Author: John L (---.avaya.com)
Date: 01-27-03 08:00
As a sarc who's found this site to be a godsend, I thought the sarc community might be interested in this. The following is taken from the NBC affiliate's website here in Chicago. Darrian was a sports newsanchor here. It's too bad the station didn't have some of the info on this site to disseminate.
(Click here to read the article on NBC Chicago)
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Darrian Chapman's Cause Of Death Surprises Co-Workers
Cardiac Sarcoidosis Hard To Diagnose, Not Commonly Known
POSTED: 8:55 a.m. CST January 24, 2003
UPDATED: 10:22 a.m. CST January 24, 2003
CHICAGO -- Despite having a heart attack seven years ago, Darrian Chapman seemed to recover well. At age 37, he was playing golf and more vigorous sports, including basketball and hockey. On the air, as an NBC5 sports anchorman and reporter, he was animated and lively.
When Chapman's heart suddenly stopped three months ago, everyone assumed it was due to his previous heart condition. But that was not the case. The actual cause of death, it turned out, was surprising and something most of us had never heard of: cardiac sarcoidosis.
Darrian Chapman Remembered
"Cardiac sarcoidosis is uncommon," said Dr. Peter Sporn of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, an expert in sarcoidosis.
Sarcoidosis is a mysterious inflammatory disease that's far more common in the lungs and skin than in the heart. The disease is practically unknown among the general public, NBC5 Healthwatch reporter Dr. Deanna Lites, said.
Andrea Wilson was first diagnosed with sarcoidosis by a doctor who did not know how to treat the disease, she said.
"I think the scariest part was when a doctor said, 'You know, we don't know what to do with you, and, basically, you have to get your affairs in order and be ready to go any minute,'" Wilson said.
But instead of giving up, Wilson found doctors who did know how to treat her. Now, seven years later, her only major symptom is fatigue. Wilson takes a number of medications. Blood tests help to determine if the treatments are working.
Lites said that even though sarcoidosis is largely unknown, about one in 3,000 Americans has some form of the disease. Most of them recover on their own, Lites said.
"But in about one-third of the cases, the course is chronic," Sporn said. "And that can be ongoing inflammation of the lung or other organs, such as the skin, eye, brain or heart."
In the lungs, the first symptom of sarcoidosis is usually a cough or wheeze, which can be mistaken for a cold. To diagnose it, doctors need a chest X-ray and a biopsy. But sarcoidosis is more difficult to pinpoint in other organs.
When sarcoidosis invades the heart, it can weaken the muscle or, more commonly, short-circuit the heart's electrical impulses, Lites said.
"For example, irregular heart rhythms or arrhythmias can develop and be life threatening," Dr. Nancy Sassower, Wilson's physician, said.
Nobody knows the cause of sarcoidosis yet, but there may be a genetic link. That's one reason why Wilson and her husband have formed a foundation to help find a cure -- before their daughter is old enough to be at risk.
"Every time I look at her, I think, 'I've got to go on, I've got to push on,'" Wilson said. "So I think if not in my lifetime, at least in her lifetime we will have a cure."
Wilson and her husband will have more information on sarcoidosis at the NBC5 Health Fair. The fair is being held Saturday and Sunday, at Navy Pier.
For more information on the disease and research being done about it, visit Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research.
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