Posted on 06/17/2008 6:03:22 PM PDT by neverdem
Given the great strides that have been made in preventing and treating heart disease, what explains Tim Russert’s sudden death last week at 58 from a heart attack?
The answer, at least in part, is that although doctors knew that Mr. Russert, the longtime moderator of “Meet the Press” on NBC, had coronary artery disease and were treating him for it, they did not realize how severe the disease was because he did not have chest pain or other telltale symptoms that would have justified the kind of invasive tests needed to make a definitive diagnosis. In that sense, his case was sadly typical: more than 50 percent of all men who die of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms, the American Heart Association says.
It is not clear whether Mr. Russert’s death could have been prevented. He was doing nearly all he could to lower his risk. He took blood pressure pills and a statin drug to control his cholesterol, he worked out every day on an exercise bike, and he was trying to lose weight, his doctors said on Monday. And still it was not enough.
If there is any lesson in his death, his doctors said, it is a reminder that heart disease can be silent, and that people, especially...
--snip--
Even so, Dr. Newman said, “the autopsy findings were a surprise.”
In an interview, Dr. Newman and Mr. Russert’s cardiologist, Dr. George Bren, said the autopsy found significant blockages in several coronary arteries, which feed blood to the heart muscle.
Blockages start out as cholesterol deposits in the artery walls that turn into lesions or plaques, narrowing the vessels. Heart attacks occur when a plaque ruptures, causing a blood clot that quickly closes the artery and pinches off the blood supply to part of the heart...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
polonium? obamacide?
Well, at first blush I would say because his heart stopped pumping blood.
Well, we're sorry, but the lesson will just have to remain a secret. Apparently the stealthy killer has just claimed another unwitting victim.
Doctor’s said my Mother died of a heart attack.
But we knew she really died of a “broken heart”.
Only the Lord knows when it’s time to bring you home.
If I was a doc, I’d refuse to treat VIPs and celebs.
Uhhh, the evidence would seem to suggest otherwise.
I was 52, 5’10 160lbs total cholesterol 180 and normal blood pressure when my heart attack hit. My best coronary artery was 80% blocked. After a double-triple bypass I’m just peachy. I never had a chest pain or any other symptom. All of my trouble came from Mom and Dad.
Didn’t he cross Hillary.
You had no complaints? Did you just pass out, waking up in the ER or recovery room?
Big article about sudden death attacks in the Wall Street Journal this morning too.
The cause of death was not immediately clear.
The network said on its Web site that Russert died of a heart attack, but Michael A. Newman, Russert’s internist, later said that resuscitation was begun immediately and continued at Sibley Memorial Hospital, to no avail.
An autopsy was pending, Newman said.
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/369480.html
It figures that the NYT would start crying at the gravestone of TR, when they were dancing on Reagan’s even weeks after he passed away.
Ah-Hah! Problem is, everyone thinks that they are a VIP or celeb. You can't refuse everyone.
OMG. Enough. This happens to people. The man was not a deity.
” . . .more than 50 percent of all men who die of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms, the American Heart Association says.”
His doctors knew these figures yet they didn’t do a full blown heart work up when they knew he had coronary heart disease because he was symptom free.
They need to be in another field of work.
When the clot hit, it hurt. It kept getting worse so I drove to the ER. Not real bright. I was in Oklahoma and this Texas boy wasn’t about to die in Oklahoma! It was a 6 mile drive to Texas.
Wasn’t that irritating doofus from Boston, Mike Barnicle in Russert’s office just before he blew a gasket and crumped?
"He was trying to lose weight."
What does this have to do with anything? LOSING the weight...now, that means something.
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