Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
January 10, 2023
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead on his bathroom floor. According to his former doctor, it is these chronic constipation problems that are the cause of his loss.
Peanut butter sandwich, meatloaf, fried chicken… Elvis Presley was known for his addiction to junk food. Excesses that led him to serious problems of chronic constipation… probably the cause of his death. Explanations.
Death from heart failure
If many rumors remain around the word of the singer, some facts are recorded. For example, his fiancée, Ginger Alden, found him unconscious in a pool of vomit on the bathroom floor.
“Her arms were resting on the floor, close to her sides, palms facing up. It was clear that from the moment he landed on the ground, Elvis hadn’t moved.“, she assured.
According to Dr George Nick Nichopoulos – the star’s personal doctor – there is little doubt as to the cause of his death. Elvis Presley is said to have died from his constipation problems.
“Presley’s chronic constipation — the result of years of prescription drug abuse and high-fat, high-cholesterol mouthfuls — caused what’s known as the Valsalva maneuver. Simply put, the pressure from the defecation attempt compressed the singer’s abdominal aorta stopping his heart“, he thus clarified.
The Vasalva maneuver normally makes it possible to balance the pressure between the outer ear and the middle auricle, for example during scuba diving, when you pass under a tunnel on the TGV… But physiologically, this also goes increase intrathoracic pressure, venous pressure and transiently slow heart rate.
The doctor would have even tried, in vain, to convince the singer to undergo a colostomy – that is to say, the removal of part of the colon.
Same refrain from the side of the chief investigator in charge of the case:
“Elvis Presley’s body position was such that he was about to sit on the toilet seat when the seizure occurred, Joseph Davis said. He was leaning forward on the mat, buttocks in the air, and was dead by the time he hit the ground.”
To avoid these complications, it is necessary to fight “against constipation”
For Dr. Kierzek, if this hypothesis is valid, this type of event nevertheless remains extremely rare.
“Pushing efforts during difficult defecation are done with closed glottis (Vasalva maneuver) and can cause vagal discomfort but above all modify the pressures inside the body. They can compress the aorta but can especially increase the diameter of aortic or cerebral arterial aneurysms and cause their rupture. To avoid these complications“You have to fight constipation by walking, drinking and eating fiber. This will also avoid a much more frequent complication: the hemorrhoidal crisis.”