Pressure

The Biggest “mistake” Most of Us Make in Life.

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“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” ~ Lao Tzu

As a counsellor and wellness coach I regularly I dish out words of wisdom from the clarity I have uncovered over many years of wandering the globe, sitting with masters, facing my shit and investigating life.  Any clarity and wisdom I have uncovered can only ever arise after making a few doozie mistakes.

Believe me I’ve had my fair share of falling over flat on my face… oops! So I want to share one of my biggest oversights. The biggest mistake I have made in my life that has had the most painful impact and has been the biggest lesson.

I wonder if you have made the same mistake?

To be honest I don’t even really like the word mistake. It is a really negative word for such a natural and essential part of life. Mistakes are what help us to navigate our lives. They are a golden opportunity to re-clarify our values and to the test out the results of our thoughts and actions.

So the biggest mistake most of us make in life is… not loving and accepting ourselves as we are.

For most of my childhood and into my twenties I was on a quest to be perfect. I gave it a damn good shot. I lived under a constant pressure to be some-one better than who I was. I wanted to be better, faster, wiser, kinder, prettier, more successful. It was an immense pressure to live under. When I found myself on a spiritual path, the constant measuring tape and criticism was still present. Even my meditation practice was fueled by a striving for perfection.

It was painful. I never measured up against my own unfair and ridiculous expectations of myself. I was addicted to fixing and improving myself.

This changed significantly a few years ago when I met a master in India who stopped me in my tracks. She introduced me to the perfection of my true nature that exists at the core of my being. Finally the perfection that I was striving for was revealed. It was there all along, only overlooked. It is the essential nature of all humans at the core… shining in all its brilliance… yet overlooked by a fixed idea of how things should look on the surface.

Ahhhh the relief!

Finally I could relax into being my imperfect self. I could finally celebrate my annoying tendencies. Every so often I can feel the pressure arise as I feel the weight of expectation but the pain of not measuring up is a great reminder and a signpost to relax back into my delightful imperfection.

Since then life is more like an experiment. I playfully try things out and if they don’t work I go back to the drawing board. The outcomes of my efforts have nothing to do with my self worth, they are merely a playful experiment. Yippee! This is when life really becomes fun!

I love the analogy of the diamond. It is the most precious, valuable and sort after stone in the world. It is created by high pressure and temperature over millions of years. The word diamond comes from a Greek word meaning unbreakable. Every single diamond that has ever been created by nature is flawed.  Diamonds are created with different colours, sizes and clarity. All are beautiful and special just as they are.

Just like us! We are all gorgeous, stunning, brilliant creatures just as we are.  Flaws and all.

One of the biggest gifts that we can give ourselves is to wake up to our true nature and love and adore who we are right now.  So your homework is to look at yourself in the mirror everyday and look into your eyes.  Look all the way to the core. See the perfect sparkle in your eyes and look for the sparkle in others around you.

Go shine dears ones! Sparkle bright. Stop trying to fix yourself and radiate just as you are. Don’t wait until this happens or that happens until you will accept yourself. Whatever you have done, whatever is your particular darkness, you are worthy to have the light burst from the wildly vibrant depths of who you are.

Silicon chips detect intracellular pressure changes in living cells.

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The ability to measure pressure changes inside different components of a living cell is important, because it offers an alternative way to study fundamental processes that involve cell deformation1. Most current techniques such as pipette aspiration2, optical interferometry3 or external pressure probes4 use either indirect measurement methods or approaches that can damage the cell membrane.chip

Here we show that a silicon chip small enough to be internalized into a living cell can be used to detect pressure changes inside the cell. The chip, which consists of two membranes separated by a vacuum gap to form a Fabry–Pérot resonator, detects pressure changes that can be quantified from the intensity of the reflected light. Using this chip, we show that extracellular hydrostatic pressure is transmitted into HeLa cells and that these cells can endure hypo-osmotic stress without significantly increasing their intracellular hydrostatic pressure.

Wrist sensor may be better measure of blood pressure.

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wrist

A new device could improve how blood pressure is measured, according to NHS researchers.

A team at University College London showed a sensor worn on the wrist could measure the pressure of blood leaving the heart throughout the day.

Normally blood pressure is measured in the arteries in the arm, but the pressure at the heart might be a better predictor of future health problems.

If blood pressure is too high it can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

About a third of people in the UK have hypertension, dangerously high blood pressure, but most are unaware of the condition.

A team at the NHS National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) trialled the sensor, which contains a mini-plunger that moves up and down as blood pulses past with every heartbeat.

A computer programme in the wrist strap used this “pulse wave” to work out the pressure in the heart. This was compared with measures taken from sensors in patients’ hearts.

“It was remarkably accurate,” said Prof Bryan Williams, the director of the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.

Disease predictor

Guidelines in the UK recommend that blood pressure is measured at home over the course of 24 hours before drugs for hypertension are prescribed.

Their study, published in the journal Hypertension, showed that the measurements in the arm did not reflect the true changes in blood pressure at night.

Prof Williams said: “What we have shown is that pressures by the heart do not dip as much during sleep as we previously thought.

“We know the pressure when someone is asleep is a strong predictor of heart disease. This [the device] almost certainly gives a better measure than blood pressure in the arm.

“This is not mainstream, but in the future you could see people having their central blood pressure measured instead of in the arm.”

Clinical trials will now test whether using the device leads to better diagnoses.

Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “It’s still early stages for this new measuring device, but advances in technology could lead to better prevention and treatment of high blood pressure in the future.

“The only way to know if your blood pressure is high is to have it measured. The easiest way to do this is by visiting your GP surgery.

“However, blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day depending on what you’re doing, and if it’s found to be high you may need to have it tested several times.”

Source: BBC

 

Use of the intrathoracic pressure regulator to lower intracranial pressure in patients with altered intracranial elastance: a pilot study.

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Clinical article

Abstract

OBJECT

The intrathoracic pressure regulator (ITPR) is a novel noninvasive device designed to increase circulation and blood pressure. By applying negative pressure during the expiratory phase of ventilation it decreases intrathoracic pressure and enhances venous return, which increases cardiac output. It is possible that the ITPR may both decrease intracranial pressure (ICP) and increase cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) in brain-injured patients by decreasing cerebral venous blood volume and increasing cardiac output. The authors conducted an open-label, “first-in-humans” study of the ITPR in patients with an ICP monitor or external ventricular drain and altered intracranial elastance.

METHODS

This prospective randomized trial commenced July 2009. Baseline hemodynamic variables and ICP were recorded prior to inserting one of the two ITPRs into the ventilator circuit based on a randomization scheme. Depending on the device selected, activation provided either −5 or −9 mm Hg endotracheal tube pressure. Hemodynamic and ICP data were recorded sequentially every 2 minutes for 10 minutes. The first device was turned off for 10 minutes, then it was removed and the second device was applied, and then the procedure was repeated for the second device.

RESULTS

Ten patients with elevated ICP secondary to intracranial hemorrhage (n = 4), trauma (n = 2), obstructive hydrocephalus (n = 2), or diffuse cerebral processes (n = 2) were enrolled. Baseline ICP ranged from 12 to 38 mm Hg. With device application, a decrease in ICP was observed in 16 of 20 applications. During treatment with the −5 mm Hg device, there was a mean maximal decrease of 3.3 mm Hg in ICP (21.7 vs 18.4 mm Hg, p = 0.003), which was associated with an increase in CPP of 6.5 mm Hg (58.2 vs 64.7 mm Hg, p = 0.019). During treatment with the −9 mm Hg device, there was a mean maximal decrease of 2.4 mm Hg in ICP (21.1 vs 18.7 mm Hg, p = 0.044), which was associated with an increase in CPP of 6.5 mm Hg (59.2 vs 65.7 mm Hg, p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study demonstrates that use of the ITPR in patients with altered intracranial elastance is feasible. Although this study was not powered to demonstrate efficacy, these data strongly suggest that the ITPR may be used to rapidly lower ICP and increase CPP without apparent adverse effects. Additional studies will be needed to assess longitudinal changes in ICP when the device is in use and to delineate treatment parameters.

Source:  journal of neurosurgery

Ketamine Does Not Increase Intraocular Pressure in Children.

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No clinically relevant increase in intraocular pressure was noted in children receiving ketamine for procedural sedation for nonocular conditions.

To address the common belief that ketamine increases intraocular pressure, researchers prospectively evaluated the effect of intravenous ketamine on intraocular pressure in previously healthy children ages 1 to15 years who underwent procedural sedation for nonocular complaints at a tertiary care pediatric emergency department. Intraocular pressure was measured with a Tono-Pen XL tonometer immediately after and 2.5, 5, and 10 minutes after ketamine administration. A pressure difference of at least 15% was considered clinically relevant.

Over 16 months, 80 children were enrolled and received a mean ketamine does of 1.6 mg/kg. No clinically relevant difference was found between mean intraocular pressure immediately after and 2.5 minutes after ketamine administration (17.5 mm Hg and 18.9 mm Hg). Analysis of variance between age groups (1–5, 6–10, and 11–15 years) revealed a nonclinically relevant but statistically significant increase in intraocular pressure over the entire 10-minute study period (changes <2.5 mm Hg).

Comment: These authors provide convincing evidence that ketamine does not increase intraocular pressure at doses used for procedural sedation. It is unlikely that the result would differ substantially in children with ocular complaints. When ketamine is the best choice for pediatric sedation, providers can use it without fear of iatrogenic ocular damage.

Source: Journal Watch Emergency Medicine

Shunting with gravitational valves—can adjustments end the era of revisions for overdrainage-related events?

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Overdrainage of CSF remains an unsolved problem in shunt therapy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate treatment options on overdrainage-related events enabled by the new generation of adjustable gravity-assisted valves.

Methods

The authors retrospectively studied the clinical course of 250 consecutive adult patients with various etiologies of hydrocephalus after shunt insertion for different signs and symptoms of overdrainage. Primary and secondary overdrainage were differentiated. The authors correlated the incidence of overdrainage with etiology of hydrocephalus, opening valve pressure, and patient parameters such as weight and size. Depending on the severity of overdrainage, they elevated the opening pressure, and follow-up was performed until overdrainage was resolved.

Results

The authors found 39 cases (15.6%) involving overdrainage-related problems—23 primary and 16 secondary overdrainage. The median follow-up period in these 39 patients was 2.1 years. There was no correlation between the incidence of overdrainage and any of the following factors: sex, age, size, or weight of the patients. There was also no statistical significance among the different etiologies of hydrocephalus, with the exception of congenital hydrocephalus. All of the “complications” could be resolved by readjusting the opening pressure of the valve in one or multiple steps, avoiding further operations.

Conclusions

Modern adjustable and gravity-assisted valves enable surgeons to set the opening pressure relatively low to avoid underdrainage without significantly raising the incidence of overdrainage and to treat overdrainage-related clinical and radiological complications without surgical intervention.

Source: Journal of neurosurgery.