Two deaths, two icons - one death expected, though it still came as a surprise this morning. After a long battle with rectal cancer, Farrah Fawcett finally succumbed to a disease that she had managed to thwart, a second time, for three long years. Later this afternoon came the shocking news that Michael Jackson, talent extraordinaire had suddenly died of an unconfirmed heart event. Only, fifty years old, that diagnosis in someone who did not seem to have a family history or chronic history of heart disease, seems inexplicable.
Heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women in the US. Health professionals know that heart disease can remain undiagnosed; precursors to heart disease like high blood pressure can remain silent for years. What is clear is the Michael Jackson was under stress, alot of stress for years. Lawsuits, money issues, the challenge to remain relevant in the music world - stress of that nature can cause cortisol changes and inflammatory changes that can damage organs slowly and insidiously. There will more than likely be an autopsy (a family member says that a doctor was called to the house last night but he left without suggesting a hospital visit) and final determination of exact cause of death. If there is a moral to this medical story it is that stress, even if not the ultimate cause, probably had a hand in this young death.
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