After the untimely and tragic death of 32-year-old actress Brittany Murphy, speculation has swirled around many possible causes, including her very thin appearance, her general health, the number of "prescription drugs" allegedly found in her home, and even her allegedly unsavory husband. But the reports that seem most relevant are that she was diabetic (almost certainly an insulin-dependent Type 1, considering her age and weight), that she had serious flu like symptoms with copious vomiting, and allegedly had some type of heart problem going back to her childhood. If an unsafe dieting regimen had led to her extreme thinness, especially a bulimia -type behavior, this could have easily exacerbated her heart condition. Following that with a severe gastrointestinal "flu" would have resulted in life-threatening dehydration, diabetic ketoacidosis and depletion of potassium, a key electrolyte for maintaining normal heart rhythm. Untreated, the ultimate conclusion would have been ketoacidotic coma and/or cardiac arrest. Murphy has been described as intelligent, but whether that means she was a well-trained diabetic prepared to deal with a dehydrating illness, we may never know. At a minimum, she should have been making every effort to rehydrate herself and to replenish her potassium stores with foods such as tea or bananas. Almost certainly, a person in her condition should have been in intensive hospital care, with intravenous hydration and nutrition, antibiotics, and heart monitoring. In any event, I can't help but feel that this was an avoidable tragedy. HOWARD B. WITTELS, WAYZATA
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It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.
