Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died

[Greg Bernhardt]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-main/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday.
In a national broadcast, Maduro said Chavez died Tuesday at 4:25 p.m.
Maduro teared up as he announced the news.

 

[Evo]

The announcement came hours after Maduro met with the country's top political and military leaders about Chavez's worsening health condition and suggested someone may have deliberately infected Chavez with cancer.

What?

 

[berkeman]

What?

That does sound weird the way it's stated, but there are some infectious causes of cancer, it would appear:

[STRIKE]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page[/STRIKE]

Fixed URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_causes_of_cancer

Worldwide approximately 18% of cancers are related to infectious diseases.[1] This proportion varies in different regions of the world from high of 25% in Africa to less than 10% in the developed world.[1] Viruses are usual infectious agents that cause cancer but bacteria and parasites may also have an effect.

A virus that can cause cancer is called an oncovirus. These include human papillomavirus (cervical carcinoma), Epstein-Barr virus (B-cell lymphoproliferative disease and nasopharyngeal carcinoma), Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (Kaposi's Sarcoma and primary effusion lymphomas), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (hepatocellular carcinoma), and Human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (T-cell leukemias). Bacterial infection may also increase the risk of cancer, as seen in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinoma.[2] Parasitic infections strongly associated with cancer include Schistosoma haematobium (squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder) and the liver flukes, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis (cholangiocarcinoma).[3]

EDIT -- What cancer did he die of?

 

[Evo]

EDIT -- What cancer did he die of?

Prostate.

 

[berkeman]

Prostate.

Hmm, that sounds a lot less likely then. Prostate cancer is mentioned at the wikipedia link, but there does not appear to be conclusive evidence:

Herpesviruses are a third group of common cancer-causing viruses. Two types of herpesviruses have been associated with cancer: the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8).[7] EBV appears to cause all nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinomas and some cases of lymphoma, including Burkitt’s lymphoma—the association is especially strong in Africa—and Hodgkin’s disease.[7] EBV has also been found in a variety of other types of cancer cells, although its role in causing these other cancers is not well established. HHV-8 causes all cases of Kaposi’s sarcoma, and has been found in some cases of a cancer-related condition called Castleman's disease.[7] Studies involving other kinds of cancer, particularly prostate cancer, have been inconsistent.[7] Both of these herpesviruses are commonly found in cancerous cells of primary effusion lymphoma.[7] Herpesviruses also cause cancer in animals, especially leukemias and lymphomas.[7]

 

[Borek]

What?

Nothing surprising for me, what kind of a message have you expected from the substitute of the man who blamed US for the Haiti earthquake?

 

[Evo]

Nothing surprising for me, what kind of a message have you expected from the substitute of the man who blamed US for the Haiti earthquake?

Lol! I forgot that.

 

[Borg]

Nothing surprising for me, what kind of a message have you expected from the substitute of the man who blamed US for the Haiti earthquake?

Lol! I forgot that.

I never heard that one.

 

[Evo]

I never heard that one.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583588,00.html

 

[Velikovsky]

How long before Maduro establishes a military junta?

 

[rootX]

May he rest in peace

 

[jobyts]

What cancer did he die of?

The government never detailed the type of cancer Chavez had, but experts think it was a soft-tissue sarcoma.

 

[nsaspook]

RIP

You will be missed.
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/w...avez-words-headlines-20130305,0,5031264.story

 

[Evo]

The government never detailed the type of cancer Chavez had, but experts think it was a soft-tissue sarcoma.

It's

treatment
since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer.

http://news.msn.com/world/chavezs-cancer-fight-a-glance-at-his-struggle

Not a lot of pelvic area cancers that affect men.

 

[lisab]

I never cared for the "cult of personality" thing he had going. And nationalizing industries...whew, what an efficient way to drive investors from your country, and isolate yourself from the international community!

But I will say this about the guy: I really think he was sincere.

 

[Evo]

But I will say this about the guy: I really think he was sincere.

I thought he was a nut, and he promoted anti-US terrorism and an Iranian ally? I guess he was sincerely an enemy of the US.

 

[jobyts]

A terrorist is one who makes smaller bomb.

 

[PhysicsGente]

May he rest in peace. ;(

 

[lisab]

I thought he was a nut, and he promoted anti-US terrorism and an Iranian ally? I guess he was sincerely an enemy of the US.

Certainly he was nutters - in soooo many ways:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/08/hugo_boss.html

But I had the impression he really was concerned about the poor in his country. He just had no idea how to truly help them.

 

[EricVT]

It's

http://news.msn.com/world/chavezs-cancer-fight-a-glance-at-his-struggle

Not a lot of pelvic area cancers that affect men.

Colorectal cancer is not uncommon in men.

Sounds like Chavez was receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (post surgery), which is not typical for prostate cancer.

 

[russ_watters]

But I had the impression he really was concerned about the poor in his country. He just had no idea how to truly help them.

I'm not sure if he really cared or not, but he definitely knew that the way to help them (and thus himself) was to spend oil money on them.

 

[kaleidoscope]

Do you know if radioactive poisoning can give you cancer? I think I read that Marie Curie died from cancer. And secret Alexander Litvinenko died not long ago from radioactive poisoning too.

I wouldn't rule out that intelligence agencies in the "first" world have technologies we wouldn't believe are possible.

 

[Evo]

Do you know if radioactive poisoning can give you cancer? I think I read that Marie Curie died from cancer.

She died from aplastic anemia, which is not cancer.

And secret Alexander Litvinenko died not long ago from radioactive poisoning too.

He died from poisoning "lethal polonium-210-induced acute radiation syndrome", not cancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko

I wouldn't rule out that intelligence agencies in the "first" world have technologies we wouldn't believe are possible.

We do not allow conspiracy theories here.

 

[chemisttree]

I remember the report that Chavez had a soft tissue sarcoma was a wild guess by someone that never examined him or his case file. But if you believe that it was indeed a soft tissue sarcoma, you know they can be found anywhere in the body including the abdomen. Osteosarcomas are often found in the pelvic bones as well. Ewings sarcoma is frequently found in the pelvis. Chondrosarcomas are often found in the abdomen. Sarcomas are notoriously difficult to cure. Yes, Chavez was male but you don't make assumptions about cancer types based on the gender of the patient.

We found out that my daughter has mesenchymal chondrosarcoma this Jan. Hers was in an unusual location... her lower spine. We believe the tumor was completely surgically resected but this type is known to very likely metastasize and is very resistant to chemo and radiation. We're throwing everything they have at it. Crossing our fingers nothing pops up over the next 10 years.

Not a pleasant new year...

 

[Evo]

OMG chemisttree, I am so sorry to hear this. I hope the best for your daughter.

 

[chemisttree]

Thanks, Evo. Whatever course Chavez's cancer took, it likely found a place to grow in the lung or kidney... possibly the liver. He was reported to be suffering from a lung infection which is a common way to pass for those whose immune systems are compromised by the chemo treatments.

 

[Borek]

Sorry to hear about you daughters problems, chemisttree. I wish you all the luck of the world.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

All the best for your family chemisttree, that's sad news.

But I had the impression he really was concerned about the poor in his country. He just had no idea how to truly help them.

He helped them in some ways; subsidised food markets, healthcare, more funding to education and even set up participatory councils to get people more involved in politics. It's not all roses of course, whilst poverty went down crime has gone up.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...f-life-improved-in-un-index-under-chavez.html

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Ensuring his legacy remains put for a bit while longer...

The body of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will rest in a glass case on public display. Forever.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-embalming/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

[lisab]

Ensuring his legacy remains put for a bit while longer...



http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-embalming/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Guess that falls in line with the cult of personality .