The whole of France cries Jane Birkin, found dead at her home this Sunday, July 16, 2023. The favorite Englishwoman of the French had recently canceled concerts for health reasons. The 76-year-old singer was weakened by several health problems. Starting with a leukemiawho had been diagnosed in 1998. Nearly 15 years later, Jane Birkin also evoked a autoimmune disease without specifying which one. She then becomes the target of Covid-19 before being the victim of a stroke in 2021.
Since the beginning of the year 2023, the star chained the cancellations of his performances because of his health. In early March, a press release explained that Jane Birkin was unable to perform due to a fracture. Jane Birkin was not spared from the disease. In 2017, she confided in the columns of Paris Match that he only had 10 years left to live: The doctors took me out of the disease, it was also a form of awakening. I understood whether I liked it or not, that I had only 10 years left in front of me “.
What is Jane Birkin’s leukemia?
The artist inseparable from Serge Gainsbourg fought twice against leukemia, diagnosed for the first time in 1998. Jane Birkin had been hospitalized for more than a year and a half to be cared for. ” It was not a very painful cancer, leukemia is a fairly common disease “, she had declared to Gala in 2019. In remission, her cancer had reappeared in 2013.
” Leukemias are characterized by the invasion of the bone marrow by a population of cells, which then pass into the blood “, describes theCurie Institute.
Symptoms are caused by a reduction in the amount of certain cells in the blood due to excessive proliferation of leukemic cells. A decrease in the number of red blood cells can lead to anemia, which manifests as excessive paleness and shortness of breath. Lack of platelets can lead to severe bleeding. As for the reduction of white blood cells, it increases the risk ofinfections.
Indeed, leukemia weakens the immune system. It is no coincidence that Jane Birkin has been affected by Covid-19 six times. She explained to the Swiss newspaper The morning many months ago : ” I’m doing splendidly well. I had the Covid six times. It’s still amazing. […] Unfortunately, I have no immunity at all because of my leukemia. I need to pay more attention “.
“We go to the hospital for pericarditis, then for the water around the lungs…”
In 2013, she revealed that she suffered from an autoimmune disease. ” We go to the hospital for pericarditis, then for the water around the lungs, we take out a liter and a half but, afterwards, it’s the blood cells that start playing tricks on you […] I have never been afraid. But I didn’t have those horrors of colon and breast cancer – which would be a shame – yes, that’s scary. My illness was not painful. An autoimmune disease, in a rather poetic genre. I never worried… And I was right because all that is history. And well spent. I don’t want to hear about it anymore! “, confided Jane Birkin to our colleagues from Gala.
There pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. It may be due to autoimmune diseases. However, we do not know what autoimmune disease Jane Birkin suffered from.
A CVA from which she has kept no sequelae
No doubt, Jane Birkin’s health was fragile. In August 2021, the singer suffered a mild form of stroke. She has no after-effects. ” I had had a terrible headache while I was promoting Charlotte’s movie. She [une amie, ndlr] thought I was speaking strangely, she saw right away that something was wrong “, explained Jane Birkin at the microphone of RTL.
Some strokes do not cause any sequelae. This is the case, for example, of transient ischemic attack or TIA, which results from very transient arterial obstruction. This type of stroke does not cause brain damage.
However, it was an accumulation of health problems which made Jane Birkin particularly vulnerable and which led her to cancel numerous performances, starting with that of the end of January 2023, at the Comédie opera house in Montpellier.
