ELVIS Presley died 46 years ago today.
The King of Rock & Roll, who was just 42, was found unresponsive on the floor of a bathroom inside his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, on Aug. 16, 1977, having suffered a fatal heart attack.
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His only child, Lisa Marie, was just nine-years-old at the time of his death.
She succumbed to an eerily similar premature fate herself in January when she was found unresponsive inside her home in Calabasas, California, by her ex-husband Danny Keough.
It was first believed that Lisa Marie had suffered sudden cardiac arrest, but an autopsy released last month revealed she died from a series of complications spurred by a small bowel obstruction.
Both Elvis and his daughter had been suffering from a number of health issues in the years and months preceding their deaths.
Elvis’ mom, Gladys Presley, died almost exactly 19 years before her son at the age of just 46 and a number of her three brothers also passed away at relatively young ages from either heart or liver-related issues between the ages of 46 and 58.
The premature deaths that have afflicted the Presley lineage are no coincidence to Elvis historian and biographer Sally Hoedel, who researched the medical history of the family for her book, Elvis: Destined to Die Young.
As the title of her book would suggest, Hoedel believes Presley’s tragic fate was inevitable, regardless of his Rock and Roll exploits and proclivity for pills and unhealthy foods.
According to Hoedel’s research, Elvis’ fate was likely sealed for him by his maternal grandparents.
Glady Presley’s parents, Bob Smith and Doll Mansell, were first cousins and may have passed down a series of defective genes to Gladys, her brothers, Elvis, and possibly even Lisa Marie.
Hoedel believes the faulty genes passed down by Bob and Doll were aggravating factors behind Elvis’ various health issues, which he then in turn treated with a cocktail of prescription drugs.
In fact, at the time of his death, the legendary crooner was suffering from diseases in nine of the 11 bodily systems, including his heart, his lungs, and his bowels.
Five of those disease processes, Hoedel says, were present from birth.
Rather than a star burning out in a reckless spiral of self-destruction – as is often painted – Hoedel believes Elvis was a man who struggled every day to survive.
She also believes Lisa Marie’s life bears a similar tale of survival – and details shared in her autopsy may help to unlock some of the Presley family’s health secrets.
EERIE SIMILARITIES
In Lisa Marie’s autopsy, released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner on July 13, it was revealed that the late singer had been suffering from a number of health issues in the months and years preceding her passing, just as her father had.
Such ailments included heart issues, long-lasting fevers, nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting, according to the report.
The autopsy also stated that Lisa Marie had complained of abdominal pain the morning of her death and was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious.
While in the emergency room, Lisa Marie suffered heart issues and had to have a temporary pacemaker installed due to life-threatening rhythms.
Her condition continued to decline until she went into cardiac arrest and was officially pronounced dead 20 minutes later.
The coroner determined Lisa Marie’s death had been caused by a small but fatal bowel obstruction.
They found scarring on her bowel which is a common complication from bariatric surgery, a weight-loss procedure she’d undergone years prior.
However, Hoedel believes Lisa Marie may have undergone the surgery for more than just the benefits of weight loss.
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Like her father, Lisa Marie suffered from digestive and bowel issues for the majority of her life, and bariatric surgery is known to lessen the severity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBS), she says.
“Lisa Marie suffered from digestive/bowel disorder her entire life,” Hoedel said. “She referred to it as a ‘chronic Presley problem’ and stated that it went back to childhood for her.
Elvis Presley also suffered from a life-long bowel disorder and life-long chronic constipation. Although some of the medication he was taking would have further slowed his digestive system, it did not initially cause the problem.
“There is testimony to it being a problem for Elvis as a toddler and a teen, long before fame and prescription medication. This was also true for Lisa Marie, as her own testimony attests to it being known since childhood.”
Suggesting that Elvis and Lisa Marie’s bowel issues are genetically linked, Hodel continued: “Gastric bypass surgery is known to result in statistically significant improvement with IBS. Additionally, the pain that accompanies lifelong digestive issues would have seemed normal to her.
“Perhaps this is why she did not seek medical treatment sooner. She had suffered from gut discomfort her entire life.”
SHARED HEALTH STRUGGLES
Hodel said there were additional details shared in Lisa Marie’s autopsy that showed striking similarities between her health issues and those of her father.
Among them is the fact that Lisa Marie suffered from a “distended abdomen for years” and was suffering months of “abdominal pain” before her death.
Though Elvis was largely mocked for his dramatic weight gain prior to his death, Hoedel said much of it was actually caused by abdominal bloating and swelling.
“The report also states that Lisa Marie Presley suffered from several metabolic acidosis, which means too many acids would build up in her body. This is a result of kidney disease or kidney failure,” she continued.
“We do not know how long she suffered from this condition. Was it short-term or long-term? There is a known presence of genetic kidney disease in her paternal line.
“Elvis Presley’s uncle died from kidney disease in 1968, and his daughter [Elvis’ cousin] suffers from the same genetic kidney disease today.
“Many of the symptoms for this disorder are similar to that of bowel obstruction with nausea, vomiting, confusion, and change in heart rate.
“Additionally, the report includes issues with blood sugar, blood pressure, and a history of stroke.
“Regulating the blood pressure of Elvis Presley was always a struggle for his doctor, especially after ending a performance. Likewise, the stroke is interesting from a family history standpoint as well.
“There are two uncles of Elvis Presley who suffered from strokes at an early age. Both Travis Smith and Tracy Smith suffered a stroke in their 40s and 50s. They were brothers to Gladys Presley.”
‘NO COINCIDENCE’
In yet another apparent correlation, Elvis and his daughter were both found to have numerous narcotics and medications in their bloodstream at the time of their respective deaths, though none amounted to a lethal dose.
Lisa Marie, like her father, struggled with substance abuse issues for much of her life.
She began drinking and taking drugs at the age of 13 after losing her dad, grandfather, and great-grandmother all within a three-year period.
Lisa Marie eventually got clean after her mom Priscilla admitted her to a Scientology rehab center but in later years she became addicted to prescription opioids and struggled with a cocaine addiction, which she went to rehab for a reported five times to treat.
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At the time of her death, Lisa Marie had oxycodone in her blood – which she was prescribed for pain from a recent cosmetic surgery – as well as antidepressant quetiapine metabolite, norbuprenorphine, and buprenorphine, which treats opioid addiction.
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“The decedent had a history of overmedicating; she was known to forget she had taken her medications and would take them again,” her autopsy reads.
“She had a history of alcohol abuse and illicit drug use in the past. She had reportedly been clean from both since 2015. She smoked approximately 1 pack of cigarettes daily.”
The mention of a recent cosmetic procedure was of particular interest to Hoedel.
She explained: “Coming to light from that procedure, was that she suffered an infection post-op that required hospitalization.
“It is known that Elvis Presley suffered from hypogammaglobulinemia, which means his body struggled to fight infection. It was a constant problem for him, especially while touring.
“A history of infection in Lisa Marie is unknown, but this is another correlation.”
Hoedel says the premature deaths in the Presley family tree stopped being a coincidence with Elvis’ passing – with Lisa Marie now potentially the latest victim of her ancestor’s corrupted genes.
“Ultimately, we do not have enough long-term health history available at this time to understand how her poor health is related to that of the inherited issues her father certainly suffered from,” surmised Hoedel.
“However, another young death in the Presley family that is heart, bowel, and kidney-related does have to mean something. The presence of stroke at such a young age is certainly of interest given the presence of stroke in the family tree.
“I hope this family health history is ultimately pieced together, not only to bring peace for Lisa Marie and her family but for the obvious correlation to the young death of her famous father.
“His legacy deserves an understanding of his lifestyle choices. His story was certainly one of survival and not self-destruction.
“If Lisa Marie’s tragic death and lifelong health issues can add to that understanding, I have to imagine that is a gift in many ways to many people…but especially to her father and the sensationalism that has surrounded his death for all these years.”
DESTINED TO DIE YOUNG
For her book, Elvis: Destined to Die Young, Hoedel painstakingly researched the medical history of the Presley family through a scientific lens and unearthed never-before-reported information.
Her interest in the topic was piqued after noticing a series of similarities in the deaths of Elvis and his much-beloved mother Gladys, who died almost exactly 19 years before him on Aug. 14, 1958.
Gladys, like her superstar son, died of heart failure. She was 46, just four years older than Elvis when he passed away.
Additionally, both Elvis and Gladys suffered a “similar four-year period of degenerative health” in the lead-up to their deaths, according to Hoedel, “which is interesting because they weren’t taking the same kinds of medication.”
Research conducted by Hoedel found that Gladys had been seeing a cardiologist since at least 1956, and was also hospitalized for two weeks that same year with a mystery illness.
Shortly before her death, Gladys was also diagnosed with hepatitis, the origins of which baffled her doctors at the time.
The condition, which targets the lungs and liver, was thought to have been related to Gladys’ alcoholism.
Born and raised in extreme poverty in the deep south, Gladys’ struggles to cope with her son’s meteoric ascension to fame and fortune are well documented, with the self-described “most miserable woman in the world” reportedly once telling a friend over the phone, “I wish we were poor again, I really do.”
Growing increasingly isolated and depressed as Elvis became a global sensation, Gladys began drinking excessively and taking diet pills – a downward spiral that many believe led to her hepatitis diagnosis and ultimately contributed to her death.
Gladys fell seriously ill just a few months after Elvis enlisted in the US Army. The timing of her downturn in health spurred theories that Gladys drank herself to death, wracked with worry and suffering from a broken heart while her son was serving overseas in Germany.
For Hoedel, any such claims are just baseless “romanticism.”
“Gladys has always been painted as this woman whose son became famous, bought her a big house and she just struggled to deal with it all and essentially died of a broken heart,” the author and historian told The U.S. Sun last year.
“But that’s not how it works. I think Elvis and Vernon [Elvis’ dad] both knew who knew how sick she was before he left for the army.
“They were all so sad because I believe for sure that they knew they didn’t have a lot of time left with her.”
RARE DISORDER
Contrary to popular folklore, Hoedel believes – like Elvis – the causes of Gladys’ death and ill-health lie further up the family tree.
“The Presleys were incredibly secretive about their health,” Hoedel said, “but I managed to interview people like Nancy Clarke, the daughter of Gladys’ cardiologist, who used to go on house calls with her dad to the Presley home.
“And she told me before her dad passed away, he said there was more to Gladys’ death than what he understood because he’s long been quoted as saying it looked like hepatitis, but it wasn’t, and he couldn’t work out what was wrong with her.”
Hoedel believes that Gladys was actually suffering from Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, an inherited and rarely diagnosed disorder that can cause lung and liver disease.
“We know Elvis had it because he found to be a carrier for Alpha-1 after his death, so it had to come from somewhere” she added.
“And it all leads back to Gladys’ parents.”
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In her book, Hoedel examines the health issues of Elvis’ grandmother, Doll Smith, who is believed to have suffered from Tuberculosis for more than 30 years.
“Again, something that doesn’t make sense, but continued to be passed down the family tree and then throughout recorded Elvis history as well,” said Hoedel.
“This book explains how Tuberculosis was most certainly a misdiagnosis in the early 1900s.
“From there, with the first-cousin marriage, we can see that Gladys most likely inherited two damaged genes and a more serious version of the disease.”
DISPELLING ENDURING MYTHS
Hoedel’s primary motivation for writing her book was to dispel a number of the myths and misconceptions that have continued to swirl around Elvis’ death in the 46 years since his death.
Elvis’ heart attack death has long been attributed to his well-documented proclivity for prescription drugs and unhealthy foods.
Those attributions can be traced back to news coverage from the time, with reports painting the star as a bloated, forlorn drug addict; a rock ‘n’ roll cliche who popped one too many pills and died long before his time as a consequence.
But for Hodel, the cause of Elvis’ premature demise is not so clear-cut – and certainly not a cautionary tale about the perils of fame and self-destruction.
She believes his prescription drug problem may have been the result of Elvis and his infamous physician, George “Nick” Nichopolous, attempting to treat his various congenital illnesses, rather than just mindless overconsumption.
“Elvis had various health issues but he hid them so well that the over-medication is what we remember now,” said Hoedel.
“He often took too much, and there are issues there, but you have to ask why he was taking those pills in the first place.
“One of the reasons Elvis turned to the medication was pain, he was also a lifelong insomniac, but the reason he was self-medicating was that he was trying to find a way to be Elvis Presley.”
The more he toured, the more medication he would need to function through his various ailments, Hoedel suggests.
For Hoedel, examining Elvis’ faulty genetic make-up was an effort to re-humanize the mythical figure of Presley, who she feels in the years since his death has been reduced to a rockstar cliche who simply died alone on the bathroom floor.
“There are so many myths and misconceptions about how Elvis lived, not just in how he died, and it isn’t fair on Elvis,” said Hoedel.
“I think Elvis is the greatest victim of sensationalism and romanticism, and both have kind of plagued and haunted his legacy and prevented him from being remembered as the incredibly important historical figure he is.
“Elvis shifted our universe culturally like no one has before and he deserves to be treated like a Henry Ford or Thomas Edison of pop culture.
“But the sex drugs and rock’n’roll narrative has held him back – he deserves a bigger place in American history.”
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