Increased sympathetic ("fight or flight" nervous system) tone secondary to lack of pulse in the blood system can cause high blood pressure, with subsequent hemorrhaging strokes (bleeding into the brain) are one possible explanation for this high adverse event rate in CF LVAD patients. A simple intervention to decrease the increased sympathetic tone is called "ischemic conditioning"; a sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) is placed on the patient's arm to compress a major artery (ischemia) with subsequent release of the cuff (reperfusion) for set periods of time. This has been shown to reduce blood pressure and major adverse cardiovascular events in other patient populations.