Russert's cause of death explained. DAMN SCARY!!!!

[bigdarryl]

http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/video-russerts-cause-of-death-explained/10043107/
Video: Russert's cause of death explained Video

[Mimosa]

1. Cause of death explained?

Those videos don't even play for me. Hmmm. Woder if it's my safari browser? Firefox has been giving us problems lately.

[bigdarryl]

2. I have Fire Fox and minds is just find. Sounds like a computer problem

[robinlynne]

4. I just saw it in firefox. a cholesterol plaque was inside the wall of the artery

or vein. a test 2 months ago found him aboslutely fine, becusae the cholesterol plaque qas not in the blood stream. then it came through the wall and into the blood stream and blocked the blood flow.

[shireen]

9. i think it was 2 weeks ago. nt

[robinlynne]

11. April

[Voice for Peace]

22. they played fine for me on Safari.

Sometimes I have to quit Safari and even restart, and then things work again.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Yes, it is scary. Plaque breaks off, clot forms, it's over. No warning, just sudden cardiac death.

[monmouth]

5. That asprin every day, does that really help? I take it for prev maint....n/t

[gblady]

6. my doctor stresses it....

I had a major heart attack in March 08...age 59...
I did have risk factors...which I continue to work on....(lost 70 pound in past year)
...and am alive only because of fast response paramedics and being airlifted for cardiac care...
the Russert news shook me up a great deal.

My MD stresses taking my meds....especially the aspirin which thins the blood...
Cardiologist said that I could have had all the tests and all be normal and still have an event.

...knowing now that my risk of another event are heightened....I am putting life in order; living will, advance directives...
all those things I procrastinated on before...gives me a peace of mind to lessen burden on kids.

[shireen]

10. i'm glad you're ok.

that must have been a really terrifying experience. while i've not had a heart attack, i've had serious medical emergencies, one of them being a large blood clot in my leg (dvt) -- i can totally relate.

but i have to ask, how did you lose 70 lbs in 1 year?! That is awesome!!!

i need to do the living will, durable power of attorney stuff but it sounds so overwhelming -- anyone know a good family law practice in Maryland (Baltimore)?

[rebel with a cause]

13. I cannot answer for gblady

but I lost over 60 lbs in a less than a year following congestive heart failure. And I can tell you that half of it was lost in a week, in a hospital and it was mostly fluid. The rest was lost in the following months, and it was due to a diet that had no sugar, very little salt, little carbohydrates, and nothing that tasted good. I also had no appetite, so what food I ate was being forced down so I could take my meds. The day I quit the strict diet was the day that I quit losing weight. I have maintained that weight (for two years) until recently when I lost about nine lbs more, but that could have been due to what the surgeon took out/off. (breast cancer)

My mother use to have blood clots in her legs and that is how her mother died, so I know that is nothing to take lightly. Because of my family history and my health problems, I am on strong blood thinners.

I did the power of attorney stuff when I was in the hospital, but the rest of it is overwhelming to me also. I think you can get the forms on line and do the living will yourself, but knowing that is not getting me to do it, so you might be better to get that lawyer. ;)

[roguevalley]

26. I have lost 62 pounds from being told I have diabetes and can

face all the stuff people are talking about here too plus kidney failure. Exercise by walking every day. also, if you cut out sugar, you will lose a ton of weight. Its amazing how much sugar we eat. use fake sugar to put on food or bake with. it will taste sweet but not add weight and manage your sugar. I am proud of everyone above because of their efforts. keep going.

[monmouth]

12. Glad you're getting better. I have tobacco issues, well not really, I have to quit!!

[bhikkhu]

29. Good luck - I quit in Feb!

and its going fine. A month of nicorette and a bit of rearranging of mental factors involved in the addiction: putting to rest the future-despair the bush years encouraged, and finally living up to an old promise to my daughters. I have a big garden keeping me busy now, and worry less about things that can't be controlled...

[roguevalley]

25. take aspirin. for men, it appears to work better than women. and it

works better the older you are but if you have a history of heart disease in your family, take it. a baby aspirin of 81 mg is the place to start.

[rdenney]

17. beats out a slow death by cancer. nt

[CanonRay]

7. I had a close friend die of the same thing at age 40.

He'd had a comprehensive medical exam for an insurance policy less than one month before. He was also in great physical condition.

[Old Codger]

8. 50%

of the time the first sign of cardiac problems is sudden death.

[DFW]

14. I had/have the same thing

Due to a hunch and a very sharp German cardiologist, I'm still here and had
no heart attack, but that was due to the act that I went to see him about
36 hours on the right side of a massive coronary blockage of an anterior
artery. The cardiologist freaked when he saw my stress-echo test and told
me to get my ass up to a clinic that afternoon, do not pass go, do not collect
$200. I did, got some stents put in, and lived. they called my wife in, and
laid down the law. No more eggs, cheese, butter, ice cream, red meat or shellfish.
They put me on Sortis (Lipitor in the USA) and aspirin for the rest of my life.
That could be another 40 years or another 40 minutes, but my second birthday
was on April 29, 2004, and I'm following the dietary restrictions carefully
and am so far alive to tell the tale.

After something like that, you don't get around to it "some day." You do it
right away. It may not save you, but the chances of ending up like me are
increased and the chances of ending up like Russert are diminished.

[grasswire]

15. what made you go see the cardiologist?

You say "hunch" --- what were the symptoms?

[DFW]

16. Two things

When climbing a hill I felt minor twitches in my shoulder,
and I never forgot that my mother had high cholesterol, and
did indeed die of a stroke at an otherwise robust 75. The
combination was enough for me not to ignore it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Now can we talk about the god damn Twizzlers?

Maybe it's not on tangent, but Russert did mention about how hard it was to eat properly, and it's so true. Even with labels you might be working your way to a heart attack. Twizzlers, for example, have trans fats, the worst kind of fats, and they don't mention that on the package. Nothing, nada, they leave it off the package. People just assume Twizzlers are good diet food. I tried going on the net to find out just how much Trans fats they have, and I found no actual numbers for it.

So, all you Twizzler eaters, Beware. I think it goes for Skittles too?

[TalkingDog]

19. I'm confused. I don't see a sarcasm tag anywhere in your post.

Maybe I need more caffeine this morning after humping dirt around until 9:30 last night....

but why would anybody eat anything with SUGAR in it as a DIET food?'

Sugar has a nasty habit of "turning into" fat. High calorie, low nutrition, so what's the point of even putting it in your mouth? Even too much fruit sugar will do the same. In some people with screwed up insulin resistance processed grains and high sugar vegetables can pack on the fat.

If you need something to keep your mouth occupied: celery sticks, chewing gum. Or better yet, chew on a few good nutrition books.


If you were being snarky, I'll attempt to reset my snark meter as it is obviously not reading correctly.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. No, I wasn't being snarky.

I listened to the video and the part that hit home the most was the part where the woman had commented that Russert said it was hard to eat healthy on the job. In fact, the people who were speaking on his behalf on that particular video, were the ones who were pointing out how Russert, even in death, was informing us of things we should think about. And why am I particularly testy about this? Because my mother spent all the years of her life eating properly, cutting down on salts, fats, exercising, and she never knew about trans fats. If she had, she would have tried to eliminate or reduce them from her diet and possibly, we would still have her with us today.

And trying to tell people to cut sugar out of their diet, is a lot like thinking you can eliminate the unwanted pregnancy problem in this country by only promoting abstinence programs.

[Skittles]

28. don't be bashing Skittles

I WILL KICK OUR ASS :7

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. It's a conspiracy to shorten the lives of cool people.

[Voice for Peace]

21. Cause of death: time to go.

Many people die who are perfectly healthy. I've had close friends who did everything right and died anyway, and quite young. Perfect diet and lifestyle, but they went. Many people, like my grandfather, who have little will to live, never exercise, and eat like shit live to be 97. Good people die, young people, peaceful people, people who exercise, people with a zest for life, with everything to live for. People jump out of airplanes and their parachutes don't open and they survive. Perfectly healthy babies go to sleep and never wake up.

I think we have responsibility for the quality of our lives, but not the number of our days. When it's our time to go, we go.

Be ready. Make peace with ourselves now, today. Live: free of fear, anxiety, anger, hate. Love, be glad, be kind, make every day count. Have hope, have appreciation for each day that arrives. Never forget we are mortal. Seek the immortal beauty while we are here.

Death is not a terrible thing, it's part of the whole deal. Our culture seeks to avoid death at all costs, which is nuts, expensive, and futile.

[1776Forever]

24. I loved your explanation - I always say "After all this is not heaven"

"Be ready. Make peace with ourselves now, today. Live: free of fear, anxiety, anger, hate. Love, be glad, be kind, make every day count. Have hope, have appreciation for each day that arrives. Never forget we are mortal. Seek the immortal beauty while we are here."

Bravo! Seek the immortal beauty while we are here and pass it on!

[MindMatter]

23. The cause of death is not scary. It is the cause of life that is scary.

News flash. We are all going to die. Many different ways. Some quick. Some lingering. Some excruciatingly painful. Some merciful. But we'll all be dead nonetheless.

And then all that is left is a legacy of what we did while we were alive. Here lies a man who had a multitude of opportunities to seek the truth and present it to America. And he didn't. That is his legacy.

We only get so many heartbeats. It is wise to do the right thing every time we have an opportunity to make a difference. Otherwise we end up like Russert -- a heck of a nice guy who failed to do his job at the moments of truth.

[minnesota_liberal]

27. Heard about Russert's death while stepping onto the elliptical trainer

It was a sad story to be sure but hearing about it certainly made it easier to keep up my pace that day.

A 56-year-old has no business having a heart attack.

[evilkumquat]

30. Aren't Humans in the "Wild" Only Supposed to Reach 40 Anyway?

I mean, isn't any day over your 14,600th just a gift?