Curated Paper 2 Adam Porter

The brain is extremely complex and not well understood by modern medical science. While we do understand some things such as the structure and function of individual neurons and the protective coverings associated with the brain, the larger cooperation that leads to our higher brain function and the sensation of consciousness is not well understood. We have some information about functional areas or lobes of the brain but even those ideas are challenged by special cases involving neuroplasticity. 

Recently I learned about a man who was born missing most of his brain but was still functioning and living a normal life. He was suffering from a rare neurological condition known as anencephaly. In most cases this condition is recognized in vitro and ends with the child dying within a year after birth. This man’s case was especially intriguing because it challenged everything we know about the regional functions of the brain and the limits of neuroplasticity. 

The gaps in our knowledge about the brain and neurological system make it extremely difficult to treat mental health disorders that to our knowledge are largely non-structural. For this reason, psychiatry and psychology are especially difficult medical disciplines. 

We do the best with what we do know, which allows modern medicine to help the lives of thousands of people every year who suffer with a variety of diseases and disorders. These fall into several categories based on the various pathophysiologies of these diseases. The first of these are neurological diseases such as Huntington’s disease which can affect motor skills, emotions and other cognitive processes. There are also storage disorders such as Tay Sachs disease that can lead to myoclonic movements, dysphasia and eventually death. 

Much more common are the behavioral disorders such as schizophrenia which can be characterized by an inability to control mood, behavior or the presence of either auditory or visual hallucinations. Developmental disorders such as autism or other spectral disorders can arise for a variety of reasons but mainly cause stunted emotional, physical or cognitive development. Prion diseases such as spongiform encephalopathy arise from eating or handling meat infected with prions and can end in major neurological deficits and death. While we can categorize and to some extent treat these diseases, many of the patients they afflict never improve or recover

An example of a lesser understood neurological disease is multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the myelin in our nervous system is broken down or otherwise lost. Much about the cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown. It is also somewhat of a medical oddity because there are spontaneous moments of remission in which the symptoms dissipate for a certain amount of time before returning, often intensified.

Several of these neurological disorders show the importance of the body's regulation of processes within the nervous system. Many of the behavioral disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD and even bipolar disorder can be attributed to the overproduction or underproduction of various neurotransmitters. For example, depression and anxiety are often due to an underproduction of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Patients suffering with these conditions are often treated by taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors which enable for more use of the serotonin available in the body. My wife takes an SSRI for anxiety, and I can often tell when she has missed a dose. To me this is a testament to the effectiveness of these medications and the power they have to help many people in their lives. 

Certain classes of drugs, especially those used to treat mental health disorders, target the synapses between neurons to propagate or inhibit the effects of neurotransmitters. An example of this are SSRIs such as Lexapro and Prozac. These medications work by stopping the reuptake of serotonin in the synapse which allows the neurotransmitter to perform its action for a much longer duration. These medications work by directly affecting the neuron-neuron interactions which over time can affect the brain chemistry. 

While SSRIs do cause some changes in the function of our neurological system their effects are nothing when compared to the effects of other drugs such as LSD, Methamphetamine, PCP, Cocaine or opiates. Some of these drugs are hallucinogens that can hijack the auditory and visual centers of the brain. Over time these cause users to become erratic, nervous or out of touch with reality. Other drugs such as cocaine or opiates rewire the brain's pleasure centers to become reliant on the drugs. The users begin to lose the ability to find happiness in other aspects of their lives and become obsessive and dependent on the substance. 

Drugs can be transformative in either drastically improving or decreasing a patient’s health and wellness. These medications are often necessary or lifesaving but it is naive to believe that these medications come without systemic effects, unintentional side responses or potentially lasting changes to body chemistry. Apart from medicinal use drugs also have far reaching societal effects. 

Some drugs can be habit forming and cause addiction. Addiction is a disease with widespread societal impacts. Drug addicts often resort to violent crime to fund their addictions which leads to increased robbery, theft and murder. Organized crime is heavily linked to drug abuse and trafficking. Drug dealers are also targeting children as young as middle school to ensure that they will have a constant supply of buyers for their products. This perpetuates the cycle of drug abuse, violent crime, and addiction. 

Chronic conditions such as hypothyroidism, hypertension, gout, chronic pain and many others must be controlled or managed by medications that reduce symptoms or stop damage to the body. These medications are taken over a long period of time and due to this can have a large range of side effects. Because of this, family physicians are often tasked with managing these conditions and medications. Monitoring and managing these medications has effects on our healthcare system by increasing healthcare costs and the side effects caused by these medications can affect thousands of patients who already suffer with chronic conditions. While these side effects are to be considered and, if possible, mitigated, they are often much less severe than the conditions the medications are designed to treat. 

Drugs have a large impact on the balance in our bodies and as such have deep connections to ayurveda. Our bodies use an intricate network of chemical reactions, pathways and cascades to carry out our bodily processes. Drugs manipulate these systems to change something about the way our body is functioning. This will inherently disrupt the natural balance in our bodies and will come with some unintended consequences. An important part of drug development is understanding all of the effects of drugs and chemicals when they are introduced to our biological systems.

Antibiotics are critical in the treatment of many infections. These medications can cause imbalance in our gut microbiome that can be detrimental to our health. Gut bacteria are beneficial and even critical to our health in the right place and quantity but if they become overpopulated, they cause disease. An example of this in humans is when C. diff or E. coli overpopulates causing diahhrea and other symptoms. These are known as opportunistic pathogens because they only cause disease when antibiotics or other factors cause overpopulation or imbalance of those bacteria. 

C. diff and other diseases such as MRSA are known as Nosocomial or hospital acquired infections. Both of these are heavily monitored for and treated quickly. Occurrence of hospital acquired infections are seen as one metric for the quality of care and cleanliness that is available in a hospital or healthcare system. These diseases are often very difficult to treat because they can be drug resistant. This is the case with MRSA which stands for Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. MRSA must be treated aggressively with very high dose antibiotics. 

These side effects are a big cause for distrust in pharmaceuticals. Due to this many consumers are looking for alternatives. Plant or natural pharmaceuticals are seen as a viable alternative that seemingly lacks side effects. This approach has several drawbacks. The first is that whether the medication is naturally or synthetically based it is still pharmaceutically active and will lead to changes in the body's natural and balanced process. The second issue with this is that natural supplements are often not regulated by the FDA and can contain potentially toxic substances.  

When studying the human brain, genetic code, and the treatments that are used to treat disorders within them it is readily evident that there are incredibly complex issues involving ayurveda, health effects and societal issues that need to be further studied and accounted for.

Curated Paper 2 - Jessica Munro

The brain is a very complex and intricate organ because it maintains an extremely delicate balance between external and internal influences on the body. When this balance is disturbed, brain diseases can develop as a result. Neurological disorders encompass those diseases specific to the nervous system, which have the potential to cause devastating effects due to their highly impactful nature, limited curability, and virtual irreversibility. Some common examples of neurological disorders include Hungtington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, myasthenia gravis, and many others. Often permanent side effects can range from decreased or impaired motor function, to impacts on psychological, mental, and emotional health. 

While I do not have much exposure to neurological disorders in a direct personal sense, I have experienced the effects of disease through people in my life. A family friend was concerned when her son seemed to be developing more slowly than those his age, but she was reassured by the pediatrician that she was merely overreacting and he would soon catch up. She later found out with genetic testing that her son has a genetic neurological disorder called PMD, which directly impacts the central nervous system because the disease is characterized by a significant decrease in myelin production. As a result, her son experiences difficulty with muscle and neurological functioning, including walking, balancing, swallowing, and speaking, among other things. He, unfortunately, also has a limited life expectancy and will not be independent.

In addition to the severe neurological impacts resulting from his PMD condition, his condition has also changed their lives in many other countless ways. Hearing about PMD and learning about their experiences has really opened my eyes to the impacts of slight imbalances in the body. Ayurveda suggests that a connection exists between a shift in the body’s balance and a subsequent development of illness or disease. A decrease in something as small and seemingly insignificant as myelin can affect just about every system in the body, nearly debilitating function and completely changing the life of a person and those around them. I agree with the ayurveda mindset in this case, and having the opportunity to take a closer look at neurological disorders, both as a whole and from a personal perspective, has shown me the importance of understanding this fundamental connection.

Drugs are generally defined in a broad sense, where the word encompasses all the compounds whose introduction into the body is meant to influence the pathways of cells and thus elicit some desirable, or suppress an undesirable, response in the body. Drugs have particularly interesting interactions with the brain because the physical and chemical changes they impart on neurons actually impact the thinking and behavioral patterns of a person at the organism level. Because of this unique influence, drugs and the brain can be viewed from the perspective of ayurveda, which suggests that any imbalance in the body can lead to a dysfunctionality that ultimately causes disease.

Drugs that are able to interact with the brain directly impact the activity of neurons, thus affecting how they send, receive, and process signals. Neurotransmitters act across the gaps between neurons to transmit signals from one cell to the next in a chain-like fashion. A neuron’s axon terminal will release neurotransmitter molecules into the synapse space between cells, where the neurotransmitters diffuse across the gap and reach receptors on a dendrite of the neighboring neuron cell. This reception of the neurotransmitter furthers the intercellular communication and is processed as an electrical signal that is acted upon by the receiving neuron with either a response of further transmittance. Drugs have the potential to either mimic or inhibit the functionality of these neurotransmitter molecules, which changes the way the brain behaves as a result. 

Drugs not only have the potential to powerfully impact those who use them abusively, but they also have wide beneficial applications in many different areas of medicine. I believe drugs have such a unique connection to people and ayurveda because everyone has encountered or benefited from a drug at some point in their life. Personally, an experience with one of my old coworkers stands out to me. Her mother-in-law was experiencing symptoms of dementia with escalating severity and increasing frequency, and she relayed to me her discouragement in finding a medication that could limit the disease’s progression without suppressing her mother-in-law’s normal behavior or personality. They went through multiple rounds of various medications before settling on one that seemed to benefit her the most, and I can remember my coworker finding an immense amount of relief when they were finally able to help her mother-in-law. 

The idea of ayurveda takes on an interesting perspective of drugs, coming from the mindset that an imbalance in the body caused by internal or external influences can impact the body’s functioning and lead to the development of illness. Drugs are a great example of this imbalance and its effects on the body because the presence of these molecules shifts the amount of neurotransmitters in the neural network. Such a small imbalance has drastic effects on the body as a whole, from physical and physiological changes, to cognitive, psychological, and behavioral changes exhibited on an outward level. Because of this, I think that ayurveda represents a valid way of analyzing the interactions between drugs and the brain. 

While disease can often result from an imbalance within the body’s own systems or metabolic processes, it can also arise from external factors that impede or disrupt the body’s normal functioning. A pathogen is any microbe or invasive organism that negatively impacts its host and can cause disease as a result. Pathogenicity is a word that describes the amount of harm that a pathogen can impart on its host. The effects of that pathogenicity vary depending on the defense of the host, and the ability of the pathogen to find success in the host’s environment. The idea of ayurveda views disease from the perspective of dysfunctionalities arising due to some imbalance in the body, though external influences can also impact the body’s balance and harm functionality within.

Microbes are found in significant abundance within organisms, inhabiting almost every area of the body and often providing some benefit to the host. In other cases, microbes inhabiting an organism exhibit a parasitic relationship with the host, taking nutrients and resources from their environment and causing great harm to the host organism if not treated. The pathogens responsible for parasitic habitation often coevolve in a relationship with the host organisms to maximize their success and reproductive capabilities in that environment, without limiting their host’s supportive resources too quickly. While the host often does exhibit an immune response to the presence of parasitic pathogens, the parasite can still impart imbalances in the body. These imbalances ultimately lead to a dysfunctionality that results in disease in the host. 

While parasitic pathogens are more commonly associated with animals, insects, and other organisms, plants can often be overlooked for their susceptibility to parasitic infection. The greatest concern for successful plant production and health usually surfaces in the context of agriculture. Because food production is heavily reliant on the agriculture industry, any disturbance to crops or livestock can have devastating impacts on society and the economy on a larger scale. Being from rural Utah, I went to school with quite a few friends who either raised livestock, worked on farm land, or both. I can remember how my friends would stress the importance of raising their livestock to be as healthy as possible, so they could maximize their profit return and demonstrate effective agriculture skills. Even just the health of one sheep, or the success of a small acreage of crops, impacts the lives of families in our communities, and the effects of pathogen infection in industrial agriculture are even greater and further spread.

Ayurveda offers a useful perspective for analyzing pathogens and their impacts on the host organism. The idea of ayurveda suggests that disease begins with an imbalance, which may arise due to the presence of an organism in the body that would not normally inhabit that space. Because of this, the body’s functionality is disturbed, whether limited by the resource extraction of the parasitic pathogen or hindered by the overpowering microbial presence. Disease often forms as a result, depending on the effectiveness of the host’s immune response and the virulence of the pathogen itself. The parasitic infection may result in behavioral changes or debilitating functional decline, and can lead to death in some cases. Ayurveda thinking is unique in this case because its approach to diagnosing disease encompasses these parasitic relationships and describes them from the simple perspective of imbalance. 

Curated Paper 2 -DG

Pathogens are microorganisms capable of causing diseases in their hosts, and they come in various forms: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and other parasites. These infectious agents invade hosts, bypass immune defenses, and exploit the body’s resources to survive and replicate. The study of pathogens is integral to understanding the mechanisms of disease transmission, infection, and how the immune system responds to these microscopic invaders. By delving deeper into this realm, we can develop more effective strategies for preventing, treating, and managing infectious diseases. While pathogens like bacteria and viruses can cause devastating diseases, other factors—including the drugs we take and the condition of our brain—also play crucial roles in determining health outcomes. From my firsthand experiences at a dermatologist’s office to the profound implications of brain disorders, the interplay between pathogens, drugs, and the brain offers a unique lens through which we can understand health and disease.

One of the most striking examples I’ve encountered at the dermatologist’s office was a patient with scabies, an infection caused by the Sarcoptes scabies mite. This microscopic parasite burrows into the skin and causes intense itching, rashes, and irritation. The diagnosis involved taking skin samples, applying potassium hydroxide (KOH), and observing the sample under a microscope. What stood out was seeing the living mite still feeding off the remaining keratin in the skin, exploiting the body’s resources to survive. This experience highlighted the cunning nature of pathogens—how they invade their hosts, evade immune defenses, and, in some cases, can continue to live and feed on their hosts without being detected for long periods.

On a more common note, many patients seek treatment for warts caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Warts are often seen in children and adolescents, and while they are generally not dangerous, they can be persistent. The challenge in treating warts lies in the ability of HPV to remain undetected by the immune system. Unlike more overt infections, HPV often exists quietly within the body, evading detection. Our approach to treating warts involves physically damaging the wart tissue, either through cryotherapy (freezing with liquid nitrogen) or using drugs like Bleomycin, which inhibits the DNA of infected cells. This indirect approach helps activate the immune system, signaling it to target and eliminate the virus. This treatment reflects a broader theme in host-parasite interactions: the immune system’s ability to form a delicate balance with pathogens or mount an active defense to eliminate them.

Through further study, I’ve come to appreciate how genetic diversity plays a significant role in the ongoing battle between hosts and pathogens. Genetic variation in pathogens influences their ability to cause disease and adapt to new environments. This variability can arise through mutations, sexual recombination, or migration, allowing pathogens to evolve and bypass the immune defenses of their hosts. Genetic diversity is crucial for pathogen populations to thrive, enabling them to adapt to changing conditions, such as host immune responses or environmental shifts.

The lack of genetic variation in a population can have disastrous consequences, as illustrated by the case of the potato blight in Ireland during the 1840s. With little genetic diversity, the entire potato crop was susceptible to a single strain of fungus, leading to famine and mass death. This incident emphasizes the importance of genetic diversity in maintaining resilience to pathogens. Similarly, pathogens that lack genetic diversity are vulnerable to extinction when confronted with a single effective treatment or host immune response. Conversely, the genetic diversity of pathogens allows them to evolve, making it essential for researchers to continuously monitor and adapt strategies for disease prevention and treatment.

This dynamic between host genetic variation and pathogen evolution reflects a larger principle: the coevolution of hosts and pathogens. As pathogens adapt and evolve, so too must the host’s immune system. This constant evolutionary arms race shapes the prevalence and virulence of infectious diseases over time. The more we understand this intricate relationship, the better equipped we are to predict, treat, and prevent emerging infectious diseases.

Pathogens not only affect individual health but also have profound societal and economic impacts. From the COVID-19 pandemic to ongoing outbreaks of diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, infectious diseases can disrupt entire societies. In the case of COVID-19, we witnessed the global challenges posed by a virus that rapidly spread across borders, overwhelming healthcare systems, and triggering widespread economic and social instability. The pandemic revealed not only the fragility of global health but also the deep social inequalities that influence how vulnerable populations are affected by infectious diseases.

Public health systems, already strained by existing diseases, were further burdened by the unprecedented demands of COVID-19. Healthcare professionals worked tirelessly to treat patients, manage resources, and prevent further spread. But beyond individual treatment, pathogens also strain public health infrastructures, demanding substantial resources for prevention, research, and ongoing care. This underscores the importance of studying pathogens—not only to understand their biology and transmission but also to formulate public health policies that can address health disparities and improve access to care.

The global nature of infectious diseases also points to the need for international cooperation and a more integrated approach to healthcare. As emerging diseases become more frequent due to global mobility and environmental changes, it’s clear that pathogens are not confined by national borders. Addressing them requires a coordinated response at local, national, and international levels. Understanding how pathogens evolve, spread, and interact with their environments is crucial for developing effective global health strategies and ensuring the resilience of healthcare systems worldwide.

Drugs: Altering Brain Chemistry and the Balance Within

While pathogens attack the body from the outside, drugs—substances used to alter the body’s processes—have a profound effect on the brain and the body’s internal balance. The chemicals in drugs interact with neural pathways to change how we feel, think, and behave. Some drugs mimic neurotransmitters, others increase or decrease their production, and still others block certain neural signals. Depending on the drug, these changes can enhance or disrupt normal brain function, with varying outcomes.

When drugs are ingested, they enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain, where they must pass through the blood-brain barrier. This barrier protects the brain from harmful substances but can also make it difficult for beneficial medications to reach their target. Once inside the brain, drugs alter neurotransmitter activity. For example, some drugs like antidepressants increase serotonin levels to improve mood, while stimulants like cocaine elevate dopamine levels, leading to a temporary feeling of euphoria. However, these effects are often short-lived, and repeated drug use can rewire the brain, leading to addiction and other mental health issues. Understanding the pathways and mechanisms by which drugs alter brain chemistry is crucial for developing effective treatments for conditions like depression, anxiety, and addiction.

While drugs are often used to treat diseases or alleviate symptoms, they can also have unintended consequences. Prolonged use of certain drugs can lead to dependency, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms. This is particularly evident in the case of substances like opioids, which, though effective at managing pain, can lead to addiction and, in some cases, overdose. The effects of drug abuse are not limited to the individual; they can ripple through families, communities, and society at large. I’ve seen firsthand the devastating impact of drug abuse on loved ones. A family member who struggled with addiction not only suffered mentally and physically but also affected those around them. The long-term consequences of drug abuse, particularly on mental health, can result in lasting changes to the brain’s structure and function.

The Complexity of the Human Brain: Mental Health and Neurological Disorders

The human brain, with its 86 billion neurons and trillions of synaptic connections, is perhaps the most complex structure in the known universe. It governs everything from basic functions like breathing and heartbeat regulation to complex processes like problem-solving, creativity, and emotional responses. However, despite its incredible capabilities, the brain is also vulnerable to a range of disorders, from neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to mental health conditions like bipolar disorder and depression.

I’ve had personal experience with mental health challenges, witnessing a close friend go through a manic episode associated with bipolar disorder. During this time, he exhibited behaviors and thoughts that were completely out of character, and I found myself trying to support him during a period of profound emotional and cognitive disturbance. The experience was jarring, as I realized that the imbalance in his brain chemistry had completely altered his perception of reality. The subsequent treatment, including medication and therapy, helped stabilize his condition, but it was a stark reminder of how brain chemistry can affect behavior and cognition.

Similarly, I watched as my grandfather, once a sharp and independent individual, began to lose his memory and cognitive abilities to dementia. He would forget where he was, who he was with, and even the faces of family members. As his condition progressed, the emotional toll on the family was immense. His decline was not only a loss of his memories but a loss of the person we knew and loved. Brain disorders like dementia are particularly devastating because they rob individuals of their identity, leaving families to cope with gradual loss and confusion.

Mental health disorders and brain injuries highlight the delicate balance within the brain. Disruptions to this balance—whether from injury, disease, or drug use—can lead to significant cognitive and emotional changes. However, understanding the brain’s complexity can also help us find ways to treat and manage these conditions. For example, the development of medications that target specific neurotransmitters has revolutionized the treatment of mental health conditions like depression and schizophrenia. At the same time, advances in neuroimaging have allowed us to better understand how brain injury and diseases like Alzheimer’s affect brain function, paving the way for more effective treatments and interventions.

The study of pathogens, drugs, and the human brain provides a profound understanding of how health and disease intersect. Whether through the microscopic world of scabies mites, the viral invasions of HPV, or the intricate neurochemical imbalances that underlie mental health conditions, our bodies are constantly interacting with the world around us. The battle between host and pathogen, the influence of drugs on brain chemistry, and the delicate balance of neurotransmitters all contribute to our overall well-being.

By studying these biological processes, we gain the tools to not only prevent and treat diseases but also to better understand the complexities of mental health, the impact of drugs, and the resilience of the human body in the face of illness. As we continue to advance in our understanding of these mechanisms, we are better equipped to navigate the challenges posed by both infectious diseases and the intricate web of factors that govern mental health. Ultimately, our ability to adapt, learn, and care for one another will define our resilience in the face of the myriad challenges we encounter.

Curated Paper 2

                 The brain is one of the most fastinating organs in any organisms body, one of which we know frankly little about. This organ is the main one to tell if someone is saveable, or if we are just keeping a body alive. The brain controls all bodily functions in one way or another, even those that we perform subconsciously such as breathing. Our brain is the most complex organ in our bodies, being a large pathway of neurons that somehow developed the complexity of a conciense and thought.

On top of being the most complex and one of the most vital organs in the body, it is a very fragile organ, where with certain injuries or deformalities, there are many things that can go wrong if it isn’t balanced perfectly. For instance there are injuries that can cause for someone to be unable to recognize faces at all, or some who can’t recognize objects. There are also injuries that prevent the recognition of tone difference. On top of that with certain injuries it can cause a completely different personality than what was had prior.

The brain consists of a biological aspect, and a mental aspect. The biological aspect is generally constant from person to person, or even organism to organism in how it functions, it is programmed genetically to take a specific shape, form in a specific location, etc. Though the brain has this consistency it also has something that makes it so complicated and hard to understand, being the mind itself, which is heavily shaped by how an individual grows up, socially and environmentaly.

The brain to me is something that I want to study more and understand more of how it works, or how we might be able to repair it. Currently there are neural surgeons, who work on the brain and the spine, essentially areas of high nervous tissue, yet there is to date no way to fully repair damage that has been inflicted on it. We unfortunately don’t know how to reconnect pathways just as they were.

There are many things that can cause an imbalance of the brain, primarily things such as heavy impact toward the scull from car accidents, or sporting accidents. Or even punctures that penetrate the skull. There are also damages from drugs that can occur, lack of oxygen, or cancerous tumors that can form on the brain causing severe and permanent damage, leaving a person potentially completely different than they were previously. 

                 There are many brain disorders as well that can come from imbalances in the brain. These disorders are things such as bipolarism, or multiple personality disorders. Some of these imbalances are a result of poor genetics, where there are others that are a result of personal trama mentally, or even physical trama as discussed previously.

 

                 The term drugs in todays world has a very negative connotation. People who take drugs or do drugs are generally a type of person who breaks the law frequently, and who generally has some sort of criminal record. Drugs aren’t always a bad thing though, the term can also refer to a prescription that is designed to help maintain “Ayurveda,” or balance. These can be things such as pain meds, allergy meds, etc. So this term really can be both a positive and a negative depending heavily on the situation.

                 There are several different categories of drugs that are around, such as depressants, hallucinogens, opioids, stimulants, inhalants, etc. Each categorie of drugs has its own unique function and effect. Some of these are medically beneficial, while others can be detrimental to a person both physically and mentally. Knowing what drugs one is taking, and how they effect someone is essential in prescribing medications, as well as finding the proper medicines to help with any type of issue.

                 Probably the most commonly known types of drugs today in medicine and not are depressants and stimulants, but what do they really do? A depressant is a drug that can help to induce sleep, relieve anxiety, lower muscle spasms, and even prevent seizures. Though Depressants have these benefits, they allow have the possibility of slowing reaction times, impairing judgement, slowing breathing, causing weakness, or dizziness. Making having the proper dosage essential to protecting common life.

                 Stimulants inheritly have almost the exact opposite effects of a depressant. These can lower fatigue both mentally and physically, improving performance. Though just as the depressants have side effects, stimulants do as well, such as a loss of appetite, insomnia, headaches, nausea, higher blood pressure and heart rate, worsening of motor tics, etc. Showing again the necessity of the proper dosage, rather than uncontrolled use of this drug.

                 There are many other types of drugs that can cause several different benefits, or negative side effects, all highly dependent on the individual taking it, as well as the cuantity of the drug being used. These are all used to help maintain Ayurveda in the body when the body is failing to do so for itself. Though in the world where something good exists, it is often used for something bad, which is where many seek out drugs to fulfill some sort of addiction, such as needing a “high” or needing something to calm them down, that isn’t a natural response, but being relyant on the drugs provided.

 

                 Genetics plays a significant role in health, immunity, and vulnerability to diseases. Having genetic variation in a population is essential for a population to survive through disease and environmental change. Having that variety allows for some of the population to make it through devastation, and then grow a new population with more variety, but having the genes that allowed for the survival. Having a lack of genetic variety can cause for high risk of disease and the ability to survive through environmental changes.

                 There are many different types of mutations, non of which are inherently good or bad, just dependent heavily on the situation of the environment when the mutation has to be expressed. Genetics are such a complicated thing, and something that we really do not know a lot about, making it impossible to identify if a mutation could be beneficial for the organism's survival, neutral to its survival, or detrimental to its survival.

                 Detrimental mutations are generally mutations that won’t end up passing on from one generation to the next, this is because it usually will either damage the ability to reproduce, or to even survive long enough to reproduce. The danger of these mutations is very environmentally dependent. This makes it so a gene might be neutral for generations, but one day a disease comes, or their environment shifts, causing that neutral gene to express and become detrimental.

                 The beneficial mutations function very similar to the detrimental mutations. They are a gene that may be dormant or neutral until an environmental shift, or a disease arrives making that gene expression something to the advantage of the organism. Though in certain situations this might be beneficial, in others it might not, making genetic diversity extremely essential.

                 Genetic disease is a serious problem that is currently untreated, and basically undetectable. In people it is more detectable than in animal populations. Genetic disorders can lead to developmental issues, growth problems, high risk of contracting certain diseases, cancers, neurological issues, etc. It occurs frequently in any and all types of animals.

                 One of the most known genetic diseases that arise is cancer, this occurs from mutations that occur in individual cells, causing it to grow and divide unregulated, essentially acting as a bacterial cell that cam from our own bodies. This disease is one of the deadliest diseases that we have not found a sure way of eliminating.

 

Curated Paper 2

I find it interesting how many different ways that pathogens can affect our bodies and the bodies of other animals and plants. It amazed me how something so small can have catastrophic effects on our bodies when we are able to handle other things so well. For example the smallest of pathogens released into our body from the wrong tick could kill us in a matter of days. Microdoses of certain drugs could kill the unadapted with just a single touch. The microscopic level of disease fighting and control the body has is amazing. When I look at slides in my histology class it brings perspective to just how complicated we are. You could take for example a slide with a piece of a tissue that is a square centimeter and blow that up to the size of a 100 inch smart board and still struggle to count all of the cells in a singular slice of that slide. To think that each of these cells can communicate and effectively warn each other of everything that is going on without us consciously knowing about it is outstanding. Like I said though there still are these things such as pathogens that can throw our bodies off from time to time. I look forward to learning more about them and how they play differing roles in the body. 

To begin with agriculture, I don't know why but I have always thought of this as more growing crops then I have raising livestock. I enjoyed the map and thought for sure that we would produce more alfalfa and hay then livestock but I guess I don't know. I did like how it pointed out that there needs to be some kind of diversity in order to manage and keep healthy cultures in the world. For example while working on the bee project for this class I have learned that there is a lot of widespread disease among the domestic honey bees when compared to the wild honey bees. I know that this is theorized to be because of genetic diversity as well as having far fewer stressors than the average farmed honey bee. I have also seen this in the circle four pig barns near my house now called smithfield. I have helped out a few times with loading pigs and the amount of medications these pigs need to be on to stay healthy is insane. A few years back they had some massive widespread disease that was killing millions of pigs. This is due to the lack of genetic diversity. The proposed solution is to broaden the foods we eat so that we do not rely on the same few animals and plants for the majority of our nutrition. 

I have seen that there is a lot of work that goes into farming as I grew up in a farm town. There are thousands and thousands of acres that are farmed every year for multiple seasons. Much of this crop goes into feeding the pigs, cows, and horses. It has always made us wonder how much weight a cow has to eat in order to make the ribeye that I am eating. Did a farmer have to grow a fourth of an acre? At what point does the profit margin become too small? I know that around here many farmers lose money doing what they do. If you don't have a lot of acreage and new enough equipment to harvest in time then you will lose money every year. Many of them have to work multiple jobs and farm as well. 

One thing I don't think we are planning for is the continuous growth and increase in resistance and virulence of pathogens. For example Covid was something that struck us by surprise and messed up a lot of things. However we still had food. What would happen if all of the sudden a new strain of a crop killing pathogen struck the entire country. As we know this could lead to massive financial hard times and strain on the economy. If there were multiple factors in the same year that pressed multiple of our main food sources it would really hurt. The constant use of pesticides and preservatives is what we have to be cautious of. If we continue to use them eventually they will no longer work and we will be left with an ever growing population to feed on an ever shrinking supply of food. 

One thing that I didn't realize is that we have so many different trades and deals with african farming for bananas and other goods. This is surprising to me because I feel that food would have to travel for weeks to get to a grocery store and every time I go to the store the bananas look perfect. I buy them and then like 3 days later they are too soft and mostly brown. It makes me wonder what they have to use in order to preserve them that long. I never thought about trading as being a possible issue with spreading disease from corp to corp either. If one country such as Aftrica in this example is not taking the proper precautions and doing all it can to prevent disease, we are trading with them. Then we are technically also not doing as much because that hard work we had could all go down the drain if it started carrying disease overseas. 

I don't know how bad the potato market is right now but no matter what time of year I buy potatoes I almost always have some with those black blight spots on them. I feel that we should be able to find some cure to this. If there are this many potatoes being affected then how many are being thrown out because they are in too rough of shape to be sold. Lets just pretend that there are ten percent of potatoes that are too poor in condition to sell. If there are a million pounds of potatoes produced every year that is 50 tons of potatoes that are going to waste. That is enough to feed a hell of a lot of people. The cure to that compounded over time could help to bring costs down and strengthen economies. 

Toward the end of the slides I enjoyed reading about zoonotic disease and the ability for animals to spread it to one another and to us as well. This is something we definitely need to keep an eye out for because there can be some of the worst things as well as some of the best that come from this. For example I believe the black plague was from rats to humans. This was catastrophic and caused many deaths without people even knowing why. On the flip side there was milk made with smallpox. While smallpox was breaking out and running rampant it was discovered that milk maids would only get slightly sick and then make a quick recovery. This was because they had built up antibodies to cow pox which were similar enough that the immunity could transfer over and bleed into the benefits of a far more dangerous disease. I feel that there is a lot that we can learn from animals in the way they are able to combat disease and overcome it through a gene pool. When we farm animals it makes this a little more complicated because the animals don't have the necessary genetic diversity to all survive a massive disease if it strikes. This could wipe out entire herds as well as populations when we are not careful. 

The euthansia techniques used when there is a massive outbreak that cannot be controlled and is suspected to lead to a mass casualty across the country is quite striking. First off I was not expecting the picture of all those pigs piled up. I have smelt dead pigs and that is not a pleasant smell so openly burning the corpses has got to be one of the most feral things I could think of. Though it does make sense why they would have to do this I feel that it would be much better to focus on preventative measures before we get to this point through frequent testing and analysis. Any time it has gotten to the point that an entire city needs to be ridden of a specific breed of livestock I feel there was a lack of preparation on the part of the farmer and city. For example the foot and mouth disease is probably the best known example. 6 million animals were slaughtered and burned as a result of this disease in order to stop the widespread disease from infecting all livestock everywhere. The United States has done a good job at keeping this at bay but other countries have had some cases in the last 10 years or so. Ultimately this costs people billions of dollars and I find it hard to kill an animal when you don't intend to use the meat for food. Let alone millions of them. 

The second slide set showed just how many different ways that the human body can get messed up from disease. The many ways we spread disease, as well as the ways we measure what it is affecting or damaging. I found viruses to be one of the coolest ones because this nonliving thing takes over our cells and forces them to replicate its DNA and make more of its proteins. This is something that seems like it should be extremely smart but it's not even considered to be a living thing which I find to be wild. Overall this was a very insightful section into pathogens and I still have a lot to look into on this seemingly endless topic. Gene editing ultimately is something that I think will be the future of medicine for better or for worse. I feel that there is only so much we can do with modern medicine before everything we are fighting against has built the proper immunity to no longer be affected by any of this. I look forward to also seeing how this ties back to the overall theme of ayurveda and the mental connection to fight our ability to be sick and the degree to which we are sick. I have enjoyed the reading and journaling on this section and plan to dig deeper into the honey bee versions of this as I continue to work on my project in hopes to have a very detailed and informative result for that work.

I began by watching the youtube video that described the left-right conflict found when trying to say what color the word is when the word is a color that is different from the color of the text. I found that I could even be tricked if I was using my peripheral vision because I could see the word enough that it had been committed to memory and I would occasionally still read the color before telling the correct one. I found that it is interesting how complex our brains are. It then makes sense that each area of the brain would be designed to perform a different function. After all we do so many things all at the same time it is important to distribute the tasks and senses into different sections and also be compressed together by working together. I thought that the video was well done and I also learned that the cerebellum is in some ways like a second smaller brain. It is in charge of things like digestion and other bodily functions that we don't have to think of to do. Our cerebellum just does all of this on its own. 

From the slides I was able to learn what MS is. I have heard of MS many different times in my life but have never really known what it is or how it works. From what I could gather they believe it has something to do with development in different climates or geographical locations. When someone has MS they begin to have the myelinated axons in the brain and spinal cord can become demyelinated. This causes slower signal transfer and can mess a lot more up. It seems from the slides that the disease varies a lot in when and how it onsets and will go through fazes of being active and dormant. In my histology class we are just now learning about the nerve cells and all of the complex layering that goes on in the brain and spinal cord. I hope that one day they will be able to find a cure for this and be able to reverse any damages done to those who are currently fighting MS. 

The next section of the slides covered Huntington's disease. This seemed to be a lot more of a predictable disease as if you have one of the genes for it you will show the phenotype. That means if someone with huntingtons has children statistically half of their children will also have Huntington's disease. From what I learned the problem comes from the coding of 23 glutamine amino acids in the protein called huntingtin. As of right now the use of huntingtin is not understood but it is believed that the affected huntingtin molecules are unable to be learned and block nerve signals.

I have had a little knowledge of Alzheimers from conversations with people, but also from the show my wife and I watch called Grey's Anatomy. The general idea on the show was that it was something that can be genetically inherited and there are multiple genes that can code for it. I did not know that the neurons break apart and tangle like that. This would explain the loss of memory. I feel that it makes it much harder to understand how people can have random times where they remember and then lose their memory again. After taking genetics I feel that these are all things that would be selected out in a population, however with all of these it seems that you are able to have kids and live most of your life before they begin to affect you. 

The final one is Tay-Sachs disease. This one really hit home to me because it can affect young children all through their lives. The disease is caused by a frameshift mutation on the HEXA gene. This makes the carrier unable to break down gangliosides that build up in the neuron. This leads to deafness, blindness, and often leads to loss of motor function. Though more rare it can occur in children and usually leads to death by 15 years old. If it does occur later in life its normally 30-40 years of age. 

I was amazed with how much head trauma happens every year in the United States. It intrigues me that the same injury can cause so many different outcomes. I think it shows just how much we don't know about the human brain. With just the slightest change in approach angle of an object or striking the head at a slightly different angle it could leave one person fine, and the other an entirely different person. I found it odd that many of the injuries change people to have outbursts and be less capable of understanding social situations. Honestly it all goes so far over my head. In histology the brain is something I can't seem to wrap my head around. A bundle of millions of cells that can think and act as one, that makes decisions different from everyone else, with what seems to be infinite storage. I don't know that we will ever figure everything out. I believe that every person's brain is different. That as we develop and grow and have experiences our brain makes physical changes. There really is no other way that I feel it could work. I can't get stuck in this rabbit hole, because I am learning about the brain and all its parts and what it does while my brain just casually types out this paper about what it thinks it is.  I felt that the trauma or abuse studies that were shown can be proof that the things we experience can and will change the makeup of our brain. 

The brain injuries can lead to many imbalances in the body that vary a lot depending on the damages done and to what areas the damages are done. Some may lose the ability to retain memory, others may lose the ability to form words. There are some that may have known what they want to say but the words don't come out anything like they want it to. Some die due to regular rhythms to be out of touch such as heart or respiratory rates. The extent of what can happen from a brain injury is mind blowing. There are a lot of things we still have to learn about the brain. I believe as approaches and understanding improve we could reach better outcomes from these kinds of injuries and hopefully reversal of them. It is also my hope that the information we learn can help to fix the genetic diseases found in the slides from earlier. 

I feel that this next topic can potentially play a key role in how we solve the mysteries of the diseases and cancers of the world. I would like to first talk on what I know about drugs so that there is a contrast between what I know now vs what I learn as I read and research the subject. I know that there are generally 2-3 types of reactions. There are drugs like weed and alcohol that slow everything down for you, I believe these are called downers… But I am not sure. The second type would be energizers and I believe this would be like meth and cocaine. However I am not entirely sure. Third would be something strictly hallucinogenic like mushrooms. This has got to have some kind of effect on neural pathways because people see some crazy stuff. I feel that there is a community at large who likes to do a wide variety of these things and try them all out. I have personally never done any of these so I could be way off. I have family members that drink and smoke, and some friends that have smoked weed but other than those I haven't really seen or heard of peoples experiences with anything. I feel that other drugs are more done in private so we will see how all of these things affect the brain. That's my very minor understanding of how and what drugs do to the body. 

Okay okay okay I was so wrong, in my previous statements I have only taken into account the fact that there are illegal drugs and not the over the counter drugs, and or things like the flu shot or a nasal spray. I have used these kinds of drugs and though I don't know how they work I do know that I will use about anything I can to get out of having to take a medication or pill. If I am taking ibuprofen then I really am feeling it and I need a little boost. One thing that bothers me is we still don't know how tylenol affects the body or by what mechanism it does what it does and to me that's crazy. It is interesting that we can have something on the shelves without knowing exactly what it does. Another one that I am scared for the future of is Ozempic. It seems to be all the craze right now but ultimately I feel that it's going to be doing more harm than good. In the majority of people that I know that take it they don't change the kinds of food they eat and therefore they eat less of the foods that are already low in nutrients. You can see how their muscles in their face shrink away and im sure this cant have good effects on muscles like the heart. Time will tell with this drug but I remember bringing this up to my father in law who remembers there was a similar drug out when he was just getting out of high school. That drug was later linked to heart failure and he has had many of his friends and people in his class die due to heart related issues much younger than they should have. I like the testing and things that are done by the FDA to make sure that something is “safe” before use but I still feel that things should be monitored and watched in human trials on patients who “have no other option and want to send a hail mary” this way effects can be tracked and monitored before a drug goes public and millions have access. 

I learned from the video that the way the majority if not all drugs work is by messing with the sending and receiving end of the nerves. That is the axons and dendrites. The compound or drug will act as more of a neurotransmitter and get more of a response or a stronger stimulus or it will dampen the response and cause delays. There is also the possibility for the drug to hold or delay other chemicals that may build up from use of the neurons and in this case cause mixed signals as well. 

From the slide set I was able to learn a lot about how drugs work with the brain. There are many sites in the brain where a chemical key of sorts is needed to activate or deactivate certain emotions or release other chemicals and endorphins into the body. What is so unique to drugs is they fit the mold of the key and are able to fit into the hole and activate pathways. I also learned a lot about what addiction actually is. Before I saw addiction as just enjoying something so much you were unwilling to make changes in order to quit. I never realized that it physically alters your brian so that those desires to use and do anything to continue to use outweigh any other desire even if it can and will kill you. This makes sense to me now that I think about it. Growing up I just felt like someone who wanted to quit could just quit like cigarette or alcohol if they wanted to stop they could just stop. The hard part about quitting is you have to physically change your brain back or change it again so that the addiction no longer runs your life.
There are many different ways that drugs can affect the brain. In the first case shown you don't even have to be the one that did the drugs. If a pregnant woman is doing drugs this can lead to the baby having developmental issues and that child's brain will not fully develop as it should. The unique thing about this is that we have rapid growth in the number of neurons in our brain and then all of the sudden that growth stops and synaptic pruning kicks in. This is where the brain cuts down on the number of neurons and neural pathways it has by killing off the ones it never uses. Thus if someone was to have this brain development issue they would be behind in most of their every day activities and decision making and those skills and traits or lack there of will then be “locked in” with pruning and take a lot of work if they have a chance at recovery. 

The brain's ability to reward itself for doing activities that keep it alive makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. I feel that it is something we all do. For example I know that when I lift or have a good meal that feels good to me and I find pleasure in that. Prolonged drug use can hijack this reward system in search for the dopamine that is produced when you take drugs. This spike in dopamine can be much higher than any other cause and affect reward we give ourselves for surviving. 

I found it super interesting that drugs that are inhaled have a much more prominent and quicker response time to the brain than drugs that are injected into the bloodstream. I feel like inhaled drugs would have to also enter the blood in the lungs taking longer than just being injected but I am not sure of the exact mechanism for this. 

I find it odd that it says marajuana alcohol and over the counter pills are not drugs that cause addiction, but they may be gateway drugs to lead you further down the path of addiction to other drugs. I know of a young guy who I used to work with that would smoke weed all of the time and he would tell me that it was “ impossible to be addicted to weed” . I never really believed him because he would always say that he could quit any time he wanted at the drop of a hat. I have never seen him quit for more than a week and he even stole from his family sometimes to feed this addiction. Hence why I am confused why this powerpoint says they cannot be addictive. 

From the article on ayurveda I really liked how it showed the 3 sides to our lives, ayurveda, modern medicine, and science. The balance of all 3 of these is what is key in avoiding and overcoming addiction. The problem is when we take drugs and get addicted we tend to avoid taking care of what should be done to keep all 3 in check because of our false sense of what is important or what is life and death. It goes back to the hijacking of the reward system that I talked about earlier. If our ayurveda is to be in check then we need to remain off drugs that alter it significantly. However there may be medication or other treatment that may help our body to find more of its natural rhythm and help to restore a more appropriate level of ayurveda. 

Overall I feel that this was all a very useful dive into drugs and how many people actually use them. Looking at the graph of illicit drug use form the 70’s to 2016 I was shocked to see how high the percentages were. Considering I have never even seen drugs to my knowledge I am going to blame the fact that I grew up in a small town religious Utah as one of the reasons I don't feel that we match this chart entirely. For all I know it could be and I just happened to never be involved or know anything about it.  I have enjoyed reading about all of the different types of drugs and classes. How they are managed as well as mismanaged. I enjoyed seeing a deeper level of how these things can actually impact the brain and body and how no joke these can really be. It amazes me that there is still such an epidemic of opioids even with doctors being given more strict instructions to stay away from those things. I know that as I have observed, it is always the recommendation of the doctor to alternate tylenol and ibuprofen before he even thinks to prescribe something like percocet or any other heavy drug. I hope that as our knowledge continues to increase we will be able to find better ways to help those who are addicted to overcome their addictions and to be able to start over with the choice on whether or not they want to use. I feel that any time I see someone smoke or drink they tell all the young folks to never start so that they won't end up like them. Great reads this week and I look forward to seeing how all of this ties even more together.