What was Karen Carpenter's cause of death? Latest biography sheds light on singer's battle with anorexia
DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA: Karen Carpenter, the sister-half of the duo The Carpenters, died at the age of 32 in 1983 after a heart failure caused by her decade-long struggle with anorexia nervosa. According to her autopsy report, the medical examiners attributed her death to "emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa."
The cause of her death is explored in her new biography 'Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter', written by Lucy O'Brien. The author attempts to reframe the legendary singer's life and career in a male-dominated recording industry, offering new details about her eating disorder.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield, the book hit the stores on October 15.
Lucy O'Brien delves deep into Karen Carpenter's compulsive eating disorder
Carpenter embarked on a diet regimen while she was in high school. Under the doctor's advice, she ate only lean food, drank eight glasses of water daily, and avoided fatty foods. She followed different diets to look leaner, and her weight plummeted drastically, eventually leading to her death.
Carpenter was extremely conscious about her chubby appearance as a teenager. In each stage of her diet, she lost a significant amount of weight, and by 1975, her weight was just 91 lbs. This alarmed her family and fans.
In January 1982, the singer-drummer started taking therapy sessions with psychotherapist Steven Levenkron in Manhattan.
"Karen's willingness to set aside the time and the money showed her initial level of commitment to the therapy," wrote O'Brien in an excerpt published by The Hollywood Reporter.
"Her compulsive behaviors had developed over time, so [Steven] knew it would take a while to dislodge them. At one of their early sessions, he discussed with Karen what she was taking to expel food, and she owned up, saying she could ingest more than 90 Dulcolax at once. Under his supervision, the aim was for her to cut down and eventually stop," the book claims.
The author wrote about how the psychotherapist was "horrified" to learn about Carpenter's insane consumption of thyroid medications.
"He then asked her if she had taken anything else and she admitted to taking 10 pills a day of Synthroid, a thyroid medication, which would have the effect of speeding up her metabolism. Levenkron was horrified. Overdosage of thyroid medication could lead to coma, convulsions and heart attacks. "Give me the bottle," he said. Karen handed it over and he locked it in his desk drawer," the book claims.
Karen Carpenter's eating disorder weakened her heart
In September 1982, Carpenter was admitted to the intensive care hospital Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side when she found out her heart was "beating funny." She was severely dehydrated, her blood-potassium level dropped to a life-threatening level, and her "digestive tract was so damaged she had to be fed by intravenous drip," wrote O'Brien.
"Even though she had resisted gaining weight for a long time, once she was in the hospital, Karen allowed herself to be cared for. Over the next seven weeks she gained 20lbs, first from intravenous nutrition and then through eating small meals," says the 365-page biography.
The singer went on planning the next stage of her life and career, including signing a divorce petition from Thomas James Burris.
In November 1982, at the end of her therapy with Levenkron, she weighed 100lbs.
However, no treatment helped to make her healthier. On February 4, 1983, she was found unconscious in her bedroom.
Her heart was reportedly beating once every 10 seconds when she was shifted to the Downey Community Hospital. Carpenter was pronounced dead at 9.51 am, putting an end to her life and music.