Drugs took many things from Whitney Houston — her pristine voice, clean image and her career — and coroner's officials revealed Thursday that cocaine also played a role in the Grammy winner's death in the bathtub of a luxury hotel nearly six weeks ago.
Houston drowned accidentally at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 11, and autopsy results revealed heart disease and her recent and chronic cocaine use were contributing factors.
The results ended weeks of speculation about what killed the singer-actress at age 48 on the eve of the Grammy Awards and a planned comeback. Instead, Houston now joins the long list of entertainers who have died early with drugs at least partly to blame.
Houston died Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton, where she was discovered unresponsive and submerged in a bathtub.
The coroner's report points to chronic cocaine use, says chief investigator Craig Harvey.
"We feel that the cocaine coupled with the …heart disease complicated her condition," Harvey says. "Chances are if she did not have preexisting heart disease and cocaine use, she might not have drowned."
The amount of chemicals found in Houston's body will be revealed in the final report expected in about two weeks.
Long-term cocaine use can cause inflammation and chronic damage to the blood vessels around the heart, which can lead to hardening of the arteries, says Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
In the short term, a hit of cocaine can cause abnormal heart rhythms that can lead to sudden cardiac death.
Houston drowned accidentally at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 11, and autopsy results revealed heart disease and her recent and chronic cocaine use were contributing factors.
The results ended weeks of speculation about what killed the singer-actress at age 48 on the eve of the Grammy Awards and a planned comeback. Instead, Houston now joins the long list of entertainers who have died early with drugs at least partly to blame.
Houston died Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton, where she was discovered unresponsive and submerged in a bathtub.
The coroner's report points to chronic cocaine use, says chief investigator Craig Harvey.
"We feel that the cocaine coupled with the …heart disease complicated her condition," Harvey says. "Chances are if she did not have preexisting heart disease and cocaine use, she might not have drowned."
The amount of chemicals found in Houston's body will be revealed in the final report expected in about two weeks.
Long-term cocaine use can cause inflammation and chronic damage to the blood vessels around the heart, which can lead to hardening of the arteries, says Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
In the short term, a hit of cocaine can cause abnormal heart rhythms that can lead to sudden cardiac death.
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