Julie Powell's death at 49 puts spotlight on cardiac arrest - GMA

Her husband, Eric Powell, reported to The New York Times connected Tuesday that the writer died of a cardiac arrest connected Oct. 26 astatine their location successful Olivebridge, New York.

As galore fans took to societal media to explicit condolences, questions arose astir immoderate of Powell's last tweets, including her caller COVID-19 betterment and a "black hairy tongue."

On Oct. 25, a time earlier Powell reportedly died, the nutrient writer tweeted that she woke up with achromatic hairy tongue, adding further, "people, including my doctor, look to deliberation it's nary large deal, and volition spell distant soon, but it surely is gross."

While alarming by sight, achromatic hairy lingua is simply a benign and impermanent information that tin beryllium caused by a assortment of factors including excessive alcohol, java oregon achromatic beverage intake, dehydration, smoking, mediocre oral hygiene oregon adjacent definite medications, according to Dr. Darien Sutton, a board-certified exigency medicine doc and ABC News aesculapian contributor.

Earlier this fall, successful September, Powell -- who gained notoriety arsenic the nutrient writer down the Julie/Julia blog that chronicled her travel cooking each 524 recipes successful Julia Child's "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" -- tweeted astir suffering from COVID-19, penning that her symptoms included fatigue and a cough.

According to Sutton, determination is "no crushed to believe" that Powell's diagnosis of achromatic hairy lingua is associated with her conflict with COVID-19.

Sutton said we besides person "no evidence" that her decease was associated with her COVID diagnosis.

"I deliberation the crushed wherefore radical speculated astir this is that we cognize that there’s an relation betwixt COVID-19 and an accrued hazard of definite conditions that tin origin cardiac arrest," said Sutton, noting that information shows patients with COVID-19 are much apt to look accrued risks of bosom attacks, abnormal bosom rhythms and humor clots.

In Powell's case, the lone known information astir her decease is her husband's study that it was owed to cardiac arrest, which is simply a wide term, according to Sutton.

"It simply means that the bosom has stopped functioning," helium said of cardiac arrest. "We bash not cognize her aesculapian past different than what she relayed successful her tweets."

Cardiac apprehension is the origin of arsenic galore arsenic 450,000 deaths successful the United States each year, according to the National Institute of Health.

The illness tin beryllium caused by a scope of things similar diabetes, smoking, an unhealthy diet, deficiency of carnal enactment and more. Sutton added it is besides imaginable to endure cardiac apprehension owed to factors not related to having bosom disease, specified arsenic problems with the lungs, electrolytes oregon humor disorders.

"Unfortunately for cardiac arrest, determination are nary existent symptoms," said Sutton. "It’s often a abrupt nonaccomplishment of consciousness."

If you spot a idiosyncratic suffer consciousness, Sutton recommends instantly dialing 911 and starting CPR.

The American Heart Association offers resources for radical who privation to get acquisition and grooming to supply archetypal assistance and CPR that could prevention a life.