Could Thyroid Treatment Have Saved Tim Russert?
Tuesday July 1, 2008
Dr. Jeffrey Dach thinks that based on the health information we have about Meet the Press's Tim Russert, who died earlier this month of a heart attack, that it's possible Russert was subclinically hypothyroid, and that diagnosis and thyroid treatment might have prevented Russert's fatal heart attack.
Photo: Evan Agostini / Getty Images Entertainment
Comments
Dr. Dach’s comments about both Tim Russert and George Carlin were interesting, and he may well be right about Russert having been subclinically hypothyroid. However, I was surprised to see no mention of Carlin’s past heart attacks in Dr. Dach’s article. Surely this history of heart attacks played a part in Carlin’s recent death. If anything, he was fortunate to have lived as long as he did.
I have read in a few places that Russert was suffering from diabetes, which also accelerates the rate of heart disease. I wonder if that new finding that gastric bypass gets rid of diabetes–before the weight is even lost–would have helped him? But his energy levels were astonishing, so I do not really believe he was suffering from thyroid issues, or if he was, they were not symptomatic. This was someone who could work 20 hours a day, and did on election nights. The loss of both of these gentlement is a great loss. I will miss them.
After reading “Hypothyroidism Type 2″, by Dr. Mark Starr MD, it is very obvious that Tim Russert had signs of myxedema on his face.
And, knowing the other health information made public (enlarged heart, diabetic, high blood pressure & high cholesterol “controlled”, obesity, heart disease), it seems quite certain that Tim had unrecognized hypothyroidism.
Dr. Broda Barnes MD, Ph.D pointed out a long time ago that almost all diabetics have a concomitant hypothyroidism, and if it’s properly treated with thyroid extract, diabetics don’t develop the usual diabetic complications including heart disease. It is too bad for Tim that his doctor wasn’t made aware of this in medical school.
I don’t blame his doctor, I blame an incompetent medical system that has overlooked several of the most significant health discoveries ever made. Not only by Barnes, but Hertoghe and others:
- widespread hypothyroidism > 40% population (post WW2)
- hypothyroidism is cause of atherosclerosis leading to heart attacks (not diet & cholesterol)
- blood tests are not reliable for detecting hypothyroidism in many patients
- virtually all diabetics have hypothyroidism
- correcting thyroid deficiencies reduces cancer rates by 50%.
- and more…
I am the only on to notice that there is a lot of money being made from treating all the symptoms of widespread unrecognized hypothyroidism: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart surgery, impotence, depression, skin problems, arthritis… etc.
For more, I recommend:
-Hypothyroidism Type 2, Dr. Mark Starr MD
-Hypothyroidism: the Unsuspected Illness, Barnes & Galton
-Your Thyroid and how to keep it healthy, Dr. Barry Durrant-Peatfield
P.S. Another similar recent death is John Ritter, also with obvious myxedema.
Thanks to Thomas; I agree with everything you have said and I would only add a few things: I thought of both Tim Russert and George Carlin as victims of hypothyroidism, because I am very aware of the susceptibility of those of us (like myself and Mary, I think)who have Irish and/or Scottish ancestry, often with red hair (or just red highlights in the hair). Our hair often turns white as we age (think Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Tip O’Neal, all of whom have myxedema, and therefore hypothyroidism according to Mark Starr — it explains Clinton’s hoarseness and heart disease, and possibly John McCain’s skin cancer). George Carlin may well have had hypothyroidism, despite being very thin; Like many millions, I have the obese form, but I have a friend who is anorexic looking with hypothyroidism and resultant fibromyalgia, and many of the photos in Mark Starr’s book from old medical texts are of thin patients. Hypothyroidism disrupts normal appetite, so some eat carbohydrates for energy and some do not eat much of anything.
I would hope that the deaths of famous individuals with heart disease and expensive medical care would reveal the epidemic of hypothyroidism, but even Oprah will not fully cover her own disease on her show with guests who actually know something about the topic. The tech who did my thyroid radioiodine uptake scan summed a big part of the problem up nicely when he said “the problem is that pharmaceutical companies are educating our doctors these days.” Armour thyroid is not profitable for corporate interests, as are all the drugs devised to treat the effects of hypothyroidism. Greed is ruling our world.