不管張雪峰的觀點是什么，他41歲英年早逝還是令人不勝唏噓。

No matter what people think of Zhang Xuefeng’s views, his death at just 41 is deeply tragic.

2018年4月27日，張雪峰在微博上發(fā)文說，“如果有一天，讓我選擇一種死法，我最希望的，是猝死。如果讓我定個時間，我希望是，不久的將來?！?/p>

Back on April 27, 2018, he posted on Weibo: “If there ever comes a day when I have to choose how I die, I hope it will be sudden death. And if I could pick the timing, I hope it would be sometime in the near future.”

雖然我不是直接的醫(yī)生，但作為醫(yī)療機構(gòu)的從業(yè)者，經(jīng)常要和醫(yī)學知識打交道，對醫(yī)學常識還是了解一些，發(fā)現(xiàn)非專業(yè)人士的普通國人醫(yī)學知識真的太少了，以至于有關(guān)張雪峰去世的病因很多媒體都表達錯誤，甚至包括張雪峰自己的公司。

I’m not a doctor, but I work in healthcare and deal with medical information every day. From that experience, I know a bit about basic medical concepts, and what’s striking is just how limited the general public’s understanding of medical knowledge can be. Because of this, many reports on Zhang Xuefeng’s cause of death have been inaccurate, even those from his own company.

按理，張雪峰的公司在發(fā)布訃告前肯定會字斟句酌，但其公司發(fā)布的訃告中稱，“親愛的張雪峰老師，因心源性猝死全力搶救無效，于2026年3月24日15時50分在蘇州逝世。”

You would expect his company to have been very careful with every word in their obituary. Yet their statement read: “Our beloved Zhang Xuefeng passed away in Suzhou at 3:50 p.m. on March 24, 2026, after unsuccessful resuscitation following sudden cardiac death.”

而其他的媒體，包括有重要影響力的媒體，也是如此報道的。當然，這主要是因為各大媒體是引用張雪峰公司發(fā)布的訃告而發(fā)布的新聞。

Other media outlets, including some with significant influence, repeated the same wording, mostly because they were quoting the company’s announcement.

心源性猝死中的“心源”是指“心臟原因引起”，“猝死”是指突然死亡，也就是說“心源性猝死”本身就是死亡結(jié)果了，而不是搶救無效病逝的原因。已經(jīng)死亡了，何來“搶救無效”一說呢。

The issue is with the term “sudden cardiac death.” The word “cardiac” indicates a heart-related cause, and “sudden death” already describes an unexpected death. In other words, sudden cardiac death is itself the outcome—it is already a death. It doesn’t make sense to follow it with “unsuccessful resuscitation.” If someone has already died, what exactly is there left to “resuscitate”?

心源性猝死是指由心臟原因引起的突然自然死亡，通常在癥狀出現(xiàn)后1小時內(nèi)發(fā)生。其本質(zhì)是一種死亡方式，多由致命性心律失常（如室顫、室速）引起，導(dǎo)致心臟無法有效泵血，大腦迅速缺氧而死亡。常見基礎(chǔ)病包括冠心病、心肌梗死、心肌病等，也可能發(fā)生在此前無明顯癥狀的人群中。發(fā)作時往往表現(xiàn)為突然倒地、意識喪失、呼吸停止。若不能在幾分鐘內(nèi)進行心肺復(fù)蘇和除顫，死亡幾乎不可避免。

Medically, sudden cardiac death refers to a natural death caused by heart-related factors, usually occurring within an hour of symptom onset. It is essentially a way of describing how death happens, most often triggered by fatal heart rhythm disturbances such as ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. These arrhythmias prevent the heart from pumping effectively, causing the brain to lose oxygen rapidly, which leads to death. Common underlying conditions include coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and cardiomyopathy, although it can also occur in people who previously showed no symptoms. Sudden cardiac death typically presents as a sudden collapse, loss of consciousness, and cessation of breathing. Without immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation within minutes, death is almost inevitable.

所以在訃告中最好用上位概念，把“因心源性猝死”改成“因突發(fā)心臟疾病”。

For this reason, in an obituary it is more accurate to use a broader term. Instead of saying “due to sudden cardiac death,” it would be better to say “due to a sudden cardiac event” or “due to acute heart disease.”