The death of author Julie Powell is putting a spotlight on cardiac arrest.
Powell wrote "Julie & Julia," where she documented her journey trying to cook every recipe in Julia Child's classic cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. It started out as a popular blog and then became a book.
The book later became a feature film starring Meryl Streep.
Her husband Eric Powell said she died of cardiac arrest at her home in upstate New York at 49-years-old.
Judy Clain, Powell's editor in chief, said, "She was a brilliant writer and a daring, original person and she will not be forgotten," as she confirmed the news.
On Oct. 25, as Good Morning America reported, Powell tweeted, "So I woke up with something that's literally Black Hairy Tongue. People, including my doctor, seem to think it's no big deal, and will go away soon, but it certainly is gross."
Dr. Darien Sutton, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and ABC News medical contributorsaidblack hairy tongue is alarming but benign and temporary. It can be caused by excessive alcohol, coffee, black tea, dehydration, smoking, poor oral hygiene or certain medications.
After people speculated that COVID might have something to do with it, Sutton said, "I think the reason why people speculated about this is that we know that there’s an association between COVID-19 and an increased risk of certain conditions that can cause cardiac arrest."
But, he said the only fact we know about her death is her husband confirming it was reportedly due to cardiac arrest.
"It simply means that the heart has stopped functioning," he said. "We do not know her medical history other than what she relayed in her tweets."