The family of TikTok influencer Taylor Rousseau Grigg is sharing more about the health complications that led to the 25-year-old’s death last week.
Grigg, a lifestyle content creator with more than 1 million followers on TikTok and several hundred thousand on Instagram, had opened up about her health challenges in a TikTok reel in August. Grigg said she had gotten sick shortly after her wedding, just over a year ago, although she didn’t receive a diagnosis until a few months ago.
Rousseau’s family says her cause of death was complications from asthma and Addison’s disease, a rare chronic illness. Her husband, Cameron Grigg, posted on Instagram that his wife had “dealt with more pain and suffering than most people do in a lifetime” but continued to be “such a light” and “always brought joy to everyone around her.”
Asthma is the more well-known of Grigg’s conditions, a chronic inflammatory disease that causes the airways to narrow, making breathing difficult. More than 30 million people in the U.S. have asthma, and while it often can be managed with steroid medications, asthma attacks or flares can be life-threatening.
Here’s what we know about the rarer Addison’s disease.
A closer look at Addison’s disease
Addison’s disease is a rare condition that affects the adrenal glands, small organs located on top of the kidneys, according to the Mayo Clinic. These glands produce important hormones, like cortisol and aldosterone, which help regulate many bodily functions, such as maintaining blood pressure, managing stress, and balancing salt and water levels.
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The condition can affect anyone and may become life-threatening without proper treatment that replaces missing hormones.
Causes
Although rare (it affects 1 in 100,000 people in the U.S.), Addison’s disease is most commonly caused by an autoimmune reaction, per the Cleveland Clinic. This is when your body’s immune system, which is supposed to protect you from harmful things like viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. In the case of Addison’s disease, the immune system attacks the adrenal glands, damaging them and making it hard for them to produce the necessary hormones. This is called “autoimmune adrenalitis.”
Addison’s disease can also be caused by infections, cancer, injury, or genetic factors, but these are less common triggers, per the Cleveland Clinic.
Symptoms of Addison’s disease
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the symptoms of Addison’s disease can be slow to develop and may be mistaken for other health issues at first. Common symptoms include extreme fatigue, weight loss or appetite changes, low blood pressure, craving salty foods, darkening of the skin, nausea or diarrhea, and joint pain.
If left untreated, Addison’s disease can lead to a life-threatening condition called an “Addisonian crisis,” where blood pressure drops dangerously low, and the person may go into shock.
Treatment
Doctors diagnose Addison’s disease through blood tests that check hormone levels, especially cortisol, per the NIH. If cortisol levels are low, there may be additional tests to confirm the diagnosis.
Addison’s disease can usually be managed with hormone replacement therapy. This involves taking medications to replace the missing hormones, like hydrocortisone or fludrocortisone. With regular treatment, most people with Addison’s disease can lead normal, healthy lives.
Unfortunately, Grigg’s case seems to be have been a complicated one.
There’s not much information on asthma and Addison’s disease together, but a 1993 case report in Respiration describes a 14-year-old boy with both conditions and notes that Addison’s disease may have worsened his asthma symptoms. The authors also note that the boy’s asthma made his diagnosis with Addison’s more difficult, which may at least partly explain why it took Grigg so long to receive her diagnosis.
Our deepest condolences go out to Grigg’s family during this time.
