For years Mary Tyler Moore entertained America on shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Now the 77 year-old Moore is struggling in her fight against diabetes and, according to friends, is currently in poor health. More has struggled from the effects of diabetes for decades and in 2011 underwent brain surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor.
Closer Weekly this week published a report on Moore, interviewing several of her famous friends about her health status. Unfortunately, it seems that the actress’ health has deteriorated in recent months, forcing her to stay close to her home and to her husband, cardiologist Robert Levine.
Betty White, who played Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, said that Moore’s eyesight is fading and is a “big problem.” White stated that Moore is almost to the point of not being able to see at all.
Moore’s longtime TV husband Dick Van Dyke told Closer that he talks to Moore often and that she “hasn’t been too well.” As he phrased it, Moore is “really having a battle with it.”
Valerie Harper, who played Rhoda Morgenstern in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the series spin-off Rhoda, contends that Moore “stays healthy,” though diabetes “does ravage her body.” Harper herself is suffering from serious health issues, having announced last year that she has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Moore was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 33, just as she was beginning The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Since that time, Moore has become a spokesperson for diabetes awareness and research. She is currently the international chairman of the JDRF, a charity dedicated to funding diabetes research.
Moore spoke out about her struggle with diabetes in her second memoir, Growing Up Again: Life, Loves, and O Yeah, Diabetes. The book revealed that Moore has been struggling with vision impairment caused by diabetes for years.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
