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Kyuhan
It can be found at Morrigu's Shadowrun Archives here.

QUOTE
Arterial Pumps [ 12 KĄ ]: The thick, flexible, muscular walls of the arteries expand when blood is pumped into them and then contract, pushing it onward and assisting the pumping action of the heart. This enhancement reinforces the muscle tissue of the arteries to increase their pumping action and accelerate blood flow throughout the body to give you the aerobic performance of an Olympic athlete.

This gives the subject one extra die for athletics, and stamina tests. This is compatible with a Synthacardium.

>>>>>[Gettin' this drek felt just like gettin' my Synthacardium. I got more stamina, more energy... and more high blood-pressure induced headaches.]<<<<<
        --Wild Bob (23:59:00/01-03-60)

My question is, why would this cause high blood pressure induced headaches? Wouldn't strengthening the arterial walls enhance their durability to prevent this from happening?
Cakeman
An in-character post could be just to add flavour, and considering all different individuals it's plausible atleast one would think this enhancement was the source of his headaches maybe?
Kremlin KOA
bioware stress
mmu1
I think it's the "accelerated blood flow" that's causing the problems with blood pressure.

Athletes generally perform better than the rest of us because their cardiovascular systems are much more efficient as a result of conditioning, not because their blood flows faster, and all things being equal would have lower blood pressure.

In general, it's best not to try make sense of SR bioware in terms of actual biology...
Kagetenshi
This isn't even SR bioware, it's a fan-made addon.

Though in its pseudodefense, it doesn't say that it gets you the performance the same way as an olympic athlete gets it, just that the degree is comparable.

~J
Edward
Possible explanation.

Only the arteries have been strengthened and they are increasing the speed of blood flow. When that blood flow gets to the unmodified capillaries thee will be a greater pressure with no additional strength. This would probably account for the headaches.

Edward
Ol' Scratch
It increases blood pressure because that's pretty much exactly what blood pressure is; the force at which your system is pumping blood through your arteries. Based upon the description and the name of the implant, that's also exactly what it does.
Kyuhan
Maybe I am being anal about this, but I love details and quirks like this one. I just thought since stronger=more durable (durabler? nyahnyah.gif ) that blood pressure headaches shouldn't happen because the enhanced arteries are less likely to expand painfully or burst, i.e. the blood pressure is higher, but the body is enhanced to handle it by the same thing that makes it higher...if that makes any sense.
Kagetenshi
Not if they skimped by not strengthening the cranial blood vessels as much or at all.

~J
Ol' Scratch
The description also says nothing about making them durable, only increase their "muscles" to mprove their ability to pump your blood.
Stumps
I'm not entirely sure and I'll have to ask my roomate who's a medic, but from my understanding of things, if you make the arterys thicker you will, in effect, be accomplishing the same results as clogging the artery with mayonaise.
You've just reduced the amount of space that the blood has to flow through the artery.
The explination that the extra thickness will increse the blood flow is somewhat odd cause if you do that with a high blood pressure set-up as is given, you'll be risking a heart-attack at some point.

I'll check on this with my roomate however and make sure.
Kyuhan
QUOTE
The description also says nothing about making them durable, only increase their "muscles" to mprove their ability to pump your blood.


Strength of a muscle directly corresponds to it's durability. Therefore, making the muscle stronger is done by making it "tougher" as it were. So it shouldn't give headaches, unless, as Kagetenshi said, they skimmped on the cranial blood vessels. IMO anyway.
Ol' Scratch
I'm pretty sure there's a different between the smooth muscle found in arteries and the skeletal muscle that you see on body builders. They both have different characteristics, though I don't remember if that's one of the ones they share or not.
hyzmarca
QUOTE (Stumps)
I'm not entirely sure and I'll have to ask my roomate who's a medic, but from my understanding of things, if you make the arterys thicker you will, in effect, be accomplishing the same results as clogging the artery with mayonaise.
You've just reduced the amount of space that the blood has to flow through the artery.
The explination that the extra thickness will increse the blood flow is somewhat odd cause if you do that with a high blood pressure set-up as is given, you'll be risking a heart-attack at some point.

I'll check on this with my roomate however and make sure.

That really depends on where the thickness is added. If it is added on the inside, it would reduce the arteries' interior diameter. If it is added on the outside, it wouldn't.
Kyuhan
QUOTE
That really depends on where the thickness is added. If it is added on the inside, it would reduce the arteries' interior diameter. If it is added on the outside, it wouldn't.


I concur. Also note that it doesn't say it thickens the "thick, flexible, muscular walls of the arteries" it just says it reinforces them, which could be accomplished without thickening.
Stumps
Hi this is Stumps' roommate. Call me SithMedic83.
Ok...First of all, the arteries, although a type of muscle tissue, do not in fact pump or push is anyway, they are merely elastic muscular tissue. The reason that they expand is because the heart contracts, pumping the blood out into the arteries and the reason that the arteries contract is because the heart expands, drawing blood in. The heart is the only thing in the circulatory system that in fact causes blood to flow throughout the body.
Now, let’s examine this shall we. Assuming that this is a procedure done to grown adults within the realm of SR, and not children…

QUOTE
...reinforces the muscle tissue of the arteries to increase their pumping action and accelerate blood flow...


Ok now this misinformed mad scientist is going to give the reactive tissues of the circulatory system a Proactive property and have them pump. Still assuming that this is done as a procedure to adults; this would cause 2 immediate reactions,
  1. The individual’s blood pressure would increase, causing the heart to have to compensate for the unnatural pressure changes caused by this little procedure, causing strain on the heart that could potentially lead to a heart attack if this person decided to go on any good runs.
  2. Also, (and the more amusing) lets assume that this individual was not a Greek God and had some weak veins or capillaries throughout their body, lets say their brain for instance. Now, add immediate unnatural increase to natural blood pressure system. Can we say ruptured aneurism!
Kyuhan
Cool, thanks for the info. smile.gif
Edward
Now if we take what SithMedic83 gives us (witch was very impressive) and apply the usual amount of suspension of disbelief needed to make anything in SR work we have the arteries working as well timed tubular pumps and the headache being caused by the increased blood pressure in the unmodified capillaries.

Edward
Stumps
That wouldn't really keep you from having an increased blood flow in a system that hasn't slowly adjusted to it over time like a child turning into an athlete.
And so, we would end up with an aneurism or, as SM83 had talked about with me on IR as well with this. You could end up with blood filling your lungs as part of a complication with the system and this new flood of blood and it's sudden new pressure.

And, I'm not sure you could make your arteries time themselves better with your heart, since they contract when your heart draws blood in and expand when your heart pumps blood out.

SM83 basically said that he'd give anyone who got this done on the fly like SR Doc's like to do and we're accustomed to, about 3 hours max before they have an aneurism or flood their lungs with blood.

Not to mention he said the entire time until that death would be real painful as your small veins pumped too much blood through them with high blood pressure, essentially making you look like Emperor Palpitine as far as veins look.
Stumps
The actual SR effect of suspended disbelief would be that Aztechnology could pull this thing off if you submitted to them as a test-subject to stay in-house for 6 months to a year.
There's no garantee that you'd live through it, but there's a chance that you might with how good their scientists are.
Ol' Scratch
I just don't see the point in bothering with it. I realize it's an old entry (I saw it while surfing a long time ago myself), but if you *really* need more Athletics than a Synthacardium 2, Reflex Recorder, a Nanite Hive with Oxy-Rush, and the Erythropoietin genetech treatment can give you (+7 dice)... well... just play a friggin' adept. biggrin.gif
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