Media is wrong on cause of Whitney’s death
By Abbey K Semuwemba
20th Feb 2012: It is very sad to hear of the death of Whitney Houston. Her music will always be something to keep us on the toes for a long time. However, I beg to differ from some people who say that she would still be alive if it were not for her relationship with Bobby Brown.
The truth is that if God wanted Whitney to die at 48, she would still be dead regardless of Bobby Brown. We are all going to die of something. There are many variables that contribute to someone dying of drugs or smoking. For instance, there are people who are druggist but still live for a long time.
Epidemiologists, using statistics, tell us the likelihood of suffering dire consequences from drugs but a microbiologist usually identifies the actual chemical or genetic mechanisms involved in one’s death. My argument is basically that before making any conclusion that Whitney died of drugs, we ought to consider other variables that may have contributed to her death.
Unless an autopsy is performed and the cause of death declared publicly, we cannot know for sure what exactly killed Whitney. To point a finger at ‘drugs’ as the general reason for the expiration of her life is meaningless. In medicine, there are innumerable variables and thus ironclad statements cannot be made or relied upon.
Actually, let’s leave drugs aside because I have seen drug addicts living for a long time, and go with an example of cancer. Although cancer of the breast, prostate, colon, or any area will be debilitating and painful, it does not result in death until it spreads to the heart, lungs, kidneys, or the central nervous system. We also know that even after spreading to these vital areas, death can take weeks, months, or even years.
People diagnosed with cancer are still breathing today because their body systems have not allowed the cancer to attack the vital areas. To put it in simple terms, dying suddenly is ‘consistent’ with other unexplained factors. Whitney died “suddenly” and there is no way we can attribute this to her drug problem.
What has happened is that the media has developed a hypothesis as to what caused her death. I am a stronger believe in God and as a result, I think about death all the time. I believe God can make people live longer or shorter if he chooses to. I believe we cannot dodge death however much we try. Religion also tells us to look after ourselves, a reason I don’t eat pork, drink alcohol, take drugs, e.t.c
Secondly, there is nothing heroic in being a junkie and continuously failing to beat the addiction. I know every expert in the world will disagree with me, but I don’t buy into the disease part of drug abuse. The first time you reach for a substance you are making a choice. Every time you go back, you’re making a personal choice.
Drugs have always been part of most celebrities’ lives. It is very rare to find a person in these developed nations who has never taken drugs at some stage in their lives. At least, most of the ‘Bazungu’ I know have taken drugs at some stage in their life. Even David Cameron was a drug party boy at university, and the media tried to crucify him about it in his early years in office.
There is also a story that JFK was on drugs but he was a full president and he probably would have lived longer if he had not been assassinated. New findings by noted historian Robert Dallek dug up surprising dirt on JFK, where medical files showed that he (JFK) routinely popped pain killers, anti-anxiety pills, stimulants and even hormones, up to eight medications a day.
His supporters counteracted this by saying that JFK was using drugs prescribed by a physician because he had adrenal insufficiency and back pain from his war injuries. One could argue that the physician was practicing bad medicine.
The truth is that people take drugs and all kinds of substances into their bodies but some live longer and some die early. When explaining their death early or longer, we look for a variety of factors rather than just drugs. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
