John Edwards Affair

John Edwards Affair, Though it is national news that John Edwards has an irregular heart beat, cardiologists say the former U.S. presidential candidate’s condition is one common with millions of other Americans. More than 5 million people in the United States suffer from abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias, that can lead to serious problems such as stroke or in extreme cases sudden death.

The rhythmic beating of the heart results from the transmission of electrical impulses through the organ. When those are mistimed and uncoordinated, the heart fails to function properly, resulting in complications that can range from fatigue, lightheadedness, fainting, palpitations, shortness of breath and chest pain to drastic collapse and sudden cardiac arrest.

Edwards has suffered from at least three incidents since being diagnosed with the condition in December, said the judge overseeing Edwards’ upcoming federal trial. And a family friend told NBC this week that Edwards had lost consciousness on at least one occasion.

Though much has been mentioned about the medical condition Edwards was diagnosed with in December, it is unclear exactly what ails the 58-year-old former U.S. senator who now lives outside Chapel Hill, N.C.

Edwards, according to letters from two cardiologists mentioned in federal court last week, suffers from a “serious condition” that if left untreated could give him grave problems.

Catherine Eagles, the judge presiding over the legal proceedings, agreed last week to grant a third delay of the trial, citing Edwards’ health issues.

The judge said notes from Edwards’ doctors, which are sealed from public view, mentioned a treatment course that would have made Edwards unavailable for court for several days in mid-February.

The judge said the doctors had advised Edwards to avoid long hearings before the procedure. He also has been advised against driving long distances.

North Carolina cardiologists, without knowing the specifics of Edwards’ condition, offered generalizations this week for the many ways to treat a patient with an irregular heart beat.

About 2.8 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat.

The condition occurs when the top chambers of the heart, or the atria, are not in synchronization with the pumping actions of the bottom chambers. Such irregularities are not immediately life-threatening, and the heart sometimes gets back into rhythm on its own.

But if that arrhythmia continues, it can eventually cause a life-threatening complication, the formation of blood clots that can move to the brain and cause a stroke.

Dr. Tristram D. Bahnson, director of the Duke Center for Atrial Fibrillation, and Dr. Mohit Pasi, a cardiologist at Rex Health Care, said there are many ways to treat an irregular heartbeat.

They range from electrical shock to blood thinners that prevent clotting and stroke to a procedure called catheter ablation. That involves inserting a thin tube into a blood vessel, usually through the groin, then threading it though the body until it reaches the heart. When it reaches the area causing abnormal rhythms, a device emits radiofrequency energy to destroy the tissue disrupting the electrical impulses.

Pasi said there are times when a patient is admitted for two to three days as doctors try drug therapies and monitor their success or failure.

“We don’t jump into ablation right away,” Pasi said. “Most of the time you try drug therapy first.”

Edwards is facing a criminal trial this spring on accusations that he flouted campaign finance laws to hide his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter, a former campaign videographer, and her pregnancy from that relationship.

Prosecutors contend he secretly obtained nearly $1 million from two wealthy supporters that should have been classified as campaign contributions.

The payments were used to cover living, medical and travel expenses for Hunter.

Edwards has said he did not break the law. His attorneys argue the payments were gifts from friends meant to keep Edwards’ affair and news of the child from his wife.

John Edwards Latest News

John Edwards Latest News:Atlast John Edwards Admits that he is father of Reille Hunter’s kid, The former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate said today in a statement that he’s taking responsibility for the child, Frances Quinn Hunter:

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately.”

“It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. [I’ve] been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support.”

John Edwards

John Edwards:WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ex-presidential candidate John Edwards admitted on Thursday that he fathered a child with his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, while campaigning for the Democratic Party’s White House nomination.

The former U.S. senator from North Carolina, who was among early front-runners in the Democratic field in the race eventually won by Barack Obama in 2008, acknowledged 2-year-old Frances Quinn Hunter as his daughter in a statement to U.S. media.

Edwards, who had previously denied he was the father, made the admission less than two weeks before the launch of a former aide’s book that was expected to name Edwards as the father.

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves,” Edwards said in the statement reported by U.S. television networks.

“It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter, and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me,” Edwards said.

As the Democratic presidential race got under way, Edwards revealed that his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, had developed cancer for the second time in three years.

His personal and political fortunes changed after the tabloid newspaper National Enquirer began reporting on his affair with Hunter, a campaign videographer in 2007.

Edwards, a wealthy lawyer, at first denied having an affair with Hunter, acknowledging the liaison only after his presidential campaign had come to an end in 2008. The admission was widely seen as sinking his political career for good.

But he continued to deny that he was the father of Hunter’s child.

“To all those I have disappointed and hurt, these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry,” Edwards said in his statement on Thursday.

“I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves,” he said of his daughter. “I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace.”

Media reports have said Edwards is facing a federal grand jury investigation into whether he misused campaign money in an attempt to keep Hunter and word of their affair quiet.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Rielle Hunter

Rielle Hunter:John Edwards has finally admitted what we have suspected for years – that he is indeed the father of a two-year-old daughter with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

The former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate said today in a statement that he’s taking responsibility for the child, Frances Quinn Hunter:

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately.”

“It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. [I’ve] been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support.”

“I understand that to all those I have disappointed and hurt, these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”

Edwards is not speaking publicly on the subject, in part because of an ongoing federal investigation into whether campaign money was used to try to cover up the affair.

He has denied wrongdoing, but then again, he also denied the affair with Rielle Hunter, and fathering the child with Rielle Hunter, so who knows with this guy!

Edwards’ attorneys say he’s been seeing Quinn and providing financial support for about a year, and just signed a new child support agreement with Rielle.

A spokesperson for John’s cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth Edwards, says she learned last year that Quinn is John’s child. Yet this is the first formal admission.

John Edwards’ personal and political troubles began after the National Enquirer began reporting in late 2007 about his affair with Hunter, which he denied.

In 2008, after his failed presidential bid, Edwards was caught visiting Hunter in a hotel and eventually confirmed to ABC News that he had an affair with her.

Still, he vehemently denied on the air that he was the father of her child. Dude lies a lot and will only come clean when his hand has been forced, basically.

Today’s admission comes on the heels of the political expose Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, which sent shock waves around D.C.

A portion of the book about the 2008 election, which ran in New York Magazine, dealt with details of Edwards’ affair and his relationship with Elizabeth.

The admission also comes in advance of a tell-all book by Andrew Young, a former Edwards aide who originally claimed to be the father of Hunter’s child.

Basically, he would have kept on denying it if he had any choice, and had no interest in actually coming clean for morality’s sake. Pretty typical, John.