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Russert's death
Russert's untimely death raises questions about how we're treating heart disease
Dear Friend,
You won't hear me say this often about anyone in mainstream media, but T. Russert, newsman and anchor of Meet the Press, was someone I respected. I took great joy in watching politicians squirm under his tough questioning. So, like most Americans, I was sad to hear the tragic news of his sudden death. After all, Russert was just 58 years old — relatively young by today's standards.
According to his doctors, he had diabetes, heart disease, and he was overweight. Yet without fail, every time I hear a news story or read an article on his death, the commentators express their surprise that something like this could happen to someone who was on blood pressure pills and cholesterol drugs, who exercised routinely (in fact, he worked out on the treadmill the morning he died), and who was on a diet. He'd even recently passed a stress test.
I wish I could say I was shocked by this news. Unfortunately, stories like this one only highlight what I've been telling you all along: Blood pressure doesn't cause heart disease, high cholesterol drugs aren't cure-alls, and exercise can do more harm than good. In short, none of the steps Russert's doctors told him to take to address his health concerns were doing a darn bit of good.
Instead, if someone had told him to focus on keeping his homocysteine levels low and his magnesium levels high, we might not be having this conversation in the first place. Homocysteine makes cholesterol stick to your artery walls and can also contribute the hardening of your arteries. It's simple to control your cholesterol levels by loading up on B vitamins, like B6, B12 and folate.
Magnesium also has vital heart-healthy benefits.
"Statins don't protect against heart attacks. And [Russert] didn't know that the lack of one nutrient could have cost him his life," said acclaimed neurosurgeon Dr. R. B. "The number-one cause of sudden cardiac death is magnesium deficiency. Cardiac patients and those with diabetes have the lowest magnesium levels of all."
I've written to you before about the many benefits of magnesium. This mineral prevents blood clots, dilates blood vessels, and can also stop the development of dangerous heart irregularities. It's why I've been such a long-time advocate of increasing magnesium intake for its heart-health benefits – not to mention what it does for your bones and bodily tissues. I've even used magnesium in emergency medicine to help limit brain damage in stroke victims. And yet more than half of Americans have a magnesium deficiency.
"People who are deficient in magnesium are most likely to have sudden cardiac arrest, and when they do arrest, they are harder to resuscitate,"DR. B. says. "Many simply can't be resuscitated."
Dr. S. B. surgeon in chief of New York's M. Medical Center, did a good job of summing up just why the death of the beloved newsman has so shaken both Americans in general and doctors in particular: "It makes us all feel mortal, and it also highlights the natural history of this silent killer and our limited ability to catch this killer before it strikes."
Fighting on in the battle against heart disease,
W. C. D. M.D.
Dear Friend,
You won't hear me say this often about anyone in mainstream media, but T. Russert, newsman and anchor of Meet the Press, was someone I respected. I took great joy in watching politicians squirm under his tough questioning. So, like most Americans, I was sad to hear the tragic news of his sudden death. After all, Russert was just 58 years old — relatively young by today's standards.
According to his doctors, he had diabetes, heart disease, and he was overweight. Yet without fail, every time I hear a news story or read an article on his death, the commentators express their surprise that something like this could happen to someone who was on blood pressure pills and cholesterol drugs, who exercised routinely (in fact, he worked out on the treadmill the morning he died), and who was on a diet. He'd even recently passed a stress test.
I wish I could say I was shocked by this news. Unfortunately, stories like this one only highlight what I've been telling you all along: Blood pressure doesn't cause heart disease, high cholesterol drugs aren't cure-alls, and exercise can do more harm than good. In short, none of the steps Russert's doctors told him to take to address his health concerns were doing a darn bit of good.
Instead, if someone had told him to focus on keeping his homocysteine levels low and his magnesium levels high, we might not be having this conversation in the first place. Homocysteine makes cholesterol stick to your artery walls and can also contribute the hardening of your arteries. It's simple to control your cholesterol levels by loading up on B vitamins, like B6, B12 and folate.
Magnesium also has vital heart-healthy benefits.
"Statins don't protect against heart attacks. And [Russert] didn't know that the lack of one nutrient could have cost him his life," said acclaimed neurosurgeon Dr. R. B. "The number-one cause of sudden cardiac death is magnesium deficiency. Cardiac patients and those with diabetes have the lowest magnesium levels of all."
I've written to you before about the many benefits of magnesium. This mineral prevents blood clots, dilates blood vessels, and can also stop the development of dangerous heart irregularities. It's why I've been such a long-time advocate of increasing magnesium intake for its heart-health benefits – not to mention what it does for your bones and bodily tissues. I've even used magnesium in emergency medicine to help limit brain damage in stroke victims. And yet more than half of Americans have a magnesium deficiency.
"People who are deficient in magnesium are most likely to have sudden cardiac arrest, and when they do arrest, they are harder to resuscitate,"DR. B. says. "Many simply can't be resuscitated."
Dr. S. B. surgeon in chief of New York's M. Medical Center, did a good job of summing up just why the death of the beloved newsman has so shaken both Americans in general and doctors in particular: "It makes us all feel mortal, and it also highlights the natural history of this silent killer and our limited ability to catch this killer before it strikes."
Fighting on in the battle against heart disease,
W. C. D. M.D.
It's not offensive to me at all (the post). I just think it's funny as hell that it's in such a code (such a C). Seems like a spy on spy situation brewing.
There are many theories regarding "risk factors" and what to do about them if anything. My personal one is that risk factors have very little or nothing at all to do with heart disease. But, they are convenient. Personally, I have known quite a few people with heart disease. Some ate a bad diet, some didn't. Some smoked, some didn't. Some had high blood pressure, some didn't. Some got a LOT of exercise, some got practically none. Some were fat, some were thin. The only real common denominator is that they ALL had heart disease. My personal risk factor situation is that I had none when I had my heart attack. About the best the docs can do with that one is "well, if you weren't in such good shape, you'd likely be dead now". Or, "not necessarily something recent--could have been eating a bad diet 30 or 40 years ago". Oh, OK. So that would translate to-- anything beneficial I do now, won't go into effect until I'm over 100?? In that case, who cares? Anyway, the risk factor thing is easy and convenient, and just what a patient needs to hear upon his release from the shop following his heart attack. IT"S ALL YOUR FAULT !!
Heart disease is something that some people get, and some people don't get.
Of course, all of this is anecdotal evidence. I hope you find it interesting. But, don't take it too seriously.....
Oh. One more of Dr. B. M.D. 's favorites--"heredity has to start somewhere".
Now, if I could just figure out how to make this relative to Tim Russert's death. Got it ! Has to be the "doctors were leading him astray" thing.
There are many theories regarding "risk factors" and what to do about them if anything. My personal one is that risk factors have very little or nothing at all to do with heart disease. But, they are convenient. Personally, I have known quite a few people with heart disease. Some ate a bad diet, some didn't. Some smoked, some didn't. Some had high blood pressure, some didn't. Some got a LOT of exercise, some got practically none. Some were fat, some were thin. The only real common denominator is that they ALL had heart disease. My personal risk factor situation is that I had none when I had my heart attack. About the best the docs can do with that one is "well, if you weren't in such good shape, you'd likely be dead now". Or, "not necessarily something recent--could have been eating a bad diet 30 or 40 years ago". Oh, OK. So that would translate to-- anything beneficial I do now, won't go into effect until I'm over 100?? In that case, who cares? Anyway, the risk factor thing is easy and convenient, and just what a patient needs to hear upon his release from the shop following his heart attack. IT"S ALL YOUR FAULT !!
Heart disease is something that some people get, and some people don't get.
Of course, all of this is anecdotal evidence. I hope you find it interesting. But, don't take it too seriously.....
Oh. One more of Dr. B. M.D. 's favorites--"heredity has to start somewhere".
Now, if I could just figure out how to make this relative to Tim Russert's death. Got it ! Has to be the "doctors were leading him astray" thing.
IMHO anedontal evidence is interesting but not worthy of serious consideration. Its manure and no pony!.
In my case exercise and high blood pressure haven't a darn thing to do with my heart condition, which my doc says I was most likely born with. By the way I've always been a physically fit and healthy person, not overweight, not a heavy drinker, don't smoke, normal blood pressure. I've done everything right and I'm sitting here with an ICD now and a pretty serious arrhythmia. In defense of Dixter's post, I found interesting and don't get why it's offensive to people; I don't think posting information about possible treatments that could have saved someone's life or might yet save someone else's life is exploiting one's death. I also don't think anyone has suggested not exercising or lowering BP is beneficial, but rather there may be some other things to consider besides what western doctors and the pharmaceuticals industry has to offer. I agree whole-heartedly to follow your doctor's orders, but there is nothing wrong with patients doing a little research on their own to find healthy alternatives. I doubt Tim Russert would be offended that people might somehow benefit by lessons we may learn from his death, the cause of it and what may have been done to prevent it. Us talking about it will not stop him from resting in peace. Progress doesn't occur by people sitting around naysaying new and somewhat controversial information. By all means, jump on your treadmills people and take your beta blockers, I certainly do, but keep an open (yet carefully scrutinizing) mind!
My C, Dr. B still suggests exercise and S. I take quite a F Ss and go to the G regularly. You can A come up with Rs that someone D. R factors? Maybe so. Could be A that caused his D. Could be a D of M just as E. Doubt that too much E had a lot to do with I. I agree that it's pretty S to sit back and try to M Es for someone's D. Let the poor guy R in P. Dying was likely not H C.
If your H stops, you D. N knows why for S. S happens. Take your Ds, exercise and E R, and hope for the B.
And thus ends my C for the D.
LOL !!
If your H stops, you D. N knows why for S. S happens. Take your Ds, exercise and E R, and hope for the B.
And thus ends my C for the D.
LOL !!
I enjoyed reading the information posted by dixter. This is not the first time Magnesium has come up with regard to its benefits for heart patients. I am interested in more information about Magnesium and what dosage is right.
Regarding Russert, I am saddened by his death and can't help but wonder at what his treatment was and what it should have been.
Regarding Russert, I am saddened by his death and can't help but wonder at what his treatment was and what it should have been.
Many of the people with heart disease may know that the Red Cross has adopted a new resuscitation protocol, omitting mouth-to-mouth breathing and introducing an uninterrupted sequence of compressions. It's actually LESS complicated.
It is also being taught to graduating medical students in their emergency intervention class/rotation; my daughter in Wisconsin was taught it this spring. (Not that it's any credit to me, but it was developed by my cardiologist, who is head of the Sarver Heart Center at UMC in Tucson and a really lovely man in the bargain.) The outcome is phenomenally better--under the old method, only 5% of people resuscitated made a complete recovery; this method has not been widespread long enough for definite figures, but it is looking to be astronomically higher than that.
Nobody can save everyone--the heart has to be capable of resuming its rhythm--but it might rescue people in Tim Russert's situation once enough people know it.
It is also being taught to graduating medical students in their emergency intervention class/rotation; my daughter in Wisconsin was taught it this spring. (Not that it's any credit to me, but it was developed by my cardiologist, who is head of the Sarver Heart Center at UMC in Tucson and a really lovely man in the bargain.) The outcome is phenomenally better--under the old method, only 5% of people resuscitated made a complete recovery; this method has not been widespread long enough for definite figures, but it is looking to be astronomically higher than that.
Nobody can save everyone--the heart has to be capable of resuming its rhythm--but it might rescue people in Tim Russert's situation once enough people know it.
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