Tina Turner's cause of death has been confirmed the day after the star passed away.
The music legend died "peacefully" at her home in Kusnacht near Zurich in Switzerland on Wednesday 24 March. The 83-year-old had been battling high blood pressure and kidney failure behind the scenes.
And now, a representative has confirmed that she died of natural causes, according to the Daily Mail. It follows reports that Tina was so ill that she had considered ending her own life until her husband donated a kidney so she could have a transplant in 2017.
The star opened up about her health struggle with the "silent killer" of kidney disease before her death.
Husband Erwin Bach donated his wife a kidney, however, it was too late and Tina spent her last months feeling "nauseous and dizzy" as she was on "multiple prescriptions"' and "was scared a lot" reports the Mirror.
In her final months, Tina revealed that she had refused to take conventional medicine for her hypertension and put herself "at great danger" by turning to homeopathic cures.
"I considered my body an invulnerable and indestructible bastion for way too long," she told Show your Kidneys Love.
The The Best singer suffered from hypertension (high blood pressure) for decades and was diagnosed in 1978 but admitted she "didn't care much about it'. In 1985 she was put on daily medication.
It took a stroke in 2009 for Tina to discover her kidneys were also suffering and had already lost 35 percent of their function.
Tina continued to take medication to control her high blood pressure but she became convinced the pills were making her worse.
"With time I developed a fatal dislike of these pills," she said. "I remembered relishing life before I started taking them and wished I could be as clear headed and energetic as I used to be."
A friend of Tina suggested she try a homeopathic doctor in France
This led the star quickly replacing all of her conventional medication with homeopathic remedies - without seeking advice from her doctors.
"Rarely in my life had I been so wrong," she said.
Tina's uncontrolled high blood pressure wreaked havoc on her kidneys and her kidney disease reached its final stage.
"Thanks to my naivety I had ended up at the point where it was about life or death," she said.
The superstar was subsequently put on dialysis for nine months to survive.
"It was my only option, but it was depressing to be connected to a machine for hours," she said.
Luckily her loyal husband Erwin offered to donate one of his kidneys and Tina underwent a kidney transplant in 2017.
But that wasn't the end of her struggles as her body tried to reject the donor kidney and she spent months in and out of hospital.
"The months after the transplantation were marked by a never ending up and down," she said.
This is when Tina's health started to take a turn for the worse and she never fully recovered.
"I kept feeling nauseous and dizzy, forgot things, and was scared a lot," she said.
Talking just weeks before her passing Tina said the problems were "still not quite resolved".
She added: "I am on multiple prescriptions and take great care to follow my doctors’ orders meticulously. For I know that I can trust them and their therapies."
In one of her final social media posts shared just weeks before her passing, Tina urged her fans to "show their kidneys love" as she marked World Kidney Day.
"Today is International World Kidney Day. Why is it important? Because kidneys fail without pain. And that's why I'm telling you today: Show your kidneys love! They deserve it," she told fans.
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