A few weeks ago he was still in the hospital battling blood poisoning. Now, according to reports, Til Schweiger is also about to undergo heart surgery. What’s wrong with the actor – and why the operation has to wait for now.

For Til Schweiger, one bad news follows the next: The actor has just recovered from blood poisoning. Doctors were able to prevent his leg from being amputated. And the next treatment is coming up. As “Bild” reports, the 60-year-old is about to undergo heart surgery. Accordingly, a stent should be inserted into him.

This is a small metal grid, an artificial vascular support. It is intended to ensure that closed or narrowed blood vessels are kept open, writes the Heart Foundation.

It works like this:

Stents are used after heart attacks or for coronary heart disease. The risk of suffering from or becoming ill with one increases with age. But lifestyle also plays a significant role.

Alcohol consumption and smoking in particular increase the risk of heart disease enormously. Both factors that could play a role in Til Schweiger’s case. The actor made his alcohol problems public last year. As “Bild” goes on to write, years of cigarette consumption are also partly to blame.

However, the actor is now not only facing surgery. There is another problem. Schweiger has still not recovered sufficiently from his sepsis, blood poisoning. He still suffers from what is known as an “open leg”. A wound that does not heal or heals poorly is referred to as such. As long as this does not heal, the risk of another operation is too high, according to “Bild” information. Serious complications could occur: such as an infection or thrombosis, or the sepsis could worsen again.

Blood poisoning is considered the third most common cause of death in Germany, after cardiovascular diseases and cancer. According to the Sepsis Foundation, 140,000 people die from it every year.

Sepsis occurs as a result of the body’s own defense reaction against an infection. It is often incorrectly assumed that it always occurs as a result of a wound and is noticeable as a red line towards the heart. However, this only shows that the lymphatics are inflamed, which can lead to blood poisoning, but does not necessarily have to.

Pneumonia or meningitis as well as urinary tract infections, measles or other infections can also be a trigger. An extremely strong, subjective feeling of illness can therefore be a sign.

Other symptoms of sepsis include:

Those particularly at risk include:

The original for this article “Til Schweiger needs heart surgery – but the risk is just too high” comes from BUNTE.de.