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November 22, 2008 9:53:54 CST

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Russert's Death Grim Reminder of Heart Risks

Posted Jun 14, 08 12:10 PM CDT in US,  Science & Health,  Politics 

(Newser) – The heart attack that claimed Tim Russert’s life yesterday was a textbook example of a one of modern medicine's blind spots. Roughly 300,000 Americans die of unexpected, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Doctors can predict the likelihood of an incident happening in the next 10 years, but they can’t tell if a patient is in imminent danger.  

Russert knew he was at risk, and was undergoing treatment. As recently as April, he had a positive exercise stress test, but that means little, one cardiologist said: “You can still have plaque and be at risk.” It’s unclear if Russert was taking cholesterol-lowering statins, but even those aren’t reliable, the cardiologist said. “We have to look for other means.”

Source Wall Street Journal

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Tim Russert waves during the Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Nevada in this Jan. 15, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)
Tim Russert moderates the Republican Presidential Candidates Debate from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. in the Jan, 24, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/NBC, Virginia Sherwood)
Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet The Press, receives NAB's Television Broadcasting Hall of Fame Award during the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas, April 16, 2007.   (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Darrin Bush)
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