Where is the Aorta?

The aorta is the big artery rising from the left side of the heart, through which the blood passes on its way to all parts of the body except the lungs, which are supplied blood by another system.

Staring from the heart, the aorta forms an arch, descending down the left side of the body. It passes through the diaphragm into the abdomen, where it divides into two lesser arteries.

One of these terminates under the end of the backbone, where the coccyx is present. The aorta is elastic, muscular and has three valves at its exit to protect the heart from any back pressure that might develop in the artery and force the blood in the wrong direction.

What is a Slipped Disc?

      The vertebrae of the spinal cord have an intervertebral disc between them.

      This acts as a shock absorber and is a flexible pad made of a jelly like core surrounded by a fibrous cover. The weakest part of a disc is near the back.

      The fibrous cover may develop a crack when too much strain is put on the back.

      As a result of this, the jelly-like material bulges out. The bulge may press on a nerve in the spinal cord, causing pain to the person. This is known as a slipped disc.

What causes cramp?

       Cramp is a painful spasm of muscle often caused by the deficiency of oxygen in it. When we exercise rigorously, the supply of oxygen starts running out. The energy required by the muscle in normal circumstances is provided by respiration, wherein the sugar is broken down using oxygen with the release of carbon dioxide, water and energy.

       But when there is lack of oxygen, the energy supplied to the muscle is provided by breaking down sugar into lactic acid. This lactic acid in the muscle causes the cramp.

Who started the tinning of food and drink?

       It was in 1810 that tinning of food and drink began. It was Peter Durand, an Englishman, who got the first patent for a ‘tin canister’.

       He had seen the canisters in which tea was packed. He took the idea of tinning from tea canisters. The Americans shortened the name to ‘tin can’. The industry of tin can was called ‘canning’. In England, it began to be called ‘tinning’.

       In America, the first canning was stared by Ezra Dagget in the city of New York in 1819. Fish was the first item that was canned. It was followed by Heinz & Company canning baked beans in tomato sauce at Richmond, Victoria on 1st October 1935. Before canning the food, it must be heated, so that the germs and other microorganisms are killed altogether. The tin or the bottles in which the food is to be preserved must also be germ free and bacteria free. The can or the bottle must be air-sealed.

Fact
       Canned food is found to have lead in it, which is highly damaging to human health, particularly to young children, as it impairs their mental and physical growth.