Death of Tim Russert

[Superbob]

Tim Russert, moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died this afternoon at age 58, apparently of a massive heart attack while working in the Washington bureau. In my view, he was one of the most-respected high-profile media folks -- he asked tough questions, but he asked them of both sides. He was fair-minded and intelligent and very hard-working. It is hard to imagine a presidential campaign without his involvement.

From the perspective of this forum, it will be interesting to find out later if he had an undiagnosed cardiac condition that could have been corrected.

For now, though, condolences to his family, many friends, and colleagues. He was one of a kind in the journalism business and will be missed.

 

[Phyllis]

Watching it now and just shocked. Dick and I never miss a Sunday morning with Tim and Meet the Press. He will be dearly missed and our hearts go out to his family.

 

[Cooker]

I echo what SuperBob said about Mr. Russert....This is a great loss to political reporting....My condolences to his family and friends.

 

[hensylee]

I just heard, too. I would make excuses to stay home from church to watch his show. It was truly outstanding. He's been around so long. I am going to miss this man and so many in the world will, too. Such a great loss.

 

[Mary]

He will be missed in this household too.

 

[Superbob]

I'm sure there will be more about this in coming days, but tonight NBC News has this in its article about Tim's death:

"Russert?s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.

"Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it was well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April, Newman said. An autopsy revealed that he also had an enlarged heart, Newman said."

 

[njean]

I was so shocked & saddened to hear about Tim's untimely death! What a huge loss to his family & his collegues. He will be sorely missed indeed!

 

[Duff Man]

"Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it was well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April, Newman said. An autopsy revealed that he also had an enlarged heart, Newman said."

That's pretty wild how fast they autopsied him. Scary he just had a stress test too.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.

"Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it was well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April, Newman said. An autopsy revealed that he also had an enlarged heart, Newman said."

To my understanding, an enlarged heart is not a symptom of Coronary Artery Disease. I wonder if he also had an undiagnosed Heart Valve issue which is a more common cause of an enlarged heart...

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Andrew'sMom]

I heard the news last night & was shocked as well. He was a great man & a great journalist. A news junkie, I was glued to my TV for the rest of the evening watching NBC ... from the way people talked of him you could easily tell how greatly liked, admired & respected among his friends and colleagues.

 

[strawberry]

I always liked Tim Russert...now I regret not having the time to watch this past primary season. I have a question though...if he was diagnosed with unsymptomatic cardiovascular disease, why did it take an autopsy to reveal an enlarged heart? Sudden cardiac death is often a result of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or an enlargement from hypertension. If he was under a Dr. care for heart disease, wouldn't an echo or ekg show the enlarged heart? They say it wouldn't have mattere, sometimes these things happen but some people with risk factors have implanted cardio defbrillators. It's just so sad. He was like a big teddy bear.

 

[Superbob]

I wonder about the autopsy finding of an enlarged heart, too. I assume we will be hearing more about that in the days and weeks to come. You know, he was such a good TV journalist, I think he would want all that known, so others might benefit.