Details of the Disease That Killed Goldie

News of Goldie’s death hit the Internet this morning. What first looked like a prank has turned out to be true after several celebrities confirmed and the hospital issued a statement.

According to Reddington Hospital, the singer died of Pulmonary Embolism. The condition involves the blocking of the lung’s main artery (or one of its branches) by a substance that has travelled from through the body’s bloodstream, a process known as embolism.

Symptoms of the condition includes sudden shortness of breath, sharp chest pains that worsens during coughing, heavy breathing and pink, foamy mucus forming during coughs.

The most common cause of Pulmonary Embolism is a blood clot on the leg makes its way up the lungs. In cases where the clot forms close to the skin, the results are not fatal. The fatal kind is is usually caused by DVT (deep vein thrombosis).

Pulmonary Embolism is not only caused by clots but other causes, through rare, include tumors, air bubbles, amniotic fluid or fat.

Some factors might increase the chance of one getting Pulmonary Embolism including staying inactive for long periods of time (mostly after sitting on long flights). Goldie had just travelled from LA after attending the Grammy Awards.

Other causes include recent surgery in the limbs, hips, belly, brain; other diseases like cancer, heart failure, stroke or severe infections; Caeserian childbirth, birth control pills and smoking.

Anticoagulant therapy is the most common method of treatment, which takes a couple of days of administering in the hospital. Also known as blood thinners, anticoagulants prevent new clots and ensure the existing clots don’t grow further.

Other personalities of note who have died of Pulmonary Embolism include rapper Heavy D, artiste Frida Kahlo, actor James Stewart and Prince Alexander of Belgium.