Posted on 01/28/2008 1:14:27 PM PST by Perdogg
SOURCES involved in the investigation into Aussie actor Heath Ledger's death say he might have died from natural causes, according to US website TMZ.
The site has revealed that sources, who it says are "intimately involved" in the death case, say the level of toxicity (caused by medication) in Ledger's blood was low enough that it may not have caused his death.
The revelation sheds new light on the actor's death which, so far, has been the subject of much speculation.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
On the other hand, it's a shame that 911 wasn't called right away -- precious minutes were wasted while the masseuse called Mary Kate Olsen.
I'm not sure these two factoids go together very well, but I don't think the journalist caught it.
"Might have..."
This article is really useful in that it narrows down the possibilities to natural causes or unnatural causes.
I’ve seen nothing to indicate anything other than natural causes, either in the descriptions of the incident, or in potential motive motive for suicide.
I think taking a powerful sleeping pill while sick with pneumonia shows bad judgement, but being sick can hamper one’s judgement. So can being dependent on sleeping pills.
I’m waiting for some actual information.
My only point was that this article has none.
Seemed like a nice enough guy. Hope he slipped off naturally in his sleep. That's the way to go, though sixty or so years later would be vastly preferrable.
It sucks though, if he was too groggy to call for help when he had breathing problems. I’ve had family members sick in the past few months, and I think taking a powerful sleeping pill would be very unwise.
One thing is for certain. You are dead.
Please don’t take that as a threat, your name lept out at me after I read your comment.
Dead doesn't do that.
it was the housekeeper who heard him snoring around noon.
Perhaps it was sleep apnea, that’s how Reggie White died.
If he was snoring, he may have had sleep apnea, the effects of which were compounded by pneumonia, then a powerful sleeping pill.
A young man about Ledger’s age died of apnea last year, here in Utah. He had a respiratory infection. That, combined with the apnea, was enough to cause him to die in his sleep, even without the sleeping pills.
Oops. You beat me to it.
If this is true, I wonder if the media will retract all their wild speculation and character attacks implying illicit drug use, suicide, depression, etc. Probably not.
>>>>>I think taking a powerful sleeping pill while sick with pneumonia shows bad judgement,
People with pneumonia often don’t know they have it. Just to keep it simple, symptoms could manifest more noticeably while laying down in bed, as fluids collect in the lungs making breathing more difficult. The symptoms might improve when one is standing or sitting. Because this symptom comes and goes, a person (particularly an otherwise healthy young person) might dismiss or not even consider that they have a serious illness.
A related effect of this breathing difficulty might be anxiety or even panic and certainly sleeplessness. So it’s plausible that someone with pneumonia (not knowing they have it) might reach for a sleeping pill thinking it will help them to “calm down”. In fact they might be overriding the signals that are saying “Hey buddy! Do something about this!”
The thing is, the pneumonia patient may now have crossed the line such that the breathing difficulty caused by increasing fluid buildup in the lungs now continues unabated because the patient is sedated. I supposed it’s even possible that the sedative itself could actually increase the rate of fluid production in the lungs.
People die of pneumonia all the time, even in hospitals and while under a doctor’s care. IMO it seems perfectly plausible that a prescribed dosage of Xanax or a sleep medication could cause a pneumonia sufferer to sleep through their own suffocation.
It’s sad really. Any competent EMS team would immediately have provided him with supplementary oxygen and probably a shot of lasix to clear the lungs.
So the bottom line is that he might have survived and been in good health today had he reached for 911 rather than a sedative.
>>>>He had a respiratory infection. That, combined with the apnea, was enough to cause him to die in his sleep, even without the sleeping pills.
Agreed. Even respiratory infection alone (e.g., pneumonia) kills sufferers through what amounts to suffocation.
He overdosed and naturally, his heart stopped beating.
>>>>>breathing problems. I’ve had family members sick in the past few months, and I think taking a powerful sleeping pill would be very unwise.
I personally had something like this several months ago. Initially diagnosed in ER as “severe pneumonia”, it turned out not to be, but had some of these lung-fluid and breathing symptoms. It was pretty darned frightening until the 911 EMS arrived and provided oxygen.
Anyway, all better now but I can easily see how a *real* pneumonia sufferer might have worse symptoms and/or improper response to the symptoms and end up .....
The problem is that the lung-fluids can be episodic: one minute you’re fine and 10 minutes later you’re having breathing problems. Then fine again. If you ignore those swings too many times or for too long, a subsequent episode might be the last.
My caution is that if you see someone else having these kinds of breathing episodes, and particularly if their breathing or coughing sounds “wet”, you should make sure that they get to an ER or call 911 on their behalf. This stuff can seem innocuous but it can also kill.
thats wrong, the maid was the one that reportedly heard the snoring, not the massuese
Or that playing the Joker is what killed him.
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