How Elvis Died

[Tiberius]

I remember the day Elvis died, very vividly. But until today I actually never knew how he died so I was interested and looked it up. Turns out it was a big controversy. He might have died of a heart attack while pushing too hard to take a crap because he was constipated from all the drugs he was taking. If true, no wonder they tried to hide that fact. From wikipedia:

 

While an autopsy, undertaken the same day Presley died, was still in progress, Memphis medical examiner Dr. Jerry Francisco announced that the immediate cause of death was cardiac arrest. Asked if drugs were involved, he declared that "drugs played no role in Presley's death".^[297] In fact, "drug use was heavily implicated" in Presley's death, writes Guralnick. The pathologists conducting the autopsy thought it possible, for instance, that he had suffered "anaphylactic shock brought on by the codeine pills he had gotten from his dentist, to which he was known to have had a mild allergy". A pair of lab reports filed two months later strongly suggested that polypharmacy was the primary cause of death; one reported "fourteen drugs in Elvis' system, ten in significant quantity".^[298] In 1979, forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht conducted a review of the reports and concluded that a combination of central nervous system depressants had resulted in Presley's accidental death.^[297] Forensic historian and pathologist Michael Baden viewed the situation as complicated: "Elvis had had an enlarged heart for a long time. That, together with his drug habit, caused his death. But he was difficult to diagnose; it was a judgment call."^[299]

The competence and ethics of two of the centrally involved medical professionals were seriously questioned. Dr. Francisco had offered a cause of death before the autopsy was complete; claimed the underlying ailment was cardiac arrhythmia, a condition that can be determined only in someone who is still alive; and denied drugs played any part in Presley's death before the toxicology results were known.^[297] Allegations of a cover-up were widespread.^[299] While a 1981 trial of Presley's main physician, Dr. George Nichopoulos, exonerated him of criminal liability for his death, the facts were startling: "In the first eight months of 1977 alone, he had [prescribed] more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines, and narcotics: all in Elvis' name." His license was suspended for three months. It was permanently revoked in the 1990s after the Tennessee Medical Board brought new charges of over-prescription.^[256]

In 1994, the Presley autopsy report was reopened. Dr. Joseph Davis, who had conducted thousands of autopsies as Miami-Dade County coroner,^[300] declared at its completion, "There is nothing in any of the data that supports a death from drugs. In fact, everything points to a sudden, violent heart attack."^[256] More recent research has revealed that Dr. Francisco did not speak for the entire pathology team. Other staff "could say nothing with confidence until they got the results back from the laboratories, if then. That would be a matter of weeks." One of the examiners, Dr. E. Eric Muirhead "could not believe his ears. Francisco had not only presumed to speak for the hospital's team of pathologists, he had announced a conclusion that they had not reached. ... Early on, a meticulous dissection of the body ... confirmed [that] Elvis was chronically ill with diabetes, glaucoma, and constipation. As they proceeded, the doctors saw evidence that his body had been wracked over a span of years by a large and constant stream of drugs. They had also studied his hospital records, which included two admissions for drug detoxification and methadone treatments."^[301] Writer Frank Coffey thought Elvis' death was due to "a phenomenon called the Valsalva maneuver (essentially straining on the toilet leading to heart stoppage—plausible because Elvis suffered constipation, a common reaction to drug use)".^[302] In similar terms, Dr. Dan Warlick, who was present at the autopsy, "believes Presley's chronic constipation—the result of years of prescription drug abuse and high-fat, high-cholesterol gorging—brought on what's known as Valsalva's maneuver. Put simply, the strain of attempting to defecate compressed the singer's abdominal aorta, shutting down his heart."^[303]

However, in 2013, Dr. Forest Tennant, who had testified as a defense witness in Nichopoulos' trial, described his own analysis of Presley's available medical records. He concluded that Presley's "drug abuse had led to falls, head trauma, and overdoses that damaged his brain", and that his death was due in part to a toxic reaction to codeine—exacerbated by an undetected liver enzyme defect—which can cause sudden cardiac arrhythmia.^[304] DNA analysis in 2014 of a hair sample purported to be Presley's found evidence of genetic variants that can lead to glaucoma, migraines, and obesity; a crucial variant associated with the heart-muscle disease hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was also identified.^[305]

[Augie]

I thought he was recently spotted at a Walmart outside Topeka? 

 

 

 

I aplogize, but you had to see some of that coming. He was doing things he shouldn’t, and he’s been dead a long time. He was never my thing, and the list of similar stories is extensive. Long, long time ago, but still sad. Always a terrible waste of life. 

[The Senator]

 

I tead that they found 30 pounds of impacted fecal matter in his colon.

 

Dude lived on fried peanut butter/banana sandwiches, and popped uppers and downers like candy.

 

Not the healthiest way to live.

 

OTOH, Elvis pal and self/proclaimed “Last Man Standing” from the million dollar quartet, Jerry Lee Lewis, continues to defy all actuarial tables!

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Edited April 24, 2019 by The Senator

[Tiberius]

1 minute ago, The Senator said:

 

I tead that they found 30 pounds of impacted fecal matter in his colon.

 

Dude lived on fried peanut butter/banana sandwiches, and popped uppers and downers like candy.

 

Not the healthiest way to live.

 

OTOH, Elvis pal and self/proclaimed “Last Man Standing” from the million dollar quartet, continues to defy all actuarial tables!

.

I had a vague notion he committed suicide or something. I remember that day so well and just became a fan of his song Suspicious Minds and that made me look it up. 30 pounds??? Damn, no wonder he was pushing so hard.

[The Senator]

3 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

I had a vague notion he committed suicide or something. I remember that day so well and just became a fan of his song Suspicious Minds and that made me look it up. 30 pounds??? Damn, no wonder he was pushing so hard.

 

.

[Augie]

3 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

I had a vague notion he committed suicide or something. I remember that day so well and just became a fan of his song Suspicious Minds and that made me look it up. 30 pounds??? Damn, no wonder he was pushing so hard.

 

An effective laxitive would have resulted in a significant renovation of Graceland. Just sayin’.....

[Another Fan]

Some years back there was this sleazy infomercial where this guy was selling the product The All Mighty Cleanse.  I think you could guess what it was supposed to do ?

 

While the product itself looked questionable there was a point when they looked at the colon of the oldest person alive it was as healthy as can be.  I do though think that healthy colon=healthy living.  

[Tiberius]

3 minutes ago, Another Fan said:

Some years back there was this sleazy infomercial where this guy was selling the product The All Mighty Cleanse.  I think you could guess what it was supposed to do ?

 

While the product itself looked questionable there was a point when they looked at the colon of the oldest person alive it was as healthy as can be.  I do though think that healthy colon=healthy living.  

I hurt my groin real bad once, pulled the lower stomach muscles/upper leg muscles, and boy, if I didn't eat fiber and clean out the system the added pressure would hurt! I've been a life long fiber eater (mainly apples now) ever since.

[The Senator]

A few tablets of senna glycoside and 3 tbspns of lactulose work wonders for me, even with the opioid constipation

 

A gallon of whatever that stuff is you have to drink for a colonoscopy is also very thorough - just make sure you have a clear path to the bathroom, and put a TV and some magazines in there!

.

[stuvian]

its always the legal drugs that do people in

[Augie]

12 minutes ago, The Senator said:

A few tablets of senna glycoside and 3 tbspns of lactulose work wonders for me, even with the opioid constipation

 

A gallon of whatever that stuff is you have to drink for a colonoscopy is also very thorough - just make sure you have a clear path to the bathroom, and put a TV and some magazines in there!

.

 

My wife still works with crazy hours and travel. My tax return may say I am “retired”, but my main purpose in life is to be sure she has Green Lemonade from Whole Foods. If I fail at that, I am deeply ashamed. So simple, yet so important. 

[Gugny]

53 minutes ago, The Senator said:

 

I tead that they found 30 pounds of impacted fecal matter in his colon.

 

Dude lived on fried peanut butter/banana sandwiches, and popped uppers and downers like candy.

 

Not the healthiest way to live.

 

OTOH, Elvis pal and self/proclaimed “Last Man Standing” from the million dollar quartet, Jerry Lee Lewis, continues to defy all actuarial tables!

.

 

Not to go off topic (apologies, OP), but Jerry Lee Lewis is a bad, bad man.  And I'm not talking Michael Jackson bad.  Dude's a murderer!  

 

Back on topic - I was only 6-years-old when Elvis died and even I remember where I was when I found out.

[Augie]

18 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Not to go off topic (apologies, OP), but Jerry Lee Lewis is a bad, bad man.  And I'm not talking Michael Jackson bad.  Dude's a murderer!  

 

Back on topic - I was only 6-years-old when Elvis died and even I remember where I was when I found out.

 

If you were in that bathroom, that would explain a LOT! 

[The Senator]

18 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Not to go off topic (apologies, OP), but Jerry Lee Lewis is a bad, bad man.  And I'm not talking Michael Jackson bad.  Dude's a murderer!  

 

Back on topic - I was only 6-years-old when Elvis died and even I remember where I was when I found out.

 

My goodness, I’m a huge Jerry Lee fan!

 

I know he was a violent hell-raiser, abused drugs and alcohol, and was an incestuous freak - married his 13 year-old cousin, but a murderer?

.

 

[The Senator]

30 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

My wife still works with crazy hours and travel. My tax return may say I am “retired”, but my main purpose in life is to be sure she has Green Lemonade from Whole Foods. If I fail at that, I am deeply ashamed. So simple, yet so important. 

 

That’s a simple need - you are fortunate.

 

The last time I had THAT scope (in the past 7 years I’ve had every type of scope, at least twice), I mixed the powder with lime Gatorade.

 

The results were, um, colorful.

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[Augie]

1 minute ago, The Senator said:

 

That’s a simple need - you are fortunate.

 

The last time I had THAT scope (in the past 7 years I’ve had every type of scope, at least twice), I mixed the powder with lime Gatorade.

 

The results were, um, colorful.

.

 

Nothing personal, but you remind me of the time our German Short Haired Pointer ate my Crayola 64 pack and decorated the back yard! 

[The BLUES Brothers]

I didn't know that background of how he died.

I am the youngest sibling at 55 but with older brothers and sisters being fans - he was a pretty big deal back in the day.

 

Saw a special last year that reported he first took drugs in the service, where soldiers took them to stay alert. 

When he returned from Duty, he took the drugs more often, then constantly when his manager was making him work too hard (movies, concerts, specials).  Sad the toll it took.

 

Last year business took me to Tennessee so  I took my wife and daughter to Nashville (a blast)  then Graceland. 

We spent the night at the Graceland Hotel that was beautiful but a little over the top, like a casino, in the foyer. They had a movie theater inside and every night they play an Elvis Movie for the guests. Good movie but no popcorn though lol.

 

At Graceland - they didn't let us go upstairs but the whole first floor,  his finished basement area, and the grounds were well kept including where he is buried with his mom there.

 

 They also had his recording studio building as part of the tour, a museum on site with lots of memorabilia, and we paid a few bucks extra to tour his private jet that was also there on the grounds.

 

I know I  typed a lot so if you're still reading....(In my best Elvis Voice:) Thannngyouahhhh Verrry Muchahhh!

[ExiledInIllinois]

I was like 9 in 1977.  I remember from day one he died on the crapper, heart attack and that drugs were probably the answer.  I didn't realize till recently that it was from pushing too hard.  Oh my!

 

There was a "1,000 Ways to Die" episode about a guy who died bringing the big game on the throne.  Maybe it was about Elvis pushing so hard thinking: "he'd better get it out because winter was coming!"    Who knows?  He did live in Memphis where it is usually warm and they are scared of snow.

[The Poojer]

Drinking that crap was by far the worst part of the colonoscopy process, it was like drinking slightly watered down, fake lemon flavored vaseline.  the rest was a piece of cake, even having to camp out on the crapper all nite

 

9 hours ago, The Senator said:

A few tablets of senna glycoside and 3 tbspns of lactulose work wonders for me, even with the opioid constipation

 

A gallon of whatever that stuff is you have to drink for a colonoscopy is also very thorough - just make sure you have a clear path to the bathroom, and put a TV and some magazines in there!

.

[row_33]

10 hours ago, The Senator said:

 

I tead that they found 30 pounds of impacted fecal matter in his colon.

 

Dude lived on fried peanut butter/banana sandwiches, and popped uppers and downers like candy.

 

Not the healthiest way to live.

 

OTOH, Elvis pal and self/proclaimed “Last Man Standing” from the million dollar quartet, Jerry Lee Lewis, continues to defy all actuarial tables!

.

 

that rumour was for John Wayne, not remotely true