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You’d need to ask a cardiologist of course, but I think for all intents and purposes, the science is in fact settled. The heart pumps blood. In any field you s

by atty 5y ago

You’d need to ask a cardiologist of course, but I think for all intents and purposes, the science is in fact settled. The heart pumps blood. In any field you see people using weak evidence to question strongly evidenced positions like in the linked article. I worked as a physicist for 7 years or so, and you frequently saw people using small deviations in experimental results to try and question general relativity, or parts of the standard model. Of course, when you see the few outliers lined up it seems convincing, but if you work professionally in the field you realize that that’s what they are - outliers. Just a handful of strange results in a literal flood of results that fit within and support the status quo. And, fortunately or unfortunately, if you’ve seen it happen to someone, I think the evidence that the heart pumps blood is extremely convincing, having witnessed it first hand - if your heart stops, blood stops flowing. And we know that that is the correct order of causation, because to fix it, you shock the heart into pumping again. You’d need FAR stronger evidence than failed drug trials (the vast majority of drug trials fail) or failed device trials (the vast majority of device trials fail) to seriously weaken that position, as far as I’m aware.

profile53 5y ago
I think you misunderstood the parent comment's argument. What I believe they were saying is that continuous pumping (i.e. rotary pumps) may be less effective than beat-by-beat pumping (i.e. pulsatile pumps). The former result in a static continuous blood pressure while the latter result in a blood pressure waveform with a systolic and diastolic pressure. The argument I'm familiar with is that peaks and valleys in blood pressure trigger strengthening of arterial walls in a similar mechanism to muscle growth. But, there's a few different arguments and as far as I know, the science isn't completely settled.
- robbiep 5y ago
  Pulsating vessels are really important. There’s a bunch of evidence of the physiological benefits to having a pulse. Doesn’t mean you can’t, but it’s good for you, you evolved to have it. You can convince stem cells to differentiate into arterial wall just by exposing them to arterial flow. Just as you can get stem cells differentiate into osteoblasts by keeping them in a rigid structure. Smart fuckers
  - lostlogin 5y ago
    > There’s a bunch of evidence of the physiological benefits to having a pulse. This is such a great statement on a couple of levels. That having no pulse and being alive is even possible is amazing. How basic medical observations are done for these people is interesting to contemplate.

by atty 5y ago

profile53 5y ago

I think you misunderstood the parent comment's argument. What I believe they were saying is that continuous pumping (i.e. rotary pumps) may be less effective than beat-by-beat pumping (i.e. pulsatile pumps). The former result in a static continuous blood pressure while the latter result in a blood pressure waveform with a systolic and diastolic pressure. The argument I'm familiar with is that peaks and valleys in blood pressure trigger strengthening of arterial walls in a similar mechanism to muscle growth. But, there's a few different arguments and as far as I know, the science isn't completely settled.

robbiep 5y ago
Pulsating vessels are really important. There’s a bunch of evidence of the physiological benefits to having a pulse. Doesn’t mean you can’t, but it’s good for you, you evolved to have it. You can convince stem cells to differentiate into arterial wall just by exposing them to arterial flow. Just as you can get stem cells differentiate into osteoblasts by keeping them in a rigid structure. Smart fuckers
- lostlogin 5y ago
  > There’s a bunch of evidence of the physiological benefits to having a pulse. This is such a great statement on a couple of levels. That having no pulse and being alive is even possible is amazing. How basic medical observations are done for these people is interesting to contemplate.