Teri Garr’s Cause of Death and Symptoms Leading to Her Diagnosis

Teri Garr, The actor who died on Tuesday at the age of 79He was known for his comedic roles, but the star had been dealing with serious health issues for decades.

Journalist and friend Heidi Schaeffer said Garr’s cause of death was complications from multiple sclerosis. he told NBC News.

He also suffered a brain aneurysm in 2006 that left him in a coma for a week.

Here are “Young Frankenstein,” “Tootsie” and “Mr. Mother” – said about her health:

multiple sclerosis

This nervous system disease affects the brain and spinal cord, causing damage that affects the way the brain communicates with the body. National Library of Medicine.

Women are more likely to develop an autoimmune disorder, and warning signs usually begin between the ages of 20 and 40. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke explains.

Garr said he had vague symptoms that began while he was filming “Tootsie” in the early 1980s, nearly two decades before he was diagnosed.

“I was running, I was running in the park and I started tripping. It was just like my toe; I would start to trip and then it would disappear. “Then I would feel a little tingling in my arm,” he said. he told CNN’s Larry King in 2002 when he first made his condition public.

“It’s very hard to diagnose and it’s very hard to find. It’s hard to know if you have it because some things come and go and some things are subtle.”

He started walking with a limp and was told he might have an orthopedic problem or a pinched nerve. Garr went to 11 doctors before he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. he told Closer Weekly.

The exact cause is unknown, but genetic predisposition, infectious diseases and environmental factors can trigger the disease. National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

It lists symptoms including:

• burnout
• memory difficulties
• mood changes
• mobility problems
• numbness
• pain
• tingle
• visual impairment

To treat his limp, Garr walked with a brace on his leg and received an injection of medication to slow the progression of the disease. He had little movement in his right hand, and his treatment included steroids, which caused him to gain weight. The Los Angeles Times reported.

There is no cure for multiple sclerosis, but several treatments have been approved to manage it.

People with multiple sclerosis may be twice as likely to die prematurely as their healthy peers. to work Found in neurology.

Complications of multiple sclerosis that can lead to death include respiratory and urinary-related infection and aspiration pneumonia, which results from inhaling body fluid or other objects into the lungs. researchers note.

Garr’s family did not specify the MS complications that led to his death.

brain aneurysm

In December 2006, Garr experienced pain. brain aneurysm It almost killed him.

“I went to sleep for a nap, but my daughter couldn’t wake me up. Thank God he called 9-1-1 and they took me to the hospital,” the actor told CNN in 2008.

“They drilled a hole in my head and wrapped a coil around my brain so it wouldn’t bleed anymore,” he added in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that same year.

Garr was in a coma for a week, then went into rehab for two months. Stating that he had to go to physical, occupational and voice therapy, he said, “I had to learn to walk again, talk again, think again.”

A brain aneurysm is a swelling or “balloon” at a weak point in the artery wall that, if it grows, can burst and cause life-threatening bleeding. National Institutes of Health.

Brain aneurysms, also called cerebral aneurysms, affect approximately 5% of the population. American Heart Association noted.

High blood pressure, heavy lifting or exertion, strong emotions such as anger, and certain medications such as blood thinners can increase the chance of an aneurysm rupturing. American Stroke Association.

It is stated that the probability of death is 40% when the aneurysm bleeds.

Aneurysm coiling involves guiding thin metal wires to the aneurysm site and wrapping them there into a ball of mesh. National Library of Medicine explains. Blood clots then form around the coil, sealing the aneurysm and preventing bleeding.

Garr called all his health problems a “strange gift.”

“It makes you stop and calm down and focus,” she told Closer Weekly.