What We're Reading: Tim Russert :: Diabetes Self-Management

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Jun 19, 2008

What We're Reading: Tim Russert

Web Team

Last Friday, Tim Russert, who was the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and the host of "Meet the Press," died suddenly. An autopsy later showed that Mr. Russert, who was 58 years old, had experienced sudden cardiac arrest, which is often fatal and is frequently referred to as sudden cardiac death, or sudden death.

In addition to publishing tributes, several media outlets have also published stories about the medical causes of Mr. Russert's death. The Newsweek article called "What Happened to Russert: The science of sudden cardiac arrest" delves into the risk factors for sudden cardiac death. In the article "Tim Russert's Death: Questions, Answers" at WebMD, three cardiologists answer questions about what may have happened to Russert. And in a story from ABC News, what has been dubbed "The Russert Effect" has some people asking their doctors more questions about heart health.

It is not clear whether Mr. Russert had diabetes—some news outlets report that he did, while others say he did not. He was, however, overweight and had coronary artery disease. To find out more about what you can do to keep your heart healthy, check out "Preventing Coronary Heart Disease" and the other articles in our Heart Health section.

This blog entry was written by Web Editor Tara Dairman.

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Unfortunately, the article on "Preventing Coronary Heart Disease" failed to mention the Mediterranean diet as a preventive measure. This diet also reduces risk of subsequent heart attacks and cardiac death in people who have already had one heart attack.

Among many scientific journal articles documenting my position, please see "Diets and cardiovascular disease: an evidence-based assessment" by Parin Parikh, et al, in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol. 45 (2005), pages 1379-1387.

-Steve Parker, M.D., author of "The Advance Mediterranean Diet"

Posted by: Steve Parker, M.D. | Jun 22, 2008 08:19 PM

We have just finished a 3 week trip to France including Paris and the Med. One really noticeable difference compared to Calgary is that the people seem much less stressed. (Calgary being the Houston of the north is very American in lifestyle, employers expect salaried professionals to work 50 to 60 hours per week.) Their gasoline is $9.00 per your gallon. And anything you can buy for 1 euro you can buy for $0.75 here, so much for purchasing price parity. The average French pay is about 1500 euros per month which is miserable. I think in Europe the lower class accepts their status in life whereas in America everyone hopes to become a millionaire. This is becoming more and more difficult in an economic pie that has to be shared somewhat with the rest of the world. Tim Russert may be a victim of American lifestyle.

Posted by: Calgarydiabetic | Jun 23, 2008 02:12 PM

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