Ok, but by how much? I’m a registered organ donor and am now concerned that, as I lay paralyzed and semi-conscious with no brain activity while my organs are butchered out of me, the nurse is then gonna be like, “oh no, his heart rate and blood pressure is increasing substantially!”
Well for one, you have to have brain function to remain semi-conscious. And part of the way they determine if you are brain dead is seeing if you have any cerebral blood flow. No cerebral blood flow, no consciousness.
Secondly, people without brain function are incapable of controlling their own blood pressure or heart beat. So any increase in heartbeat or blood pressure is being induced by the anesthesiologist to combat the drop in blood pressure from blood loss.
Your second statement is almost correct and then fully wrong, followed by 100% correct. Let’s go sentence by sentence.
people with brain function can’t control their blood pressure
Sure you can! But only to a degree. If you’ve got access to a blood pressure cuff, try these things yourself: sitting, standing, while eating, holding your breath at the beginning, holding your breath at the end, holding your breath the entire time (legendary mode), while incredibly thirsty, after drinking water, while petting a dog, while getting bit by a dog (don’t actually do this), or while watching a scary movie.
Even positive and negative emotions can alter your blood pressure. While these types of things can’t cure someone with congenital heart disease, there are numerous anecdotes of people’s health improving after leaving a stressful job.
You’re correct, though, in terms of making sudden and significant changes to your BP requires more than just a positive thought and a new position. Sometimes you need some medication or substantial life changes to illicit real change. But to TranscendentalEmpire’s point, your brain absolutely plays a role in regulating your blood pressure. If someone is completely brain dead, they have nothing to close the feedback loop that tells the body “whoa! Heart rate is going up, we’re definitely fleeing from a predator! Increase blood pressure now, dammit!”
If they could we wouldn’t need BP meds
This is like saying “if people could swim we wouldn’t need boats.” Some people could control their BP by consuming less salt or by not clogging their arteries with cholesterol but they’d rather continue impacting their health and just takes meds to deal with it. Just like how some people would rather be on a boat instead of in the water.
Some people are born with or naturally develop heart disease and need medication to deal with it. Just like how some people can’t swim and need something to carry them across water.
Some people, like me, have made poor health choices and found out later in life that they have a congenital heart disease, and then they get a number of different medications including BP pills. This isn’t that different than someone who can swim but fell into the water with their clothes on and are starting to get tired so they need a boat to rescue them.
Well for one, you have to have brain function to remain semi-conscious. And part of the way they determine if you are brain dead is seeing if you have any cerebral blood flow. No cerebral blood flow, no consciousness.
Secondly, people without brain function are incapable of controlling their own blood pressure or heart beat. So any increase in heartbeat or blood pressure is being induced by the anesthesiologist to combat the drop in blood pressure from blood loss.
Well, that anesthesiologist better get some more dilithium crystals or start diverting power, cuz I wanna go all in on these thrusters!
First you missed the point of that post.
Second, people with brain function can’t control their blood pressure. If they could we wouldn’t need BP meds. Unless your name is Dwight or Dennis.
Your second statement is almost correct and then fully wrong, followed by 100% correct. Let’s go sentence by sentence.
Sure you can! But only to a degree. If you’ve got access to a blood pressure cuff, try these things yourself: sitting, standing, while eating, holding your breath at the beginning, holding your breath at the end, holding your breath the entire time (legendary mode), while incredibly thirsty, after drinking water, while petting a dog, while getting bit by a dog (don’t actually do this), or while watching a scary movie.
Even positive and negative emotions can alter your blood pressure. While these types of things can’t cure someone with congenital heart disease, there are numerous anecdotes of people’s health improving after leaving a stressful job.
You’re correct, though, in terms of making sudden and significant changes to your BP requires more than just a positive thought and a new position. Sometimes you need some medication or substantial life changes to illicit real change. But to TranscendentalEmpire’s point, your brain absolutely plays a role in regulating your blood pressure. If someone is completely brain dead, they have nothing to close the feedback loop that tells the body “whoa! Heart rate is going up, we’re definitely fleeing from a predator! Increase blood pressure now, dammit!”
This is like saying “if people could swim we wouldn’t need boats.” Some people could control their BP by consuming less salt or by not clogging their arteries with cholesterol but they’d rather continue impacting their health and just takes meds to deal with it. Just like how some people would rather be on a boat instead of in the water.
Some people are born with or naturally develop heart disease and need medication to deal with it. Just like how some people can’t swim and need something to carry them across water.
Some people, like me, have made poor health choices and found out later in life that they have a congenital heart disease, and then they get a number of different medications including BP pills. This isn’t that different than someone who can swim but fell into the water with their clothes on and are starting to get tired so they need a boat to rescue them.
Fact. This is 100% true.
Thank you for the very thorough run down!
I’m not sure if the post really has a point… I was just explaining how the original post didn’t really make any sense medically.
I mean, they can. Unless you believe something other than your cns is controlling your autonomic functions…
Most people can’t consciously control their blood pressure, but blood pressure is controlled by your cns, that is unless you are brain dead.
The way I read the OP was a joke about being a ticking blood bomb when being an organ donor.