# Is Cheney now immune to problems caused by high blood pressure? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458 "2010-08-06T22:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/1 "2010-08-06T22:35:03Z")
Since Cheney now has no pulse and therefore has no measurable x/y blood pressure is he immune to the problems the rest of us potentially face due to high blood pressure? Venturing into the hypothetical for a moment let’s assume that there are no health side-effects of the ‘ventricular assist device’. Would a healthy adult be better off with a 100% mecanically reliable constant pressure pump than the old-fashioned pumping heart? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/2 "2010-08-06T23:23:58Z")
> **[Ventricular assist device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device)** > > A ventricular assist device (VAD) is an electromechanical device for assisting cardiac circulation, which is used either to partially or to completely replace the function of a failing heart. The function of a VAD differs from that of an artificial cardiac pacemaker in that a VAD pumps blood, whereas a pacemaker delivers electrical impulses to the heart muscle. Some VADs are for short-term use, typically for patients recovering from myocardial infarction (heart attack) and for patients recover Cheney could live for years with the device if he avoids infection and clotting. He could even improve. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/3 "2010-08-07T23:49:51Z")
I’ve already read the Wiki article, it doesn’t answer the question I posed though. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/4 "2010-08-08T00:01:31Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > [Ventricular assist device - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device) > > Cheney could live for years with the device if he avoids infection and clotting. He could even improve. That’s great. Do they make one for his soul? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/5 "2010-08-08T00:03:43Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > I’ve already read the Wiki article, it doesn’t answer the question I posed though. I’d assume the machine regulates blood pressure. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/6 "2010-08-08T00:10:48Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > I’ve already read the Wiki article, it doesn’t answer the question I posed though. Just because there’s no “pulse” doesn’t mean there’s no blood pressure. AFAIK, the device circulates the blood with a constant pressure which means there’s no ‘ups and downs’ in the pressure anymore (hence no “pulse”) but not that there’s no pressure itself. In any event, there _must_ be a pressure or the blood wouldn’t flow (nor would it be able to be “pushed” into ‘tight’ places like the capillary networks throughout the body). Phrased differently, when you normally feel someone’s pulse, you’re feeling the impulse of the ‘squeeze’ of the left ventricle. With a LVAD, not only may there be no longer be an impulse to feel if the native ventricle isn’t beating anymore, but there’s no longer any fluctuation in the pressure itself. In the absence of variation in the pressure, how can a wave or impulse of _higher_ pressure be felt? I should point out that despite what you’d guess, the mechanism for the creation of the normal, bread and butter “pulse” (i.e. what we feel and count at the wrist [radial art] or the neck [carotid art]), is not well understood. As a result, take my “explanation” with a large grain of salt substitute. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/7 "2010-08-08T01:47:51Z")
I know he has blood pressure, I stated that he had no x/y blood pressure (i.e. no systolic/diastolic pressure) but rather a constant blood pressure. The question is: is he now immune to many negative effects of having high blood pressure that the rest of us are open to e.g. increased likelihood of strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, arterial aneurysm, chronic kidney failure. If the VAD had no negative side-effects would an otherwise healthy person be better off having one rather than the organic pump we get by default? ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheney-now-immune-to-problems-caused-by-high-blood-pressure/549458/8 "2010-08-08T23:17:54Z")
So does anybody know what the how hard is the blood being pushed against the walls of his blood vessels by the VAD? Is his new “constant” blood pressure higher than the systolic blood pressure (which I assume would mean the blood is being pushed around more forcefully than the ventricles of the heart normally do it), or is it lower than that? And is it easier on the blood vessels to have a constant pressure or a normal up-and-down cycling pressure?