It kills more people in the U.S. each year than breast cancer, lung cancer and HIV/AIDS combined. The condition is called sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) – and it only takes minutes to claim a person’s life.
“Sudden cardiac arrest is a real national tragedy,” Dr. Leslie Saxon, chief of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Southern California, indicated (Source: FOXNews.com.) “It’s most often due to a sudden, very rapid heart rhythm. The heart goes so fast a person dies right away unless they’re shocked out of it with a defibrillator.”
While it hasn’t been confirmed what caused Michael Jackson to go into full cardiac arrest — the Los Angeles Times reported that Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his Los Angeles home around 12:30 p.m. and sources with the Los Angeles Fire Department said he had no pulse either.
The paramedics tried to resuscitate Jackson and took him to UCLA Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.
“Even CPR can only bridge a person to a defibrillation,” Saxon said. “So the big thing about these events is they have to be witnessed. The odds are very good if someone witnesses it and shocks them right away. That’s why people in places such as airports and casinos have a higher rate of survival because there are a lot of people around and a lot of defibrillators.”
Saxon said the problem is – if the sudden cardiac arrest is not witnessed there’s less than 1 to 2 percent survival rate outside of a hospital.
“You only have minutes to restore good blood flow,” she said. “That’s why you have to act early because the brain and organs cannot live without blood flow.”The fact is – is that it takes just 4 to 6 minutes after cardiac arrest before a person experiences brain death and ultimately complete death.
During sudden cardiac arrest, electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating, the American Heart Association said on its Web Site. It’s not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is blocked. However, a heart attack may cause cardiac arrest.
Other common causes include heart disease, respiratory arrest, electrocution, drowning, choking and trauma. Cardiac arrest can also occur without any known cause.
“Most adults who have sudden cardiac arrest — it’s their first symptom — some people don’t even have chest pain,” Saxon said.
An adverse response to prescription drugs or illicit use of drugs can also cause arrhythmias leading to cardiac arrest.
Brian Oxman, Jackson’s spokesperson and longtime family, hinted that the singer may have had trouble with prescription drugs.
“This was something which I feared and something which I warned about,” Oxman told CNN. “I can tell you for sure that this is something I warned about. Where there is smoke there is fire.”
Oxman told CNN that the singer was taking drugs to deal with past injuries, such as a broken back and broken leg, which were getting in the way of his concert rehearsals.Jackson was slated to kick-off a 50 concert tour starting in London July 13th.An autopsy on Jackson will likely take place today.
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