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Dr. Marc I. Leavey, an internal medicine specialist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore (who did not treat Frey), told TheWrap that medications for rheumatoid arthritis or ulcerative colitis can compromise the immune system’s ability to fight off pneumonia.
“The medications used for rheumatoid arthritis or ulcerative colitis can interfere with the normal immune response needed to fight an infective agent, such as a pneumonia, again leading to disaster,” Leavey said.
Even the disease can lead to life-threatening conditions, Leavey cautioned.
“Rheumatoid arthritis, itself, can produce a condition which can allow ulcerative colitis, pneumonia, or both to become serious enough to threaten a life,” Leavey noted.
“Whether due to the disease or the medications used to treat them, the combination of rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia is one which would likely require maximal medical effort to fight,” he added.
Another significant part of the article makes me so sad: Glenn was a brave soul indeed
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Despite having grappled with such a debilitating disease for so many years, Jacobs said Frey could very well have had his functional periods, such as tours, interviews and television shows, without the public being aware.
“It does wax and wane, and there can be times when you’re faking it pretty well, and nobody knows,” she explained.
However, she noted, that activity would probably have come at a price.
“It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if, after he finished whatever he did, he collapsed for three, four days a week,” Jacobs said
