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Elizabeth Taylor was one of the world’s greatest Hollywood legends and new information has come to light regarding her death in March 2011.
Despite her dying of cardiac arrest, the actress suffered a lifetime of illness and injury.
In documentary Autopsy USA top forensic Pathologist Dr Michael Hunter examines the actress’ complicated medical history to uncover the underlying reason for her death.
According to Michael Hunter, Elizabeth “was born with a rare condition called Lymphedema Distancias Syndrome, or LDS, which gave her two extra rows of eyelashes.”
While the disorder certainly benefitted Taylor in terms of beauty, the rare condition can also affect other parts of the body.
She had back pain all her life due to birth defect Scoliosis, this was later compounded by two freak accidents which resulted in extensive surgery. “This in itself was not life-threatening but I can see this led to complications that lasted her entire life,” he says.
But it wasn’t just this that caused her ill health. Elizabeth was addicted to pain killers. “These pills would have been stimulants such as amphetamines and downers, tranquilisers both are which highly addictive and together they are very a dangerous combination. As well as a high risk of overdosing these drugs put huge pressure on the heart and the respatory system and can cause seizures, heart failure and even cardiac arrest,” the Doctors adds.
Autopsy USA airs Thursday night 11pm on Channel Seven
