She died of congestive heart failure. Almost all of her medical problems were caused by her inherited lymphedema-distichiasis syndrome. This rare genetic disease caused: Eyelashes growing inward to irritate and damage her eyes.
We did a little digging to answer these questions and here's what we found: Her eye color was actually natural — for the most part. Colored contacts weren't commercially available until 1983, so Taylor wasn't faking it. However, she was born with a very specific and rare amount of the pigment melanin.
The tumor was a meningioma the size of an orange. The singer Sheryl Crow, the actresses Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Tyler Moore, Kate Walsh and Maria Menounos are some celebrities diagnosed with the same type of tumor in the brain: meningioma. One of the most frequent among adults and that affects more to women.
Exploring The Life And Death Of Elizabeth Taylor | Our History
What is the life expectancy of meningioma?
What is the survival rate for meningioma patients? Currently, more than 90% of adults between the ages of 20 and 44 survive for five years or longer after being diagnosed with meningioma. This encouraging survival rate includes many patients who have gone on to live several decades after their diagnosis.
Depending on location and growth rate, a benign meningioma brain tumor may impinge on vital nerves or compress the brain, causing disability. They may even become life threatening. Meningiomas occur most commonly in people aged 40 to 70 years and occur more commonly in women.
Taylor's twin-set of lashes are thought to be the result of a genetic mutation at the FOXC2 gene. (Funny that a woman most men would describe as "foxy" was possibly affected by the FOXC2 gene!) An extra row of eyelashes is known medically as distichiasis (pronounced dis-tic-key-i-asis) and it's a rare disorder.
While filming National Velvet in 1944, then 12-year-old Taylor was thrown off a horse and hurt her back. However it was not that injury but scoliosis, or a curvature in her spine that she was born with, that was responsible for the chronic back pain she faced throughout her life.
And, well, she must have loved playing that part, because Liz would infamously walk down the aisle eight times (to seven husbands, marrying Richard Burton twice) over the next 40 years. Her first wedding took place in 1950, at the age of 18, and she didn't stop until her last stint as bride in 1991, at the age of 59.
Elizabeth mainly stresses the importance of eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein and avoiding too much red meat—which sounds like standard weight-loss fare, until you discover her meal plan and peculiar flavor combinations.
All other terms of Taylor's revocable living trust have remained private, as intended. It's rumored that the trust passed the majority of her assets to her children, grandchildren, and to various charities. Taylor's AIDS work saw her address the General Assembly at the United Nations.
Later, while under sedation for a caesarean section, she was given a tubal ligation without her knowledge. As a child actress and product of the MGM studio system, Elizabeth was given pills to pep her up and pills to calm her down – starting her on a path that would see her in and out of rehab in later years.
In 1970, Taylor was treated for what was described as corrective surgery to stop slight internal bleeding, two weeks after she had undergone a gynecological operation in Los Angeles. Taylor underwent surgery again in 1973 to remove an ovarian cyst and to clear up a stomach infection.
Did Elizabeth Taylor really have violet colored eyes?
Did Elizabeth Taylor have violet eyes? These days, thanks to colored contact lenses, anyone can have violet-colored eyes . Taylor didn't come by her purple peepers that way; the first tinted contact lenses weren't commercially available until 1983. Taylor's eye color was the real deal.
Albinism is a genetic condition that causes a reduced amount of melanin in a person's body. It often includes reduced melanin in the eyes. With very low melanin levels in the eye, the iris might appear blue or, in some instances, red or violet.
Trichiasis is an eye condition in which your eyelashes grow the wrong way — toward your eye rather than away from it. Having misdirected eyelashes causes your eye to become irritated because the lashes scrape against the cornea, the conjunctiva and the inside of your eyelids.
The tumor was a meningioma the size of an orange. The singer Sheryl Crow, the actresses Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Tyler Moore, Kate Walsh and Maria Menounos are some celebrities diagnosed with the same type of tumor in the brain: meningioma.
The cause of meningiomas is not known. Exposure to radiation, especially in childhood, is the only known environmental risk factor for developing meningiomas. People who have a genetic condition, called neurofibromatosis type 2, are at increased risk for developing meningiomas.
MRI has a promising role in predicting meningioma grade which can directly impact future management protocols. Hyperostosis of the adjacent skull was the only significant CT feature in benign meningiomas. MRI has an 79% specificity and 92% negative predictive value in detecting meningioma brain invasion.
