Teri Garr, the actor who died on Tuesday at the age of 79, was known for her comedic roles, but the star had suffered from serious health problems for decades.

Garr’s cause of death was complications from multiple sclerosis, her publicist and friend Heidi Schaeffer told NBC News.

She had also suffered a brain aneurysm in 2006 that left her in a coma for a week.

Here’s what the actor – who delivered memorable performances in ‘Young Frankenstein,’ ‘Tootsie’ and ‘Mr. Mom” – said about her health:

Multiple sclerosis

This nervous system disease affects the brain and spinal cord, leading to damage that affects how the brain communicates with the body, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Women are more likely to develop the autoimmune disease, with warning signs usually starting between ages 20 and 40, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke explains.

Garr said she had vague symptoms that started around the time she was filming “Tootsie” in the early 1980s — nearly two decades before she was diagnosed.

“I ran, jogged in the park and just started tripping. It was like my toe: I started tripping, and then it went away. Then I would get some tingling in my arm,” she told CNN’s Larry King in 2002 when she first went public about her condition.

“It’s very difficult to get a diagnosis and it’s very difficult to figure out — difficult to find out if you have this because things come and go and things are subtle.”

She started limping and was told she may have an orthopedic problem or a pinched nerve. Garr visited 11 doctors before finally being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, she told Closer Weekly.

The exact cause is a mystery, but genetic susceptibility, infectious diseases and environmental factors can trigger the disease, according to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

It lists symptoms including:

• fatigue
• memory problems
• mood swings
• mobility problems
• numbness
• pain
• tingling
• visual impairment

Garr walked with a brace on her leg to treat her limp and was given injections of a drug to slow the progression of the disease. She had minimal movement in her right hand and her treatment included steroids, which caused her to gain weight, the Los Angeles Times reported.

There is no cure for multiple sclerosis, but several therapies have been approved to treat it.

People with multiple sclerosis may have double the risk of dying early compared to their healthy peers, according to a study in Neurology.

Complications of multiple sclerosis that can lead to death include respiratory and urinary tract infections and aspiration pneumonia from inhaling body fluid or other objects into the lungs, researchers note.

Garr’s family did not specify what MS complications led to her death.

Brain aneurysm

In December 2006, Garr suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly killed her.

“I went to sleep to take a nap and my daughter couldn’t wake me up. So thank God she called 9-1-1 and they rushed me to the hospital,” the actor told CNN in 2008.

“They drilled a hole in my head and wrapped a coil around my brain so it wouldn’t bleed anymore,” she added in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that same year.

Garr was in a coma for a week and then underwent two months of rehabilitation. “I had to learn to walk again, to talk again, to think again,” she said, noting that she had to undergo physical, occupational and voice therapy.

A brain aneurysm is a bulge or “balloon” in the weak spot of an artery wall that — if it becomes large — can burst and cause life-threatening bleeding, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Brain aneurysms, also called cerebral aneurysms, affect about 5% of the population, according to the American Heart Association.

High blood pressure, heavy lifting or exertion, strong emotions such as anger and certain medications such as blood thinners can increase the chance that an aneurysm will rupture, according to the American Stroke Association.

Once an aneurysm bleeds, there is a 40% chance of death, it notes.

Coiling an aneurysm involves guiding thin metal wires to the site of the aneurysm, where they coil into a mesh ball, the National Library of Medicine explains. Blood clots then form around the coil, sealing the aneurysm and preventing bleeding.

Garr called all her health problems a “strange gift.”

“It makes you stop, calm down and focus,” she told Closer Weekly.