Aaron Alford

[Jarid in Cedar]

Recent coach for the Utes died from an apparent heart attack today. Only 39 years old. Prayers and thoughts going out to his family.

Sad day for Utah football.

[Sullyute]

Wow, that is young. There are some bad vibes aimed at the ute program the last few weeks. I feel sorry for his family.

[GarthUte]

Sad news. God bless his family in this difficult time.

[LA Ute]

Was he obese? If not, maybe this is just one of those cases when somebody had undetected heart disease.

In any case, this is terrible, sad news.

[UTEopia]

He was not obese. Aaron was a tremendous individual and an under-appreciated coach. I believe he got a bit of a raw deal at Utah, but he never complained and was a great friend to me and to all he came in contact with. He will be missed.

[LA Ute]

He was not obese. Aaron was a tremendous individual and an under-appreciated coach. I believe he got a bit of a raw deal at Utah, but he never complained and was a great friend to me and to all he came in contact with. He will be missed.

I was just searching for some way to make sense of a 39 year-old athletic man dying of a massive heart attack. There's mo sense in it. What a tragedy.

[SoCalPat]

I was just searching for some way to make sense of a 39 year-old athletic man dying of a massive heart attack. There's mo sense in it. What a tragedy.

Some sense can be made of it, but it takes a cynic and I'm not ready to go there right now with one of our own.

[Utah]

Some sense can be made of it, but it takes a cynic and I'm not ready to go there right now with one of our own.

too late.

[NorthwestUteFan]

I am not sure which direction you are trying to go Pat, but this sounds more like Jim Fixx, Pete Maravich, or perhaps Hank Gathers than it is similar to Len Bias.

Sometimes hearts just stop working. There is always a reason for it, but often it goes undiagnosed. (Jim Fixx - massive arterial blockages; Pistol Pete - missing LAD coronary artery; Hank Gathers - exercise-induced V-tach, untreated on game day; Len Bias - arrhythmia caused by cocaine). Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and there is no rhyme, reason, or higher meaning to it. Sometimes all we can hope to do is to make the world better for others, to leave the best mark we can on those who are left behind.

I am sad to hear of Aaron Alford's death. By all reports he was a wonderful man, was well-liked as a coach, and was an inspiration. He will be missed.

[SoCalPat]

I am not sure which direction you are trying to go Pat, but this sounds more like Jim Fixx, Pete Maravich, or perhaps Hank Gathers than it is similar to Len Bias.

Sometimes hearts just stop working. There is always a reason for it, but often it goes undiagnosed. (Jim Fixx - massive arterial blockages; Pistol Pete - missing LAD coronary artery; Hank Gathers - exercise-induced V-tach, untreated on game day; Len Bias - arrhythmia caused by cocaine). Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and there is no rhyme, reason, or higher meaning to it. Sometimes all we can hope to do is to make the world better for others, to leave the best mark we can on those who are left behind.

I am sad to hear of Aaron Alford's death. By all reports he was a wonderful man, was well-liked as a coach, and was an inspiration. He will be missed.

Wasn't going anywhere near Len Bias (or Reggie Lewis for that matter) or anything illicit. I was thinking more along the lines of dietary and weight-control supplements, or perhaps pain-killers.

[LA Ute]

A friend of ours died at age 28 of idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Undiagnosed, probably not even detectable except by accident. He didn't drink, smoke or use drugs. He was an athlete and in great shape. One night his wife awoke to find him struggling for breath next to her in bed, and in 30 seconds he was gone. He left 3 little kids. Sometimes things like that just happen.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Wasn't going anywhere near Len Bias (or Reggie Lewis for that matter) or anything illicit. I was thinking more along the lines of dietary and weight-control supplements, or perhaps pain-killers.

An underreported/diagnosed cause of premature death is sleep apnea combined with any sedative(ambien, narcotics, etc), even when used in low doses. Typically they would die while sleeping. I don't know that any details of his death(ie When, etc) have been reported, so this would fit under "possibilities for premature death" category.

[jrj84105]

An underreported/diagnosed cause of premature death is sleep apnea combined with any sedative(ambien, narcotics, etc), even when used in low doses. Typically they would die while sleeping. I don't know that any details of his death(ie When, etc) have been reported, so this would fit under "possibilities for premature death" category.

I know you didn't like this stance, but this is why you don't prescibe outside the office. Nobody tells you about their sleep apnea and when they die from a benign sedative you prescribed (without any documentation of the encounter) you have no leg to stand on from a medical legal standpoint. The most depressing iatrogenic deaths I've had to work up have been physicians undertaking seemingly benign interventions without the benefit of undisclosed medical information. In social settings people have greater reason to conceal awkward parts of their medical history, and that can be problematic especially in terms of drug interactions (i.e. one must assume the young women in your ward are on OCP, valtrex, and a host of antidepressents and mood stabilizers before writing anything).