Last week was mostly
spent outside of the base. Even if you do nothing, being outstation, is itself
relaxing. No need to check with colleagues about the health and happiness
(plant’s health and boss’s happiness😋 which are interdependent). The atmosphere in
Bhubaneswar was cloudy and humid. I had to hop between two hospitals to get the
opinion of specialist doctors. In recent times, frequent hospital visits
have forced me to remember the basics of Zoology (The last time I was closest
to a Zoology book was when Mr. Vajpayee was Indian Prime Minister, twin towers
of World Trade Center were rising proudly above the New York Skyline and 11th
September was just any other normal date).
After studying chemical engineering
(especially fluid dynamics / mass transfer / transport phenomena), I am able to
connect the basic fundamentals of engineering in the workings of the human body.
I remember, in 7th or 8th Semester during the mid-term
exam, the transport phenomena professor had asked a question where we had to
find after how much time a tablet will mix with body fluids in the intestines. Most
of us had answered wrongly, but we were given marks for correct approach. The circulating
system in our body works like a complex piping network. Most important part
being heart, the lungs and the kidneys apart from the blood vessels which
supplies blood to various part of the body. The heart acts as a positive
displacement pump, pumping fluid across the network. The kidneys functions as a
filter, which filters the blood to remove impurities and pass them to the urine. The lungs are where the
carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and oxygen is enriched (application of
mass transfer). Imagine, you have a clogged artery or a vein; it’s like a choked
pipe line or a pipe with pinched valve. Due to the restriction in the blood
vessel flow will be low, hence to some part of the body less flow will go. This
is sensed by the neurons present and they signal the heart (through Brain) to
pump blood more vigorously (application of Process Control). This will increase
the discharge pressure of the pump and blood vessels will carry blood at the
higher pressure. This, in common language, we call high BP. Now since, blood
pressure is high, the kidneys functions at a higher pressure. Upstream pressure
of the filters (kidneys) is high with same downstream pressure. Hence, some
amount of materials which should have been retained in blood is discharged to urine
in kidneys. Tests results of protein in the urine indicate performance of
kidneys. High blood pressure may be a cause of under performance of kidneys but
not the sole reason. The blood pressure in the vessels of the eyes are also
high, which increase the size of the nerves and your eyesight may be affected.
If any chokage of the blood vessel is found, (for which the heart is pressure
is high), a stent is provided inside the artery / vein to increase the cross
sectional area or a bypass of the clogged area is provided so that blood flows
without restriction. This will ease the load on the heart and failure chances
are minimized. Other methods to lower blood pressure are to give medication,
which relaxes the muscle of the blood vessels so that blood flow is easy. That’s
how the BP medicines work. Now a day’s whenever I come across a new medical
term, I Google it and read. I am happy how an exposure to engineering
fundamentals has helped me understand medical science better.
The day before coming
back, I had few hours to kill. I was confused between Planetarium and Museum. A
little analysis of pros and cons finally landed me in Pathani Samanta
Chandrashekhar Planetorium near Achary Vihar in Bhubaneswar. The last visit to
a planetarium was in June 2005 with Surya. We had visited the Birla Planetarium
in Kolkata. The 30 minutes show showed concepts of big bang, our solar system,
black holes, galaxies, nebulas etc.
Sometimes, I wonder,
how as a civilization we have made immense progress in the field of science and
technology. In some areas we are going up to the nano particles level, while in
others, we are measuring distance in light years. The visit to the planetarium
gives you a different perspective on life. All our happiness, sorrows, worry,
concern, in fact everything, is just limited to planet earth. Whatever has
happened in history, all the great men and not so significant men who were ever
born were born in this planet. Our planet is just a small dot in the whole
universe and if you compare our life time (65-70 years), is less than a blink
of eye in the galactic scale. Let’s appreciate the fact and enjoy the impermanence
of our happiness, sorrows, worry, concern as well as our lives.
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