Leslie Jordan’s cause of death has been confirmed: The Emmy Award–winning actor and comedian was involved in a car crash in Hollywood on October 24, and a medical event had triggered the incident: sudden cardiac dysfunction, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Jordan, who was 67, had veered his car into a building and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, per People. The Will & Grace star had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time. The coroner’s report listed atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as a secondary cause of death, and determined that Jordan died of “natural” causes.
What is “sudden cardiac dysfunction,” exactly?
For the record, “sudden cardiac dysfunction” isn’t an official medical term, Holly S. Andersen, MD, attending cardiologist and associate professor of clinical medicine at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SELF.
Instead, this is “a general term for the heart suddenly stopping its normal function,” Thomas Boyden, MD, medical director of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at Corewell Health West in Michigan, tells SELF. That means it stops “rhythmically beating and pumping oxygenated blood to vital organs and tissues.”
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Arteriosclerotic heart disease (atherosclerosis) is characterized by a buildup of fatty deposits called plaque in the walls of the arteries, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). This causes the arteries to narrow, thicken, or harden, which can reduce the supply of oxygen-rich blood to other vital parts of the body. When this plaque buildup develops in the arteries of the heart, it’s called coronary artery disease, which is the most common form of heart disease in the United States, Dr. Andersen notes.
This can set the stage for all sorts of cardiac complications, including a blood clot, heart attack, angina (chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart), stroke, heart failure, or an aneurysm, among others. For example, Dr. Andersen notes: “This plaque can rupture without warning and cause a heart attack. The heart attack can then trigger sudden cardiac arrest—one type of dysfunction—which will cause someone to lose consciousness and crash.”
Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease “could also strain the heart, causing blood pressure to drop suddenly,” Dr. Andersen adds. This could also impair a person’s driving ability.
Who’s most at risk for arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease?
According to Dr. Andersen, the plaque buildup responsible for arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease “accumulates over years,” and it can technically affect anyone. (After all, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.) “This affects potentially all adults as they get older, especially people over the age of 50,” Marietta Ambrose, MD, MPH, board-certified cardiologist and associate clinical professor of medicine at Penn Medicine, tells SELF. “If you have a known family history of early heart disease in first-degree relatives, this disease can occur at an even younger age.” Your activity levels, diet, and history of smoking, among other factors, can also influence your risk.
Source: SELF
