Elvis Presley: Experts believe the singer may have suffered from an autoimmune disorder

When asked who from the past they would love to have at their dinner table, people often respond with the same names time and time again. One of the most popular would-be dinner guests is Elvis Presley, the iconic King of Rock and Roll. Elvis died on August 16, 1977, when he was only 43. He was not the first star to die young, nor was he the last, but his death was particularly newsworthy because of his fame and the circumstances in which his body was found.

The singer was discovered, unfortunately somewhat famously, next to the toilet with his pyjama bottoms around his ankles. Although it was well-recorded that he had lived off a diet of junk food for years - until he weighed 25 stone - his cause of death was debated. His autopsy was immediately sealed for 50 years by his family, but news of what may have really happened to him has leaked out over the years. Here’s everything you need to know about the beloved singer’s death.

Elvis suffered from constipation

It’s not glamorous, but it’s true - Elvis’ lifestyle had completely bunged up his system. Dan Warlick, chief investigator for the Tennessee Office of the State Chief Medical Examiner, attended Elvis’ autopsy and once said:

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 manoeuvre.

He continued: ‘Put simply, the strain of attempting to defecate compressed the singer's abdominal aorta, shutting down his heart.’ Indeed, the post-mortem exam found that he had a four-month-old compacted stool in his bowel.

Drug overdose theory

Others speculated that Elvis had died of a drug overdose. However, the position of his body suggests otherwise. His girlfriend, Ginger, found his body in the bathroom. She was only 21 at the time. Ginger said:

It was clear that, from the moment he landed on the floor, Elvis hadn't moved. I gently turned his face toward me. A hint of air expelled from his nose.

Coroner Joseph Davis explained that a drug overdose takes hours:

If it had been a drug overdose, [Elvis] would have slipped into an increasing state of slumber. He would have pulled up his pajama bottoms and crawled to the door to seek help.

Possible autoimmune disease

The autopsy results will be released in 2027. For now, yet another theory has been floated. At the time of Elvis' death, his doctor Dr George Nichopoulos was accused of having over-prescribed the singer drugs. He was later acquitted, but not before physician Dr Forest Torrent - who defended the doctor - had dug a little deeper.

Dr Torrent focused on the fact that Elvis had experienced a deterioration in his whole body; he complained of vertigo, back pain, insomnia and headaches. Once a fit young man, he had gone on to become a regular drug user, but Dr Torrent didn’t think that was the whole reason behind these issues.

In 1973 the singer was rushed to hospital in a semi-coma. Doctors found he was suffering from jaundice, severe respiratory distress, a bleeding ulcer and hepatitis. In 1975 he was once again taken to hospital with high blood pressure, cholesterol, and a condition called megacolon. The latter causes the large intestine to become distended, which can allow toxins to flood the body. He suffered four near-death overdoses and at some point, his heart was double the normal size.

What was behind all of these ailments?

Dr Torrent’s hypothesis is that the star had a progressive autoimmune inflammatory disorder brought on by a serious head injury. In 1967 Elvis tripped over a television cord and knocked himself out on the bathtub, causing his brain tissue to detach. The body then recognised this as a foreign entity, and produced antibodies to destroy it, hence kickstarting a disorder of Elvis’ immune system.

Since Dr Torrent shared his theory, others have agreed. Garry Rodgers, a retired homicide detective and forensic coroner, spoke about a possible explanation to the Huffington Post in 2016. He said that with all the information, he would have determined that Elvis died of a heart attack caused by heart disease - which had in turn been caused by drug use and an autoimmune disease. Rodgers said:

If Dr Forrest Torrent is right, there simply wasn’t a proper understanding back then in determining what really killed the King of Rock & Roll.

He summarised: ‘There's no specific negligence on anyone's part and definitely no cover-up or conspiracy of a criminal act.’

Read more:

⋙ Angus Cloud: Euphoria star's official cause of death finally revealed

⋙ Princess Diana: Documentary to reveal new claims about affair with James Hewitt, what is he doing now?

⋙ Dave Myers passed away with £1.4M fortune that he shares with wife Liliana Orzac

Sources used:

Mirror: Elvis Presley autopsy explains gruesome illness that caused toilet death

Huffpost: Elvis Presley's Death -- What Really Killed the King?