April 25, 2002, Thursday, BC cycle
3:58 PM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 142 words
HEADLINE: Diet doctor recovering from cardiac arrest
DATELINE: NEW YORK
BODY:
Dr. Robert Atkins, who promotes a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, said Thursday he is recovering from cardiac arrest caused by a heart infection.
The 71-year-old doctor said his illness "is in no way related to diet." In a statement issued to the press and posted on his companies' Internet site, Atkins said his heart stopped beating during breakfast at his Manhattan home on April 18. He was revived by an associate, taken to a hospital and released Wednesday.
"This was not a heart attack but a cardiac arrest related to an infection of the heart he has been suffering from for a few years," the statement said.
A spokeswoman, Melissa Sodolski, said Atkins was at home on Thursday and would be cutting back on travel for about a month.
Atkins is the author of a current paperback best seller, "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution."
LOAD-DATE: April 25, 2002