December 21, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Eddie Guerrero’s official cause of death

Note: This edition is incomplete.

The death of Eduardo (Eddy) Guerrero was officially diagnosed as a heart attack due to heart disease caused by long-term use of anabolic steroids and recent use of narcotics, according to the death certificate from the Hennepin County (Minneapolis) coroner.

The official cause of death was atherosclerotic heart disease, in which the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart harden and narrow. This, combined with Guerrero’s enlarged and damaged heart and his suffering from organomegaly (several enlarged internal organs, likely due to growth hormone intake), led to an imbalance. The heart and major organs required more blood and oxygen than normal to remain functional, while the narrowed arteries supplied the heart and those organs with less blood and oxygen.

The direct link between steroids and painkillers and Guerrero’s death received little media attention, largely due to the nature of current media coverage. The original AP story listed the cause of death as nothing other than heart disease, but rather natural causes (meaning no crime was involved). A later update did mention what was listed as major contributing causes of death, but almost no media outlets picked up the second story.

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