After Tara Palmer-Tomkinson’s death what is the rare autoimmune disease the socialite was battling, and how can it prove fatal?

TARA Palmer-Tomkinson was found dead in her West London flat yesterday, just three months after revealing her battle with ill-health.

The 45-year-old was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour in January last year, but it was another disease ravaging her body, attacking her from the inside out, that posed a greater threat.

The original It Girl confided in pals she was worried the conditions could  kill her.

Doctors diagnosed Tara with a pituitary brain tumour - a non-malignant growth just behind the eyes that affects the production of hormones in the body and can result in infertility and a loss of sex drive.

But, further blood tests uncovered another sinister disorder.

While the brain tumour was unlikely to pose a threat to her life, the rare autoimmune condition specialists identified was potentially fatal.

The condition, which involved anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs), causes the immune system to attack the body rather than protect it.

Left untreated the condition can "eat away" at the lungs, kidneys, and other parts of the body.

WHAT ARE ANCAs?

The blood is made up of two distinct parts - solids and fluid.

Red and white blood cells make up the solids, while plasma is the fluid.