{"id":611,"date":"2021-04-06T03:04:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/2016\/05\/29\/what-caused-gary-shandlings-heart-attack\/"},"modified":"2021-04-09T21:47:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T21:47:34","slug":"what-caused-gary-shandlings-heart-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=611","title":{"rendered":"Garry Shandling&#8217;s High Blood Calcium"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 160px; height: 175px; float: left;\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/FamousDeaths\/shandling2.jpg\" alt=\"gary shandling\">A blood calcium test is one of the routine blood tests done on normal physical exams. If your doctor ever tells you that your blood calcium is high, make sure that you find a cause. The most common cause of high blood calcium is a parathyroid tumor, which usually can be removed and you are cured. Otherwise it can harm and even kill you.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div>Garry Shandling was a stand-up comedian, screen and television actor, director, writer and producer who was nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the star in <em>It\u2019s Garry Shandling\u2019s Show <\/em>and <em>The Larry Sanders Show<\/em>.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div>At age 66, with little warning, he died of a sudden massive heart attack. He had no previous heart attack warnings and had not consulted a doctor for more than a year. The day before he died, he complained of shortness of breath and chest pains to a doctor-friend who visited him at his home. The doctor told him that if he wasn\u2019t feeling better by the next day to go to an emergency room. The next morning at 10:30 AM, while calling 911, he fell on the floor unconscious. Paramedics rushed to his home, and since no one answered the bell, they broke the door down. They found him unconscious but with his heart still beating. He was rushed to St. John\u2019s Hospital in Santa Monica, but had died before they got him there.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gO7oNDDuoOU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><strong>Parathyroid Glands Control Calcium Levels<\/strong><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">Why would this man have a sudden fatal heart attack at the relatively young age of 66? &nbsp; He was not overweight. &nbsp;He was very fit, played basketball and boxed four times a week. &nbsp;He owned the Wildcard West Boxing Gym in Santa Monica &nbsp;and had a basketball court at his home.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">Three months before his death, he was on <em>Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee<\/em> and told the host, Jerry Seinfeld, that he had a hyperactive parathyroid gland. &nbsp;The parathyroid glands control calcium levels that send messages along nerves that regulate heart beats and mind function.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">Gary Shandling&#8217;s overactive parathyroid gland produced excess parathyroid hormone that can cause bone fractures, kidney stones, mood disorders, loss of memory, dementia, and heart attacks.&nbsp; High parathyroid hormone levels raise blood calcium levels by causing you to absorb more calcium from your diet and to draw calcium from your bones into your bloodstream. Taking calcium out of your bones weakens bones to increase fracture risk.&nbsp; People usually have four parathyroid glands located near the thyroid gland in the front of the neck. Shandling could have consulted a specialist who would have removed one or more of the overactive parathyroid glands and he would have been cured.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8DxBc5S6Wt8\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><strong>Never Ignore a High Blood Calcium Test<\/strong><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">A parathyroid tumor is the most common cause of high blood calcium. &nbsp;All of the other causes are far less common; they include:<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 a disease called sarcoidosis<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 a bone disorder called Paget&#8217;s Disease<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 milk-alkali syndrome (taking large amounts of dairy products to treat stomach ulcers)<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 excess intake of vitamin D pills<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 certain drugs such as diuretics.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">A hidden cancer, such as lung, breast or kidney cancer, squamous cell skin cancer or multiple myeloma, can cause high calcium, but this is rare and usually occurs only after the cancer has spread through the body.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">Please note that you can have a parathyroid tumor even if your blood calcium level is normal.&nbsp; People who have kidney stones or any of the other symptoms of an overactive parathyroid should get a blood test for parathyroid hormone.<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><strong>Hyperactive Parathyroid Increases Risk for Inflammation<\/strong><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">I cannot be certain that Shandling&#8217;s hyperactive parathyroid caused his heart attack, but it is a known cause of <a href=\"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/health\/morehealth\/inflammation-can-help-or-harm.html\">inflammation<\/a>. Plaques form in arteries when an overactive immune system, called inflammation, punches holes in the inner lining of arteries. &nbsp;The holes bleed and clot and then a plaque starts to form. &nbsp;Heart attacks are not caused by the plaques themselves. &nbsp;A heart attack occurs when a piece of plaque breaks off from the artery wall, which causes a clot to form at the injured spot. &nbsp;The clot extends to block all blood flow to part of the heart muscle. &nbsp; The heart muscle&#8217;s sudden complete lack of oxygen causes that part of the muscle to hurt and die. &nbsp; After the start of a heart attack, a person has only about 90 minutes to get to a hospital and have a tube inserted into the blocked artery to open the artery and allow blood to flow to the damaged heart muscle. &nbsp;Otherwise, the oxygen-starved heart muscle dies and is replaced by scar tissue. &nbsp;Anything that causes chronic inflammation can lead to a heart attack.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>His heart attack could have been caused by any one of the many sources of inflammation. &nbsp;Scientists have not worked out all the mechanisms, but anything that damages cells in your body causes inflammation. This may explain why many unhealthful lifestyle habits are associated with increased risk for heart attacks, cancers and other diseases:<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 being overweight<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 smoking<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 drinking too much alcohol<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 exposure to excess sunlight<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 lack of exercise<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 dietary factors (see the <a href=\"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/morehealth\/reduce-inflammation-to-help-prevent-cancer.html\">list of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory foods<\/a>&nbsp;)<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 cumulative lifetime exposure to X rays and other radiation<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 exposure to certain chemicals or substances that are known carcinogens<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">\u2022 chronic infections anywhere in the body<\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Garry_Shandling\">Garry Shandling<\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"cke_pastebin\">November 29, 1949 &#8211; March 24, 2016<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A blood calcium test is one of the routine blood tests done on normal physical exams. If your doctor ever tells you that your blood calcium is high, make sure that you find a cause. The most common cause of high blood calcium is a parathyroid tumor, which usually can be removed and you are cured. Otherwise it can harm and even kill you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[930,929],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-histories-and-mysteries","tag-hyperactive-parathyroid","tag-parathyroid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}