Coroner officials said Friday that Hollywood legend Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnea and a combination of other factors, but investigators were not able to pinpoint an exact cause. Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person's breathing pauses during sleep. The pauses may be brief or last several minutes. According to South Africa's Channel 24, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said in a news release late Friday that among the factors that contributed to Fisher's death was buildup of fatty tissue in the walls of her arteries. The release states that the Star Wars actress showed signs of having taken multiple drugs, but investigators could not determine whether they contributed to her death in December. Fisher's brother, Todd Fisher, said he was not surprised by the results, saying, "I am not shocked that part of her health was affected by drugs," added that her smoking habit probably also played a significant role. Fisher suffered a medical emergency on an international flight on Dec. 23 and died four days later. Her mother, longtime movie star Debbie Reynolds, died the following day. She was 60 years old.
