Brittany Murphy Dies
Very, very sad. A 32 year old dying of cardiac arrest. The comments on TMZ are of course normal TMZ-quality comments, but many are immediately jumping to the conclusion that this is cocaine or bulimia related.
We won’t know the cause of death right now. But the comments in TMZ highlight the public’s misunderstanding of cocaine. One comment said “too much coke.”
Just to clarify…any cocaine intake, no matter how small, can be fatal. There really isn’t a dose-related effect. The majority of cocaine-related deaths are from cocaine causing your heart to beat abnormally which can lead to your heart to stop beating. Any element of even a mild abnormality with your heart, and cocaine can push it over into a fatal kind of heartbeat.
Here are other good cocaine-related facts:
- In 74% of cocaine-related fatalities in the United States, another drug, usually alcohol, had been co-ingested. The addition of alcohol to cocaine increases the risk of sudden death 25-fold.
- Of patients with cocaine-induced heart attack, 38% had normal coronary arteries. More than two thirds were moderate-to-heavy cigarette smokers (>1-2 packs daily). The average number of additional coronary risk factors, however, was less than 1.
- Most acute cocaine-related nontraumatic deaths are the result of tachydysrhythmias (abnormally fast heart beat). Other causes of sudden death associated with cocaine use include stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, hyperthermia, and the consequences of agitated delirium.
- In patients with an arrhythmogenic anatomic substrate, even low levels of cocaine can cause tachydysrhythmias. (if you have anything at all wrong with your heart, a tiny amount of cocaine can kill you).
- The hearts of cocaine users are 10% heavier than those of nonusers.
- Cocaine users have been found to have a 14-fold increase in risk of stroke when compared with matched controls.
- Of cocaine-associated deaths investigated by the Medical Examiner’s Department of Metropolitan Dade County, Florida, between 1979 and 1990, excited delirium was the terminal event in approximately 1 of every 6 fatalities. Patients with excited delirium had an immediate onset of bizarre and violent behavior, which included aggression, combativeness, hyperactivity, hyperthermia, extreme paranoia, unexpected strength, and/or incoherent shouting. All of these were followed by cardiorespiratory arrest.
- Cocaine was the most frequently reported substance associated with drug abuse or misuse deaths in 2003.Cocaine was reported in 39% of such drug deaths, ranging from 8-70% in various areas.
Cocaine is the most deadly drug in America…more so than heroin. There is no known safe dose of cocaine. Combining it with alcohol puts you at an alarmingly high even greater risk. It can kill people on their first use or their 10,000th use. Please think about this.
The doctor is IN on this one and he is RIGHT.
A note to all would-be horrible comedians on the internet: Just because someone you saw in a movie once died, it’s not “your day” to bring out all the stops and try to do your best impression of someone who is actually funny.
Imagine that Brittany Murphy has a family and people that care about her (which she does) for a fleeting moment and then think before you make a bad Clueless pun. I’m quitting the internet until this passes, which has been made a lot easier by being home in the ‘dead zone’.
56 Notes