WIRED Staff

Not-So-Separated at Birth: Nate Fisher, Stricken Senator

Wonkette noticed today that stricken South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson suffers from the same congenital brain condition as poor Nate Fisher on "Six Feet Under." The AP has some details: Johnson’s condition, also known as AVM, or arteriovenous malformation, causes arteries and veins to grow abnormally large and become tangled. The condition is believed to […]

Wonkette noticed today that stricken South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson suffers from the same congenital brain condition as poor Nate Fisher on "Six Feet Under."

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The AP has some details:

Johnson's condition, also known as AVM, or arteriovenous malformation, causes arteries and veins to grow abnormally large and become tangled.

The condition is believed to affect about 300,000 Americans, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The institute's Web site said only about 12 percent of the people with the condition experience symptoms, ranging in severity. It kills about 3,000 people a year.

SPOILER ALERT. (That sure isn't a phrase you see on Bodyhack very often.) Nate ends up croaking on the show, but the Senate doesn't change hands as a result.