Randy Travis critically ill in Texas
By Alan Duke, CNN
updated 6:37 PM EDT, Mon July 8, 2013


Randy Travis attends the 4th Annual ACM Honors at the Ryman Auditorium on September 20, 2010, in Nashville.

(CNN) -- Country singer Randy Travis is hospitalized in critical condition with a viral heart infection, his publicist said Monday.

Travis, 54, was admitted to an unidentified Texas hospital on Sunday because of complications related to his "recently acquired viral cardiomyopathy," Travis spokesman Kirt Webster said in a written statement.

Viral cardiomyopathy is a disorder where a virus attacks the muscles of the heart, causing the heart to beat slower, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. In some cases, the heart can stop, it said.

"Viral cardiomyopathy can be caused by 30-plus different viruses, but it's almost impossible to pinpoint which virus it is," said Dr. Ramin Oskoui, a cardiologist and internal medicine specialist in Washington. "Hospitals use viral cardiomyopathy as a 'catch all' diagnosis."

Travis had a tough year in 2012 with arrests for assault and public intoxication, which earned him probation.

"To say that Mr. Travis' alcohol use exacerbated his problems would be pure speculation, but if someone told me alcohol played a role in his cardiac problems, I wouldn't be surprised," Oskoui said.

Read more:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/showbiz/ra...ized/index.html

Hard living causes hard dying. Seems like somebody would have told him this when he was a kid touring the country,doesn't it?

big time prayers

Yes, seoc. He's had a hard life.