it is fascinating to understand how the brain works; it is one of the organs of the body that never ceases to amaze me. The brain reacts to external stimuli. I think the outside stimuli are what shape most of our behavior, except for genetic diseases such as Huntington's disease, which affect the behavior of an individual internally, leading to personality change and dementia.

Ayeruda is a good solution to ease brain disease because, as said in Mind, Brain, and Personality Disorders, chemical treatment, and psychotherapy require a long period to work. So does Ayeruda; therefore, it might be cheaper in the long run to adopt Ayeruda's method to ease brain diseases such as depression.  Ayeruda proposed herbal medications to manage his symptoms. These methods are effective. According to studies, it improves worry, a relaxed state of mind, sadness, helplessness, worthlessness, quality of sleep, tinnitus, and backache. 

A brain concussion is a common traumatic brain injury for athletes that causes symptoms such as headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness or balance problems, fatigue, insomnia or sleep disturbances, drowsiness, sensitivity to light or noise, blurred vision, difficulty remembering, and/or difficulty concentrating. Traumatic brain injuries occur when a force, acceleration, or impact hits the brain. It is challenging to investigate these injuries because all the knowledge we acquired was through experiments or invasive methods. Invasive methods require human or animal participants and have high risks of brain damage. Moreover, these methods are questionable in terms of ethics. 

In an article posted on Neurotray, Tuarez explains that modern technologies, such as MRI and brain imaging, are used to study the brain. These methods take more time and may not give a complete understanding of the phenomenon studied because the brain is capable of carrying out multiple tasks at the same time; therefore, it is challenging to design experiments that determine if brain activity is being observed as a result of cognition or internal metabolism.   

Brain injuries modify the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain, which are responsible for metabolism processes linked with hormones in the body. For example, they control water concentration by balancing the antidiuretic hormone (ADH). This means that a brain injury could cause physiological imbalances in other organs of the body, such as the kidney. Ayurveda emphasizes the connectivity between the body and the mind. The brain is the control system of our body; an injury to the control system could shut down “the machine.”

Autism is a brain-related condition that could be managed with Ayurvedic techniques. Studies show that herbal treatments and therapy can improve the symptoms of autism to some extent. Knowing people with this condition, I can say that these treatments alone have little effect on the behavior of the kids. The most effective way to ease the symptoms of autism is through therapy. Moreover, these treatments are hard to give to children, so the posology requirements are never met. Studies show that ayurvedic treatments require a long duration to be effective. 

The study and production of drugs exist because of plants' properties. With new technologies, scientists can synthesize chemicals from plants. This led to the discovery of most drugs, including atropine, hyoscine, digoxin, and cocaine. In an attempt to modernize the field of medicine, traditional treatments like Ayurveda and others almost disappeared because, despite all of the knowledge of indigenous people, they did not, most of the time, take into consideration the toxic effects of long-term use. Nevertheless, modern drugs use these toxicities to improve natural drugs, such as chloroquine, which is much less toxic than quinine. The current scope of this article talks also about the disadvantages of medical drugs such as antibiotic resistance and numerous side effects. 

Illicit drug use is a subject I’m not familiar with because I grew up in an environment where people feared drugs or just didn't want to spend their money on them. Through research, I saw that adolescents are more likely to be addicted to drugs than adults because adolescents appeal to their amygdala (which controls reward learning and memory, conditioned reward, and emotion) when it comes to drugs, while adults use their frontal cortex.

New studies looked into the risk factors for adolescent drug abuse. They found that adolescents with certain personal or individual traits, such as signs of abuse at an early age, are prone to drug use. They use drugs to escape and forget past trauma. Also, significant negative growth exposure is another risk factor for drug addiction in adolescents because our brains develop as we age and we replicate and adopt mechanisms that we observe in our environment. Peer influence and the economic status of our neighborhood need to be taken into consideration when talking about drug use in adolescents. Statistics show that people who use drugs often have unstable economic situations. Drug dealers target adolescents as buyers because of their credulity; as said before, they can be manipulated easily. With this information, I believe that if we improve the quality of life of teenagers living in rough neighborhoods by providing extracurricular activities and doing awareness campaigns against drug use, we could decrease the number of teenage drug addicts. 

On the other hand, kids who live in an environment with high religious beliefs, school connectedness, and adult support act as protective factors against drug abuse. From a biological point of view, epigenetics can influence drug addiction. Studies on Methamphetamine addiction show that it could modify gene expression. It alters the histone acetylation and transcription of genes involved in behavioral sensitization. They found out that METH enhanced spatial memory, a type of memory involved with locating an object, a route, or an event, during drug addiction. Researchers also found that METH use decreased synapse length, downregulated DNA methyltransferase (an enzyme that transfers methyl groups to DNA), and induced DNA hypomethylation (loss of a methyl group) at the Syn promoter (a glycoprotein that is an integral part of the secretory granule membrane in synapses). The results of this study show that drug use can cause irreversible brain damage, which includes memory loss, paranoia, and hallucinations.

In conclusion, the interconnectedness of the mind, brain, and environment is visible everywhere. Ayurvedic treatments such as herbal medications could be effective in managing brain conditions or as drugs, but their effectiveness requires time and consistency. Moreover, scientific research expands our understanding of the brain. Studies looked into the effects of brain injuries, neurobiological conditions like autism, and drug addiction on brain structure and function. These studies could be used as an opportunity to explore the potential of Ayurvedic treatments in managing brain-related conditions, particularly in cases where chemical treatments and psychotherapy may take time to show results. However, it is essential to balance the benefits of traditional medicine with modern medical technology to ensure efficacy.