Former Emmerdale star Gemma Oaten has revealed she recently nearly died from having “dangerously high” calcium levels in her body. The soap star opened up about her near-death experience on ITV’s Lorraine. “It was only two months ago that this all happened really,” she said.
Oaten said her life-threatening condition was years in the making, however.
She explained: “I had not been feeling well for a while to be honest but I didn’t practice what I preached and I just put it down to one side.
“We’d had a big funding cut for the charity that I am CEO of and I’d put it down to stress and the pressure of that. I was also doing a morning breakfast radio show so I was getting up early at half past four and doing my full time job and then auditions so I just put it down to nausea, feeling tired.”
The star was also experiencing bouts of “stomach cramps”, which she attributed to anxiety and stress.
Oaten then got Covid, which “unearthed this serious kidney syndrome that I had called milk-alkali syndrome”, she revealed.
Milk-alkali syndrome is a condition in which there is a high level of calcium in the body.
Oaten found out in hospital it was due to years of taking too much calcium carbonate through Rennie tablets.
When asked why she was taking Rennie tablets, the emmerdale star said: “I was poorly from the age of 10 with anorexia. That anorexia then led into bulimia and I was struggling for 13 years.
