Health
ER doctor reveals how pneumonia can suddenly turn deadly after Kyle Busch’s death
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The sudden death of Kyle Busch has drawn attention to a rare but devastating medical progression: when pneumonia escalates into fatal sepsis.
An ER doctor spoke with Fox News Digital about how sepsis can trigger a rapid health decline.
“Sepsis is actually not a specific disease or diagnosis, but rather the syndrome that occurs when the body has certain abnormal findings and a presumed infection,” said Dr. Kenneth J. Perry, a South Carolina-based emergency medicine physician.
HOW PNEUMONIA PROGRESSES TO SEPSIS: DOCTORS EXPLAIN AFTER KYLE BUSCH’S DEATH
The markers of sepsis include elevated white blood cell counts, a high or low temperature, and elevated heart and respiratory rates, according to Perry. Because of this, a patient with pneumonia is often already technically septic by definition.
In the wake of Kyle Busch’s sudden passing, there is a focus on the rapid decline from pneumonia to fatal sepsis. (Getty; iStock)
While many people assume a worsening infection means bacteria are multiplying uncontrollably, it often has more to do with the body’s internal environment.
“It is often not the bacteria itself that is causing the specific decline,” Perry said. “In most cases, it is a cascade of inflammatory processes that are set in motion by the infection.”
When this inflammation spirals out of control, the body moves from having a manageable infection into severe sepsis. This is when otherwise healthy people can rapidly deteriorate.
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“The concerning thing that can happen with any individual … is that sepsis can then lead to low blood pressure, worsening vital signs and organ damage,” Perry said.
“As multiple organs fail, it becomes very difficult for the medical team to treat and can sometimes lead ultimately to death.”
“The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the family shared in a statement. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
It is very unlikely to have pneumonia and not have any symptoms, according to Perry. Early signs can mimic a severe flu, including fevers, chills, a productive cough, and chest or back pain in cases where the lung is infected.
When sepsis begins to take hold, time becomes the most critical factor. “We have known for a number of years that early antibiotic therapy is beneficial in the treatment of sepsis,” Perry said.
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If you or a loved one are managing an infection at home, the doctor says the following red flags mean you should bypass the clinic and head straight to the emergency room.
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- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- A racing heart rate or fever that continues to worsen even after starting treatment
- Severe chest pain associated with a productive cough
The slide into sepsis is, in most cases, a cascade of inflammatory processes that are set in motion by the infection, the doctor said. (iStock)
While cases like Busch’s are tragic, Perry stressed that this shouldn’t cause widespread panic. Most patients with pneumonia do very well with standard oral antibiotics.
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The NASCAR star’s rapid decline underscores the importance of medical vigilance and “having a primary care physician with whom you have a good relationship,” according to the ER doctor.
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“Monitoring symptoms while having easy access to primary care is a very beneficial and appropriate plan for most patients,” he added.
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Eliminating sugar from your diet may seem like the key to healthy eating, but research suggests it could have unintended effects on digestive health.
A study presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, suggests that a total lack of sucrose, or table sugar, may harm gut health and disrupt the body’s natural metabolism.
To explore how the total absence of dietary sugar impacts the body, researchers at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait City conducted a 16-week study on two groups of mice. Both groups were placed on a low-fat diet, but with one critical difference.
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One group consumed a low-fat diet that included a standard amount of sucrose, while the other group ate a low-fat diet that was completely sugar-free, according to the study’s press release.
Throughout the trial, the scientists monitored a wide variety of physiological factors, including the animals’ weight, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, hormone levels, internal inflammation and the specific composition of their gut bacteria.
A total lack of dietary sugar can cause imbalances in the gut bacteria and lead to signs of fatty liver disease, even without any weight gain, researchers said. (iStock)
The study outcome suggested that completely removing sugar caused several unexpected health problems.
“Completely removing sucrose from a low-fat diet may unexpectedly disrupt gut health and promote inflammation and metabolic dysfunction,” Rasheed Ahmad, principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, said in the release.
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Even though the mice on the sugar-free diet did not gain any extra weight compared to the control group, their internal health indicators deteriorated.
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The animals that lacked sucrose developed an imbalance in their gut microbes and increased inflammation within the intestines and liver.
They also showed signs of poor glucose regulation, insulin resistance and cellular changes associated with fatty liver disease, according to the research.
Future dietary guidelines may shift away from strict, absolute sugar bans and instead focus on overall gut health through balanced nutrition. (iStock)
“The findings suggest that complete removal of sucrose from a low-fat diet may negatively affect gut microbiota and metabolic health,” Ahmad concluded.
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While the risks of high-sugar diets are well-established, the researchers noted that little attention has been given to the effects of completely eliminating sugar from low-fat meals.
Scientists say these new findings highlight that dietary carbohydrates play a valuable role in supporting balance between the immune system and the gut microbiome.
Completely cutting sucrose from a low-fat diet can unexpectedly trigger gut inflammation and disrupt the metabolism, experts say. (iStock)
Because this research was conducted on mice over a relatively short 16-week period, further clinical trials are necessary to determine whether a completely sugar-free diet causes the same gut and liver inflammation in humans.
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Additionally, the study focused specifically on removing sucrose from low-fat meals, meaning the results might not apply to people eliminating sugar while following higher-fat or ketogenic eating plans, the researchers noted.
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The team believes that future dietary guidelines may shift away from strict, absolute sugar restrictions and instead place a greater emphasis on maintaining a diverse, healthy population of gut bacteria through balanced nutrition.
“In the long term, these findings could help improve strategies for preventing and managing metabolic disorders, fatty liver disease and chronic inflammatory conditions,” Ahmad said.
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A cure for cancer could be on the horizon in the next decade, according to experts.
During the WSJ Leadership Institute CEO Summit in London last week, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato reflected on the pharmaceutical company’s projections on the future of cancer treatment.
In the next 10 years, the goal is to “try to eliminate cancer,” Duato shared.
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“That’s a high goal, and we are already making significant progress in certain cancers,” he said.
Duato used multiple myeloma as an example, noting that the life expectancy is currently 10 years, when it was previously “only single years.”
Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO of Johnson and Johnson, speaks at the Punchbowl News Conference at Union Station on March 10, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
“We have treatments now that utilize your own immune system to attack the cancer,” he said at the summit. “For patients who were already going into hospice, so they didn’t have any other alternative, they are [at] more than five years, with a single administration, in remission. That [is] spectacular.”
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“When patients see that, they cannot believe that because they have been coming to the hospital every week [for] a decade, having multiple therapies.”
The goal is to “try to eliminate cancer” in the next 10 years, the pharmaceutical executive said. (iStock)
According to Duato, Johnson & Johnson is working to understand the biology of cancer growth and to formulate new technologies to address it.
“It’s realistic to believe that we are going to cure certain cancers, and some others we’re going to turn into chronic diseases,” he predicted.
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“Cancer is an important thing – I cannot think about anybody who has not been touched by cancer,” he went on. “But there are many other opportunities for us to actually advance science, to address very important social problems.”
Duato called out dementia as another “important problem” in need of a solution.
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He predicted that life expectancy, which has risen steadily over the past century, will continue to increase as longevity technologies and solutions advance, improving quality of life along the way.
Duato commented that J&J has been optimistic about the role artificial intelligence will play in the future of healthcare, calling it a “force multiplier.”
Biomarkers and AI can help with the earlier diagnosis of cancer, as well as a more advanced and personalized approach to surgery, a doctor noted. (iStock)
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel agreed with Duato’s outlook on the future of cancer care, noting that certain cancers will turn into chronic diseases while others will find outright cures.
“Advances [will be] based on the use of AI to help guide targeted treatments with expanding knowledge of cancer mutations and how to target them,” he predicted, speaking to Fox News Digital.
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Siegel added that biomarkers and AI can help with earlier diagnoses, as well as a more advanced and personalized approach to surgery.
J&J recently acquired Firefly Bio, a biotech firm that produces drugs that enter cancer cells to “target certain proteins that contain difficult to treat gene mutations,” the doctor added.
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