A Presto Pizzazz pizza oven is the best choice for frozen, homemade, ready-made or deli pizzas. You can bake those ready-made pizzas from the freezer to pizza perfect in just a matter of minutes. With Presto Pizzazz, no pre-heating is required. While ordinary ovens are still heating, you’re already eating.

Fresh or frozen, regular or rising crust, the special Rotabake(TM) System ensures fabulous tasting pizzas all the time. The rotating tray continuously turns the pizza to ensure even baking at the top or bottom. The top and bottom heating elements can be operated independently. Under Dual Mode, both heating elements are active. With Lower then Dual Mode, the lower coil operates first and the upper one follows later. Using Dual then Upper Mode means both heaters operate together then the lower coil turns off shortly. With this technology, you can either make the toppings as bubbly or the crusts as crispy as you like. Now, you can have, pizzas just the way you like them.

Presto Pizzazz pizza oven is especially recommended for 7- to 12-inch pizzas. The removable nonstick baking pan is designed for easy cleaning and compact storage. The Presto Pizzazz pizza oven doesn’t heat up your kitchen and can save as much as 60% energy compared to conventional kitchen ovens. The pizza oven is electrical and operates with 1,235 Watts at 120V AC. The unit comes with a 1-year limited warranty from date of purchase or more depending on the offer.

The pizzazz pizza oven becomes simple to operate by using the one of the recommended settings in the cooking chart included in the manual. This chart is also displayed at the back of the pizza oven. After your chosen cooking time ends the bell will ring and you have the option to further cook the toppings by sliding the selector to Upper or you can make the crust crispier by shifting to Lower. Then you need to reset the timer by rotating it past the “4-minute” mark and back to the 1- or 2-minutes notch and wait for it to cook to your satisfaction. Its is recommended that you monitor the baking process to avoid overcooking and enjoy the sight of preparing your favorite pizza.

With Presto Pizzazz pizza oven, you can bake a Frozen 9- to 12-inch Regular Crust pizza between 12 to 15 minutes using Dual Mode. Similarly, a Fresh Frozen 9- to 12-inch pizza will only take between 11 to 13 minutes to prepare. A Rising Crust pizza is best cooked with the Lower then Dual Mode for 10 to 12 minutes. The same mode can be used for a Stuffed Crust pizza for about 7 minutes or 12 to 15 minutes like the Rising Crust Pizza. A Regular Crust pizza with some Extra toppings will need the Dual then Upper Mode to cook the extra layer.

When baking pizza, cooking duration will depend on the voltage used to operate the Presto Pizzazz pizza oven. Higher voltage will translate into shorter cooking time, but lower voltage will mean longer cooking time.

By default, he electric motor is turned on and rotates the baking pan every time the oven is plugged in and the baking pan correctly attached. The heating elements will only heat up once the timer is set. The timer will ring and the heating element will turn off when the cooking time has expired. The electric motor turning the baking pan operates independently from the timer. It will only stop rotating if the baking pan is removed or the oven in unplugged from the power outlet.

With a Presto Pizzazz pizza oven on your kitchen counter, you will make your favorite pizzas super delicious and have them your way!

Commonly known as the Mata Mata turtle, the Chelus fimbriata is a South American species of snapping turtle. They are commonly found in the Orinoco River and Amazon River basin. One of the weirdest types of turtles, the Mata Mata turtle looks roughly like a pile of dried and decayed wood and leaves.

It is characterized by a big triangular head, an elongated neck covered with scales, spikes and horns. Three barbels protrude under its chin and two sets of filamentous barbels jut out of the upper jaw. Its upper jaw is slightly angular and extends into a long snorkel-shaped muzzle. The snorkel muzzle is probably used in the same manner as a scuba diver’s snorkel. The brown or black carapace (upper shell) is quadrilateral and can reach 18 inches in an adult. The carapace is flat with extensive keels and serration. Three keels run parallel along the stretch of its shell, growing from each scute and end into a lump like formation. A wide smiley face, complemented with such enigmatic structure makes it look quite villainous, almost like Batman’s Joker. The plastron is unattached and smaller than its carapace. Chelus fimbriata hatchlings are vividly colored, identifiable by a brown shell and bright red-black stripes on their body.

How to Prepare a Home for Your Mata Mata Turtle

Mata Mata turtles inhabit slow moving rivulets and shallow ponds, marshes, stagnant pools, and wetlands around the Amazon River and tributaries in Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Though Mata Mata is an aquatic species it tends to avoid deep water bodies. Shallow water with plenty of natural debris and a little vegetation is ideal for them. Their physical structure has evolved to offer an impressive camouflage in such an environment. These turtles are expert in just idling around. This is probably the reason they shun deeper water bodies, lest they might just doze off and sink to the bottom. They sit amid the debris, floating in the water and you will notice them only if they move, and THAT, my friend, rarely happens. These turtles sit still like rocks and rarely move. They are extremely cautious of movement in water. Even if they sense their favorite treat around them they will keep lounging. They will simply expand their neck and open their mouth sucking in the treat with some water. They swallow the treat, expelling the excess water. On such moments the lazy bugger will surprise you with incredulous speed.

The Chelus fimbriata prefer spending most of the day dipped in shallow water. A 300 gallon water tank, measuring 4`x4`, would be perfect for an adult male Mata Mata Turtle. The water depth should not exceed 8 to 10 inches. Although they aren’t the most active species, you should provide enough space to permit free movement.

They belong to the Tropics; therefore it is advised to simulate a similar atmosphere in the aquarium. The ideal temperature for their simulated habitat should be around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature at the basking area should be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is possible you should allow your turtles some time in the natural sunlight. In case this isn’t possible it is advisable to fit a UVB light above the basking area.

How to Feed Your Mata Mata Turtle

The Mata Mata turtles are violent carnivores and prefer to prey on live meat. Alive fish are their delicacy of choice. Mollies, goldfish, Minnows, guppies and sunfish also appeal to its taste-buds. Unlike many other turtles the Mata Mata isn’t a gobbler, it eats only when it is hungry.

Recently, a patient in my office named Heather, said: “I wish I had known my migraine headaches were coming from my neck. I would’ve come to you years ago.” Heather had suffered with migraine headaches several times a month for 10 years. Her headaches were quite debilitating. Most the time she was nauseous and had to lie down in a dark room with a cold pack on her forehead. Many times, she had to cancel planned activities with family and friends if a migraine developed.

Fortunately, chiropractic care helped Heather to significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of her headaches. She was able to go months without a headache and if one did develop it was usually mild and she could get relief by putting a cold pack the back of her neck.

This article will discuss migraine headaches and their relationship to the neck area, also called the cervical spine. Chiropractic care as a possible treatment for this condition will be detailed. A recent research study noting an association between neck pain and migraine conditions will be analyzed.

Approximately 12% of the US population, including children, suffers from migraine headaches. Females are three times more likely to experience migraine headaches than males. Migraine headaches are considered to be more debilitating than common stress or tension headaches. Symptoms of migrainous headaches are a severe sharp, throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head. Nausea and vomiting commonly occur. Some people’s migraines develop spontaneously while others are triggered by certain foods, smells, visual and auditory sensations and stimulations.

For many years, chiropractors have noted an association between the bones of the upper neck, also called the upper cervical spine and various types of headaches including migraines. Chiropractors are trained to examine and analyze the alignment and movement of these bones called vertebrae. If the vertebrae of the upper cervical spine are misaligned and moving improperly it can cause irritation of the joints and nerves of the area and this can be a source and cause of a headache.

A recent research study published in Cephalgia, May 2019 noted that among a group of 142 patients with a history of migraines, those with concurrent neck pain reported 80% more migraine related disability than participants without neck pain. The findings add to a growing body of research that suggests the neck plays a role in the migraine headache process, as previous studies have noted an association between cervical dysfunction (improper movement of the upper cervical bones) and migraine intensity and frequency.

Doctors Of Chiropractic have the experience and expertise to evaluate the upper cervical spine to determine if there is a problem with this area that can be helped. If help can be provided a chiropractor will utilize treatment called spinal manipulation (also called a spinal vertebral adjustment) to safely and gently correct the cause of the problem. When this occurs a considerable number of patients who have suffered with migraine headaches have been able to find improvement of their condition.

It would be wise and prudent for anyone suffering from migraine headaches to consult a chiropractor. For over hundred 25 years chiropractic care has been a conservative, safe, gentle drug-free method of giving people freedom from headaches.

The fraenum or fraenulum that attaches the top lip to the upper portion of the gum is called the maxillary labial fraenum. An abnormally low maxillary labial fraenum is the most common cause of gapped front teeth in the upper jaw. This gap is called maxillary diastema. The abnormal fraenum is attached so low on the gum-line that it props apart the two front teeth.

It is important to close your gap because a tooth gap can cause tooth misalignment. A large tooth gap between the front teeth could leave insufficient room for the ones next to the front teeth. This may cause tooth displacement and problems with the bite. Another reason is self-consciousness. Some people may feel embarrassed, and reluctant to smile with parted lips.

Gapped front teeth in the upper jaw close by themselves in many cases. Generally, a baby’s teeth start to erupt between six and nine months. At this early age, the front teeth could be gapped and the maxillary labial fraenum attached low to the gum. By the time the child reaches its first birthday, the fraenum has probably shortened, and the eruption of more teeth has closed any gaps. If the adult front teeth are gapped, the eruption of molars helps to crowd the front teeth together. About one in 10 children have gapped adult front teeth that don’t close by themselves.

Luckily, there is a simple solution to close your gap. Teeth Gap offers a product called teeth effects. Teeth effects are like little rubber bands that wrap around the teeth which have a gap. Since the band is stretched out it pulls your teeth inward causing the tooth gap to close.

Instruction articles pay much attention to the backswing which is certainly appropriate and important to a proper golf swing. However, I want to bring up the topic of what happens after the backswing is completed. There are two things you must be careful about that are critical to a proper golf downswing.

The area of the swing when you are at the top of your backswing and just before you begin the downswing is referred to as the “transition.” I believe that it is more critical for an amateur to have a longer transition than it is for the pro. The professional has a trained swing that almost automatically knows what comes next, but the amateur isn’t quite sure exactly what is about to happen. It’s as though the amateur is just “wish’n & hope’n” that what happens next will be the right move. Because of this uncertainty at the top, I believe that the amateur needs an additional split second to contemplate how to begin the downswing. It’s vital to understand what comes next. This is one of the most critical points in a golf swing if not the most critical point. What happens next determines if the swing will be executed in proper sequence, in a continued proper swing plane, and with the torso remaining in the same position as when the backswing was started or not.

The next move, immediately following the transition, becomes critical to the proper execution of the downswing. Centrifugal force and how the golfer deals with it, plays a major role in how the golf ball is struck. The downswing begins with the lower body’s weight being transferred over to the left side while at the same time not moving the upper body. It is very important to understand that when the lower body is moving over to the left side that the upper body doesn’t begin moving along with the lower body. The centrifugal force generated by the movement of the lower body will have a tendency to pull the torso toward the target. You must be aware of this pulling force and resist it.

Now, at the same time you are moving the lower body over to the left side, the shoulders begin to move down and around the spine. When the shoulders begin to rotate around the spine additional centrifugal force is exerted on the torso. Unless this centrifugal force is resisted the upper body will begin to move toward the target along with the lower body. This movement of the upper body will destroy the swing and will cause all kinds of problems including: fat shots, topped shots, thin shots, pulled left shots, and pushed wide right shots.

One way to resist the centrifugal force pulling on the upper body from both the lower body and the shoulder turn is to think of bracing your upper body against these forces. As you begin to swing the shoulders down, slightly tense up the upper body to help resist any movement in the torso other than the shoulders. Another way to think of it is as the lower body and shoulders move from the right to the left, think of countering that movement by creating the opposite movement applying the same amount of force in the upper body from left to right. The opposing forces will help keep the upper body in place and also allow the free movement of the lower body and the shoulders.

Disclaimer: There are many dart combinations that can be used to play 301, 501, 701, 801, 901, etc. This serves as one possible example and should not be considered the only possible scenario for playing the perfect 01 game.

The perfect 301 dart game means ending a match with 0 points in two rounds or throwing just 6 darts! The two round dart out is an amazing feat and requires a great level of skill and concentration to accomplish on a regular basis.

How to play the perfect double-in/double-out 01 dart game?

For this exercise we will concentrate on playing your very best 301 dart game by capitalizing on your natural throwing strengths. If you can easily hit numbers located in the upper portion of the dartboard i.e. – 20’s, 18’s, etc (see figure below). Then your natural throwing strength is the upper part of the dartboard and you should concentrate on 20 as your primary throwing number.

Please note that 20 is the largest number on the dartboard that can receive a triple score and players are rewarded significantly if they can hit it consistently (60 points max). However, they are penalized severely with fewer points if they miss because it is surrounded by the numbers 1 and 5. Thus the more experienced dart players choose to aim at this number because of its high risk to reward factor.

If you are a player that finds it easy to hit numbers located in the lower portion of the dartboard i.e. – 19’s, 17’s, etc (see figure below). Then your natural throwing strength is the lower part of the dartboard and you should concentrate on making 19 as your primary throwing number.

Please note that 19 is the second largest number on the dartboard that can receive a triple score and players can earn as many as 57 points for hitting a triple 19. 19 is surrounded by the numbers 3 and 7. Many beginning and intermediate players choose to play 19 because the points reward is better if they miss hitting the 19 (3 points minimum per dart) versus trying to hit a 20 and missing (1 point minimum per dart).

Tip: Find out what section (upper or lower) of the dartboard is your strength by throwing ten rounds at both double 20’s and double 19’s each. Keep a running tally of the number of times you hit double 20 and then double 19. The number that you hit the most will determine your primary throwing number.

Why concentrate on the upper or lower sections of the dartboard when playing 301?

The goal for any good dart player is to create a repeatable throw. If you can hit a double 20, then hitting a double 18 requires a very small adjustment to your throwing style because both numbers are closely located in the upper section of the dartboard (see website for more details). This is versus hitting double 20 and then trying to hit double 19, which is very possible for good dart players but requires a bigger adjustment because of the larger distance between the two numbers.

If you’re a sports fan, chances are pretty good you collected trading cards as a kid. You might recall spending your allowance on a pack of baseball cards with stale, pink gum at the corner store. You’d tear open the packs in search of your favorite star, then trade with your friends or carefully slide a few cards between the spokes of your bicycle wheel and listen to them click as you pedaled.

If you were a card collector, you probably had binders full of the carefully sorted cardboard gems lying around your room — until you discovered girls. Once the fairer sex was on the scene, the cards went to the garage sale, attic or trash.

In the years since you got rid of your cards without a second thought, the industry has boomed. Though prices have skyrocketed, trading cards have never been more popular.

Here are 5 things you didn’t know about sports cards. However, be warned: After hearing how far the hobby has come, you might want to stop on the way home and pick up a pack or two.

1- The value of rookie cards is artificially inflated

There’s little argument that Wayne Gretzky is the best hockey player to lace up skates, and his 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee rookie card sells between $600 and $900. Sidney Crosby may be billed as the best thing since The Great One, but he’s got a lot to prove. Still, Sidney Crosby’s 2005-06 Upper Deck The Cup rookie card sells at more than $10,000. We’ve got nothing against Crosby, but the fact that a largely unproven star’s rookie card can sell at more than 10 times the value of Wayne Gretzky’s is mind-boggling.

It all comes down to supply and demand. In the late 1990s, card companies introduced serial numbering, the antidote to mass-produced cards such as Gretzky’s rookie. Cards were printed in limited quantities and stamped with a unique number. Only 99 copies exist of Crosby’s The Cup card, meaning if you want The Next One’s top rookie, be prepared to pay for it.

2- Babe Ruth is still signing cards

If you pulled an autographed card from a pack in the late 1980s or early 1990s, you’d tell everyone you knew. Now, autographed cards are so popular, often with one or more per box (and in some sets, one per pack) that they hardly seem exciting anymore. What may have you calling your friends, however, is finding an autographed card of a deceased athlete.

To create these “cut” autograph cards, card companies purchase authentic autographs of sports stars, often off of paperwork or void checks from the deceased athlete’s estate, then cut out the player’s signature and glue it into a new card. So even though Babe Ruth has been dead since 1948, it’s possible to get his autograph in a 2008 product — and that goes for more of the game’s greats, such as Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams, to name a few.

3- Barack Obama has a baseball card

No, the probable future U.S. President didn’t have a short stint in the Big Leagues. Card companies have reacted to the popularity of politics in American society, and political figures have begun to appear on special insert cards. This year’s Upper Deck baseball includes a Presidential Predictor insert set, featuring cards of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and others.

Taking the popularity of game-used memorabilia cards a step further, some relic cards in recent years have included swatches cut straight out of American history. It’s possible to get a card that includes a small square of cloth from one of John F. Kennedy’s suits or a card containing a piece of George W. Bush’s necktie.

Other American legends (Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, etc.) are represented with memorabilia cards in today’s products. It may seem odd to get a Marilyn Monroe card in a pack of baseball cards, but these rare inserts are hot sellers among history buffs.

4- Celebrity body parts are now for sale

Topps created industry waves in 2007 when it produced three cards, each containing a strand of hair from former President George Washington. The card company got the hair from John Reznikoff, the owner of the largest collection of hair from historical figures. Despite the shock of many collectors and average citizens alike (and the disturbing wishes of some people to track down the cards so they could try to clone Washington through DNA strands), Topps’ products created a stir and collectors responded by showing there is indeed a market for these bizarre, yet intriguing, collectibles.

Topps acknowledges that DNA cards are hard to make because of the difficulty of tracking down strands of hair from deceased public figures, but the idea has already caught on. The hot insert in this year’s Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts baseball cards is a Hair Cuts series — cards that contain cut autographs and a strand of hair from figures such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Andrew Jackson, and Geronimo.

A Topps 2008 baseball product contains cards with hair from not only Abe Lincoln, but also JFK and Beethoven.

5- Your son’s allowance won’t get him far in the hobby

If you collected a couple decades ago, you’ll remember when Upper Deck products hit store shelves in 1990 at the seemingly exorbitant price of $1 per pack. Almost overnight, gone were the days of 25 and 50 cent packs of cards that contained a piece of pink gum for good measure. The price of consumer goods has risen over the last couple decades with inflation, but card prices have risen because of the increased demand as the hobby boomed.

With very few exceptions, packs of cards are at least $4 and some high-end products cost more than $500 per pack — not box but per pack. And those packs might contain as few as five cards. What, did you think you’d find that $10,000 Sidney Crosby card in a pack that cost $1?

Each sport only features a couple 99 cents per pack brands each season, which means youths with allowance money to spend don’t have much of a chance of delving into the hobby. Adults with more disposable income, however, have a wide variety of choices.

In my Physiotherapy practice I treat 100’s of patients a year for headaches. Many of these have recurring neck pain and stiffness as well as headaches. I teach riding and very many riders admit to suffering from headaches. Riders tend to get neck pain and headache after riding at the end of the day. Unless there is a medical cause then most headaches are what we call ‘cervicogenic’ (cervico means neck and genic means origin of) so cervicogenic means the headache starts from the neck and are caused by the neck joints and muscles. The upper two joints are the major cause of headaches because the nerves that supply the head, temples and eyes are related to the upper two neck joints.

Headaches that originate from the neck are due to the nerves being squeezed or pressured by the joints and or muscles of the upper neck. There are many other causes of headaches. This article is only talking about cervicogenic headache (start from the upper neck) not headaches of any other cause. It is important to be assessed by a Physiotherapist and or a Doctor to determine if your headaches are cervicogenic or other.

Poor neck posture and poor general posture will nearly always result in headache, given enough time. Repetitive behaviors and postures resulting in the neck being in a poor posture will result in headaches. These postures are the positions we use in our daily work and in our riding posture.

So what is the Relationship between the horse rider and headaches?

The ultimate poor neck posture comes from the round shoulder posture. A person with round shoulders on the ground will have round shoulders in the saddle. When the shoulders are forward and so called round then the neck will be in a forward poking chin posture. This posture puts the upper neck in an extended position and this squeezes the joints, nerves and muscles. Over a period of time the joints become stiff and painful the muscles shorten and the nerves become inflamed. The nerve then refers the pain into the head as a headache. The increased pressure riding in a round shoulder posture will increase the pressure and hence nerve pain. Horse riding is a major cause of headaches. All other activities associated with horses can put pressure on the neck as well.

Many teenager’s posture is unfortunately the norm. Their shoulders are slumped, their chin is poking forward and their upper neck is in a jammed closed position. Many do not use any of their postural muscles and are just hanging off their joints. Many people spend many hours in a similar posture. Driving, computer work house work, are just a few of the activities that reproduce this posture. As horse riders we then adapt the same posture in the saddle. Horse riders get told to sit up and put your shoulders back.

How do you fix it?

The easy quick answer is to straighten up, correct your posture and manage your mobility. The long answer is to educate yourself and mange it with knowledge. First of all, see a Physiotherapist and have a professional assessment. Learn how and why you adopt the postures you do and then become educated on how to fix yourself and manage your pain with posture management. Not many therapists will be able to relate your headaches to horse riding unless they know about the horse riding posture. Very few therapists can relate to the muscles used in horse riding or the amount of skill required to ride well. Remember to the non horse rider it looks so easy. You just sit there!

To manage headaches as a rider can be easy.

The control of headaches in horse riders is the same as for all people; however I put an increased emphasis on particular features of treatment, because I am a horse rider. If you have been assessed and your problems are not too severe, but are chronic in nature, that is, they keep returning, then these simple exercises will help. This must be regarded as basic advice only. To control headaches your upper neck joints must have mobility. Your muscles must have strength and endurance. You must have strong core stability as well. The deep core muscle strength will reinforce the correct upper neck posture. I start with the core muscles on every patient I treat for headaches. The success of management without this knowledge and strength is always limited. This is why chiropractic treatment (and or other) is very come back come back.

I give simple but effective stretching exercises and I educate patients about their posture. I advice all my horse riding pupils to follow the Applied Posture Riding program.

Simple Stretches to gain neck mobility

Stretch 1

Stand tall, clasp your hands behind your back and tilt your head so your ear moves towards your shoulder. This stretch can hurt so take care.

Stretch 2

Stand tall, close your eyes and turn your head so your chin moves towards your shoulder.

Stretch 3

Push your chin with the opposite hand to force the stretch more. Feel the stretch and or some pain in your neck. Don’t increase the headache pain with this stretch. Obviously do both sides and if it makes you worse see a Physiotherapist. Hold for 10-20 seconds ease off and repeat. Do these stretches little and often and do them when you are well, don’t wait for stiffness and headache to return. Manage good mobility and keep pain away.

Italian ‘Mannerist’ painter Agnolo Di Cosmino or Agnolo Bronzino, generally referred to as II Bronzino, was born on November 17, 1503, in Florence. Bronzino was the pupil of Raffaellino and then the more renowned Pontormo, the primary influence in Agnolo’s life and his artworks, particularly his most famous painting, “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time.”

Around 1545, Agnolo Bronzino painted the ‘Allegorical’ work “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time,” on the instance of Cosimo de Medici, the Duke of Florence for presenting it to the Francis I of France. Where, silky textures & meticulously painted jewels in the painting display sophistication, the nudes in sensuous poses reflect the erotic tastes of the ‘Mannerist Period.’ The themes of this oil on wood painting, sized 57″ X 46″, are lust, jealousy, and deceit, with some of the figures subject to debate even today. People have also referred this painting as the “Triumph of Venus,” with its connotations unknown until date.

Flavored with ‘Symbolism,’ the key subjects of “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time” are Venus and her son Cupid, who are shown nude, entwining with each other sensuously, and bathing in while light. The couple symbolizes ‘Lust.’ Cupid is seen fondling Venus’ breast and kissing her lips. Venus is seen holding the ‘Golden Apple,’ she bagged as a prize from the ‘Judgment of Paris,’ and Cupid sports his wings and quiver. Cupid is seen as a youngster, notably older than the other versions of him, fit for making love to his mother.

Venus is portrayed as a young, beautiful woman in her twenties, exercising total sexual control of the scandalous situation. Venus’ doves can be seen on the lower right of “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time.” A nude boy, probably ‘Folly,’ is seen dancing happily and throwing flowers. The bearded, bald man to the upper right is probably ‘Time,’ owing to an hourglass imaged at his back. ‘Truth,’ positioned at the upper left, subordinates ‘Time.’ The old woman, shown tearing her hair is ‘Jealousy’ or ‘Envy.’ A young unidentified girl with grotesque body is depicted behind the nude boy. Her left hand is attached to her right arm and may be she represents ‘Deceit.’

Having spent most of his career life in Florence, Bronzino was living there with his favorite pupil Alessandro Allori at the time of his death in 1572. Agnolo Bronzino’s masterpiece “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time” is presently displayed at the National Gallery, London, United Kingdom.

Cpap Therapy

The acronym (cpap) stands for continuous positive airway pressure. Cpap is used to treat sleep apnea patients, who have upper airway obstruction.

Cpap is a simple respiratory ventilator used by sleep apnea sufferers while they sleep in there homes following a polysomnograph study in a sleep center.

When a patient has sleep apnea their upper airways become obstructed by the nasal cavity, palatal tissue, or the base of the tongue (hypopharynx). However in some instances it can involve the whole of the upper airway passages.

Cpap prevents the upper airway disturbance by pushing a constant steady stream of air through a mask worn while sleeping, effectively forcing the air passages to stay open allowing a patient to breathe, and alleviates the apneas.

There are numerous types of these kinds of machines on the market, which essentially all do the same thing. Usually a small compact device that is hook to tubes that carry the air to the patient when resting. Some models have heated humidifiers, as well as c-flex settings making it easier to exhale.

There are also various types of facial mask that can be worn with continuous positive airway pressure machines. Straps that go around your head and tighten, to hold the mask in place to discourage leaks.

Complications with Cpap

Some patients are not able to stand wearing a mask all night long, seriously reducing the benefit of this modality of treatment.

Still other patients want to have a good nights rest without a mask on at all, so they elect surgery.

Patients experience vertigo when using cpap therapy, chest congestion, risk of developing complex sleep apnea or (CSA), nasal dryness, sneezing runny nose, nosebleeds, in extreme cases infection around the brain lining.

By working close with your doctor and sleep therapist, you will be able to determine the correct presser settings for you.

BiPAP Therapy

Bilevel positive airway pressure, is similar to CPAP therapy however with BiPAP therapy there are two different pressure settings for the patient.

Patients who are treated with BiPAP therapy have been found to have breathing disorders beyond sleep apnea.

With continuous positive airway pressure or (CPAP) the machine delivers is a constant steady stream of airway pressure during inhilation and expiration.

BiPAP therapy is used to treat more than just sleep apnea. The bipap machine is able to detect how much pressure a patient needs and supply the adequate amount of air pressure on inhalation and exhalation.

The dual settings of the BiPAP machine, allows patients to get more air into, and out of the lungs without the normal muscular activity needed to do so.

Bilevel positive airway pressure therapy is really useful for people who have congestive heart failure and different types of lung disorders, particularly patients who have above normal carbon dioxide.

BiPAP therapy is also used in treating central sleep apnea a sleep disorder characterized by failure of the brain to signal the chest muscles to breathe.

New BiPAP machines are now in the market that have Bi-flex a very useful feature that provides pressure relief to smooth, the transition between the end of IPAP and the beginning of EPAP.

Complications with BiPAP Therapy

Complications that result from using bilevel positive airway pressure, are some have mask discomfort, some patients develop sores and numbness around the mask area.

Also there’s been documented cases of patients having bloating from the swallowing of the air as well

As always, it is best to consult your physician to determine the type of pap therapy that is right for you.