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Nancy Guthrie health: Cardiologist explains what happens when heart medications are abruptly stopped
Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker stopped syncing with her Apple Watch on February 1.
The search continues for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing since January 31.
Authorities believe the 84-year-old was taken against her will from her home outside Tucson, Arizona. Investigators confirmed the family received a ransom note demanding $6 million in Bitcoin, warning that Nancy could be harmed if payment was not made by 7 p.m. EDT on Monday. While the family agreed to pay, the deadline has since passed.
Hours before that deadline, Savannah Guthrie turned to social media, urging the public for help as the search stretched into another week.
“I wanted to come on and share a few thoughts as we enter into another week of this nightmare,” she said in the video. "Law enforcement is working tirelessly, around the clock trying to bring her mom, trying to find her."
“She was taken and we don’t know where. And we need your help,” she added.
Also Read: Nancy Guthrie update: Are Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni being investigated? Latest here
Nancy Guthrie’s health concerns
As the investigation continues, concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s health have intensified.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department previously disclosed a critical development from the night of February 1, when her pacemaker stopped syncing with her Apple Watch. This raised fears she may not have access to essential medical care.
Dr. Srihari S. Naidu, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, spoke with Parade about the potential dangers of abruptly stopping heart-related medications.
Naidu explained that heart medications generally fall into three categories:
- Drugs that prevent major events
- Medications used to manage chronic conditions such as high blood pressure
- Medications that actively help the heart function
He noted that some medications, including blood pressure drugs or certain blood thinners, can be stopped suddenly without immediate symptoms, though doing so increases long-term risk.
"In most cases, even in high-risk patients, that risk is about 5 percent per year of a stroke, so it's not like if you stop that blood thinner, they're gonna have a stroke the next day. They may not even have a stroke for that whole year, but their risk goes back up...maybe 10 fold," he told the outlet.
However, he cautioned that stopping other medications can be far more dangerous.
"Patients with stents who have a different type of blood thinner, like Plavix, for example, these kinds of medications, if you stop them within a short time, you can definitely have a life-threatening [event]," he added.
Naidu added that abruptly stopping medications in patients with weakened hearts could lead to symptoms such as dizziness or shortness of breath. These conditions would normally require prompt medical attention.
Authorities have not released further updates on Nancy Guthrie’s whereabouts as the search remains ongoing.
