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Jun 26, 2009 12:30 PM | 18
Michael Jackson, the moon-walking pop star who once patented "anti-gravity" shoes to enhance his stage performances, died of cardiac arrest yesterday at age 50.
When Jackson was rushed to the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center yesterday afternoon, he was reportedly unconscious and not breathing. His doctors were unable to resuscitate him. Jackson was declared dead from cardiac arrest, but details of its cause are still unknown.
Brian Oxman, a spokesman for the family, told CNN that they had been concerned for his health for many months. "His use of medications had gotten in the way," Oxman said, "his injuries which he had sustained performing, where he had broken a vertebrae, and he had broken his leg from a fall on the stage, were getting in the way."
In 2005, when he was tried and cleared on child molestation charges in California, Jackson's attorneys had said he became addicted to morphine and the painkiller Demerol, which he is said to have received an injection of yesterday. Jackson has a long history of health troubles, including rumors last year that he had alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency disorder and needed a lung transplant for severe emphysema.
Could these conditions have played into Jackson's death? And what is the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack?
Christie Ballantyne, interim chief of cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Tex., tells Scientific American that cardiac arrest just means that someone has lost their blood pressure and their pulse. "Usually, this means there has been a collapse of the circulatory systems and many times, it is due to an [accelerated] heartbeat," he says. When the heart is contracting so quickly, blood can no longer be squeezed from the pumping chamber and circulate to the brain, leading to death within minutes.
This accelerated heartbeat, or arrhythmia, can be a sign of a heart attack, which stems from buildup of plaque in the arteries. But not all heart attacks lead to cardiac arrest, and they are not the only cause of cardiac arrests, Ballantyne says. Cardiac arrest can occur from a major blood clot in the lung or a heart enlarged from infection or other damage. Previous heart attacks can also leave scars that injure the heart's pacemaking electrical system.
A recent article in Forbes highlights the challenges for doctors trying to reduce the 200,000 to 300,000 Americans who die each year from sudden cardiac arrest. "The biggest bugaboo in the field is we don't know how to predict arrest," Benjamin Abella, director of the Center for Resuscitation Science at the University of Pennsylvania told the magazine. "The stars just align in the wrong way." Implanted defibrillators have gone a long way towards reducing deaths among high risk heart patients, but many people who succumb to cardiac arrest every year have no history of heart problems, leading some researchers to begin the hunt for genetic clues.
Ballantyne points out that severe lung problems or the use of depressant drugs like Demerol leads to a condition called cardiopulmonary arrest, where the lungs stop working before the heart. Stimulants like cocaine, on the other hand, can accelerate the heartbeat and lead to cardiac arrest.
Jackson's autopsy results are expected to be made public later this afternoon, but toxicology analysis, which could indicate what drugs, if any, he was taking will not be available for several weeks.
Image of Michael Jackson sticker courtesy Tobyotter via Flickr
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18 Comments
Add CommentEt tu SciAm?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe this site should be called PopAm.
Lighten up, Candide. It is a big story (and SciAm is a popular science magazine - although possibly the most serious) and no one else has bothered to explain what cardiac arrest is.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would consider an article purity bad if it does not answer the questions it asked because what is the point of asking them if you do not plan to TRY to answer them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAccording to me healt problem probably coming when you continue to use medicine for long time. Or if you make an abuse of them (medicine)!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSame problem with junk food!
Ciao
LIFE MAY END
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBUT THE SUSCESS WHICH HE ACHIVED WOULD NEVER END
HE HAS DISAPPEARED FROM OUR EYES
BUT
NOT FORM OUR HEARTS
MAY GOD BLESS HIS SOUL TO REST IN PEACE
RIP MJ...I can't believe he's gone..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI guess we'll never really know what happened to him in his final hours...I just hope the autopsy gives clarity and closure to the Jackson family..
http://www.iheartradio.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=5669925&cmp=cait_finalhours
in far away ind we have always been fed with the negative news about the popular singer dancer who projected the pelvic thrust, which nasty jerk has pervaded into all all our beautiful amorous dances. our TV is quite loaded with his reports and we are unhappy tho not shocked.---------- m h s r i p .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDehydration and severe physical stress=cardiac arrest
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDid we all forget the child molesting he most certainly was apart of? I cant stand the stupidity of these people. MJ was a freak. People dying in Iran for a reason and you people are all crying over MJ? I feel like I am taking crazy pills.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMyspace.com/kayomarbilus blog for michael jackson autopsy photo, and much more!! go to myspace.com/kayomarbilus. Michael Jackson died from diprivan, the diprivan drug can induce hypnosis within 40 seconds from the start of injection, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. Those close to Michael Jackson now claim that drug diprivan may have been somewhat related to myriad conditions leading to the singers untimely death last week.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSpecifically, diprivan (also known as propofol) is a powerful agent that can induce hypnosis and a general state of unconsciousness within 40 seconds of being consumed.
Jacksons nutritionist, Cherilyn Lee, reportedly said Jackson had tried to get her to prescribe the medication for him but she refused. Several days ago, she claims she received a troubling call from Jackson which lead her to believe he may have somehow obtained diprivin.
More questions about Michael Jacksons medications arose Tuesday when a nurse came forward to say that Jackson had asked her in April for a power sedative.
Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who operates a Los Angeles-based nutritional counseling business, told CNN that Jackson was complaining of insomnia and pleaded for her to get him some Diprivan (propofol), a drug usually used to start or maintain anesthesia during surgeries.
Lee said she told Jackson the medication is not safe.
Four days before Jacksons death, Lee said, a Jackson staffer called and said the pop star was complaining that one side of his body was hot and the other side was cold .
You need to go to hospital, she told the staffer, with Jackson apparently in earshot.
An injection of Diprivan can induce hypnosis within 40 seconds from the start of injection, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The drugs product label says that propofol should only be administered by people trained in the administration of general anesthesia. Sedated patients should be continuously monitored, the product label says, and equipment to provide artificial ventilation, administration of oxygen and instituting CPR must be immediately available.
The product label warns that use of propofol for sedating adult and pediatric intensive care unit patients has been associated with organ system failures that have resulted in death.
Myspace.com/kayomarbilus blog for michael jackson autopsy photo, and much more!! go to myspace.com/kayomarbilus. Michael Jackson died from diprivan, the diprivan drug can induce hypnosis within 40 seconds from the start of injection, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. Those close to Michael Jackson now claim that drug diprivan may have been somewhat related to myriad conditions leading to the singer’s untimely death last week.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSpecifically, diprivan (also known as propofol) is a powerful agent that can induce hypnosis and a general state of unconsciousness within 40 seconds of being consumed.
Jackson’s nutritionist, Cherilyn Lee, reportedly said Jackson had tried to get her to prescribe the medication for him but she refused. Several days ago, she claims she received a troubling call from Jackson which lead her to believe he may have somehow obtained diprivin.
More questions about Michael Jackson’s medications arose Tuesday when a nurse came forward to say that Jackson had asked her in April for a power sedative.
Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who operates a Los Angeles-based nutritional counseling business, told CNN that Jackson was complaining of insomnia and pleaded for her to get him some Diprivan (propofol), a drug usually used to start or maintain anesthesia during surgeries.
Lee said she told Jackson “the medication is not safe.”
Four days before Jackson’s death, Lee said, a Jackson staffer called and said the pop star was complaining that one side of his body was hot and the other side was cold .
“You need to go to hospital,” she told the staffer, with Jackson apparently in earshot.
An injection of Diprivan can induce hypnosis within 40 seconds from the start of injection, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The drug’s product label says that propofol should only be administered by people “trained in the administration of general anesthesia.” Sedated patients should be continuously monitored, the product label says, and equipment to provide artificial ventilation, administration of oxygen and instituting CPR “must be immediately available.”
The product label warns that use of propofol for sedating adult and pediatric intensive care unit patients has been associated with organ system failures that have resulted in death.
I am not a physician, but I believe that rapid heartbeat is called tachycardia, and not arrhythmia, as stated in the article. Arrhythmia means irregular heartbeat and is associated with fibrillation of an atrium or a ventricle. Fibrillation can lead to stroke or cardiac arrest. I believe that one can have a slow but irregular heart beat. Also, I think one can have a rapid but regular heartbeat.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisClearly, this isn't Michael Jackson... but it's still funny to watch. If you don't laugh at this, check for a pulse.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.zoomtorrents.com?file=Michael_Jackson-Leaked-Sex_Tape-DVD.avi
Clearly, this isn't Michael Jackson... but it's still funny to watch. If you don't laugh at this, check for a pulse.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.zoomtorrents.com?file=Michael_Jackson-Leaked-Sex_Tape-DVD.avi
Why was there a cardiologist present with him at his home? The news reported his stomach was full of pills. Could this possibly be a suicide? As a nearly 50 year old man myself and I found myself faced with having to try and do what I did as a 25-30 year old man in front of millions of people, it would have scared the beegebers out of me. The fact they had found pills in his stomach tells me he died before the pills had made there way to his system. The toxicology levels will tell more
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMichael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago. The son of African-American parents Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson and Katherine Esther Scruse, he was the seventh of nine children. His siblings are Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Janet. Joseph Jackson was a steel mill employee who often performed in an R&B band called The Falcons with his brother Luther. Jackson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by his devout mother. Joseph Jackson has an additional daughter named Joh Vonnie Jackson who is actually the youngest sibling of Michael Jackson. The family lived at 2300 Jackson St., near Roosevelt Park; Michael often reflected that he wanted to play with neighborhood children but was rarely allowed because of the incessant rehearsals demanded by his father.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBooks of Michael Jackson can be found at http://kingjacko.co.cc/
Jackson had a notable impact on music and culture throughout the world. He broke down racial barriers, transformed the art of the music video and paved the way for modern pop music in his own country.
Music of Michael Jackson can be found at http://kingjacko.co.cc/
For much of his career, he had an "unparalleled" level of worldwide influence over the younger generation through his musical and humanitarian contributions. Jackson donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his Heal the World Foundation, charity singles, and support of 39 charities.
Sales of any item at http://kingjacko.co.cc/ will be donated to charities
On June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by his personal physician were unsuccessful. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 p.m. (PDT), arriving three minutes and seventeen seconds later at Jackson's location. He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts continued both en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for an hour further after arriving at approximately 1:13 p.m. (20:13 UTC). He was noted to have been in cardiac arrest by the paramedics who attended him at his house. Jackson was pronounced dead at approximately 2:26 p.m. local time (21:26 UTC). Rumors and news of Jackson's death broke web records, triggering a cyberspace traffic jam and creating severe traffic spikes to websites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia. Vigils were held by members of the general public after the death.
You can find many things to remember Michael Jackson at http://kingjacko.co.cc/
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 June 25, 2009), his music will live forever.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago. The son of African-American parents Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson and Katherine Esther Scruse, he was the seventh of nine children. His siblings are Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Janet. Joseph Jackson was a steel mill employee who often performed in an R&B band called The Falcons with his brother Luther. Jackson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by his devout mother. Joseph Jackson has an additional daughter named Joh Vonnie Jackson who is actually the youngest sibling of Michael Jackson. The family lived at 2300 Jackson St., near Roosevelt Park; Michael often reflected that he wanted to play with neighborhood children but was rarely allowed because of the incessant rehearsals demanded by his father.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBooks of Michael Jackson can be found at http://kingjacko.co.cc/
Jackson had a notable impact on music and culture throughout the world. He broke down racial barriers, transformed the art of the music video and paved the way for modern pop music in his own country.
Music of Michael Jackson can be found at http://kingjacko.co.cc/
For much of his career, he had an "unparalleled" level of worldwide influence over the younger generation through his musical and humanitarian contributions. Jackson donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his Heal the World Foundation, charity singles, and support of 39 charities.
Sales of any item at http://kingjacko.co.cc/ will be donated to charities
On June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by his personal physician were unsuccessful. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 p.m. (PDT), arriving three minutes and seventeen seconds later at Jackson's location. He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts continued both en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for an hour further after arriving at approximately 1:13 p.m. (20:13 UTC). He was noted to have been in cardiac arrest by the paramedics who attended him at his house. Jackson was pronounced dead at approximately 2:26 p.m. local time (21:26 UTC). Rumors and news of Jackson's death broke web records, triggering a cyberspace traffic jam and creating severe traffic spikes to websites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia. Vigils were held by members of the general public after the death.
You can find many things to remember Michael Jackson at http://kingjacko.co.cc/
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009), his music will live forever.
So was it drugs? Have they concluded their scientific results?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisR.I.P Michael,
Here is a site with breaking news about his death...
www.abcMichaelJacksondeadNews.com
Also add comments.
His music will live on.