George Steinbrenner died
Submitted by Denise Reynolds
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who celebrated his 80th birthday on July 4th, died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack at his home in Tampa, Florida. Steinbrenner had been in fragile health for years, according to news reports, having survived several strokes. His death today reminds us that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans, and age is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
Each year, over a million people in the US have a heart attack (also called a myocardial infarction), and about half of them die. Most heart attacks happen when a clot in the coronary artery blocks the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart. This often leads to an irregular heartbeat, called an arrhythmia that causes a severe decrease in the pumping function of the heart.
According to the American Heart Association, the term "massive heart attack" is often incorrectly used to describe sudden death of the patient, and not the extent of the damage to the heart muscle. "Cardiac arrest" is a term that describes an abrupt loss of heart function.