This drives me nuts! I mean literally insane! And that's not a good thing when you're already postal.
The news media is reporting today that Michael Jackson died of a cardiac arrest. This is not the first time I have seen this on the TV or in the newspaper. Unfortunately, I have even seen it listed as the cause of death on death certificates, put there by professionals who really ought to know better.
Nobody dies of cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is a mechanism of death, it is a definition of death, but it is not a cause. Saying Michael Jackson died because of cardiac arrest is equivalent to saying Helio Castronevas won the Indy 500 because he crossed the finish line first.
Of course, Helio did win the Indy 500 because he crossed the finish line first, but that's because crossing the finish line first is the definition of winning. Similarly, Michael didn't die of cardiac arrest because cardiac arrest is the definition of death. (Or at least one definition of death, the one that is most incontrovertible.)
Cardiac arrest is caused by something else. That something else could be a coronary thrombus, a primary ventricular arrhythmia, anoxia, penetrating trauma, or any number of things. But there is a something else, and that something else is the cause of death.
If anyone out there knows of someone who is dead and has not had cardiac arrest, please let me know. I've been looking for something unique to write up in a medical journal.
Before anybody throws a brain death case at me, do note that when you take a brain dead patient off life support, they progress to cardiac arrest. I also do not want any references to your favorite zombie movie, unless you have access to the actual zombies.
Michael Jackson experienced cardiac arrest and now meets the definition of being dead. But that is not what killed him. We must all wait for the autopsy results to find out what that something is.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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2 comments:
Since scintillating details have been slowly leaking out by what I will bet my UEB check is a LA coroner office employee, it all makes a terrible sense. The sad weight, now the leaked terse comment he was anoxic, which is a medical term for he overdosed and his doc was in the bathroom long enough for his respirations to slow down eventually to zilch, underfeed oxygen to his brain tissues 10-15-20 minutes, causing cell injury, necrosis/ brain tissue death, and eventually his shocking un-jump-startable-faint pulse-still warm-when found-sad, sad, sad, Anoxia death.Hey the LA coroner leak aint such a wild idea. Obviously a paramedic was cell phone photo clicking away as Jackson lay in extremis. And please no more Wacko Jacko: he is dead and square with the house.
I saw these "leaked" comments; I also saw the "leaked" reports of the family's second autopsy that confirmed the LA coroner's report. However, the LA coroner's office has issued a press release that the leaked "results" of the autopsy are not accurate. We still know nothing. Physical finding on autopsy are not likely to reveal the true cause of death in this case. We are still going to have to wait for the official report, which is on hold pending toxicology and histological testing.
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