- Paul Glenn
- BBC
Celine Dion has revealed that she suffers from Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease.
The Canadian singer told her 5.2 million Instagram followers that the disease was making her muscles uncomfortably spasm.
The singer has become unable to walk easily as a result of the disease and has difficulty singing, she said, and this means that she will not be able to participate in concerts that were planned for next year in the United Kingdom and Europe.
“I’ve had health problems for a long time, and it was hard for me to face these challenges and talk regarding everything I’ve been through,” Dion said in an emotional video interview.
She added, “I was recently diagnosed with a rare neurological disease called ‘stiff person syndrome’ that affects one in a million people. Although we are still in the process of studying this disease, we now know that it is behind the spasms that I have been suffering from recently, and they affect all aspects of my life.” My daily life, unfortunately, sometimes makes it hard for me to walk and use my vocal cords to sing the way I used to.”
“It pains me to tell you today that this means that I will not be able to resume my trip to Europe in February,” she said, addressing her fans.
The star, who won an Oscar for her song “My Heart Will Continue Its Journey,” which she sang in the movie “Titanic,” said in 2014 that she would freeze her artistic activity indefinitely, as her husband, Rene Angelil, was battling cancer.
Although she resumed her activities following one year, she left the stage once more at the beginning of 2016, following the departure of Angelil and her brother Daniel Dion.
Dion returned to singing in 2019 with her album titled “Courage”, which featured collaborations with Sia, Sam Smith and David Guetta.
After the album was released, the star embarked on a concert tour around the world, which she had to stop due to the Covid epidemic. She was forced to change the dates of the concerts scheduled for this year as well, following suffering from “severe and continuous muscle spasms.”
Some concerts have been rescheduled, while others have been cancelled.
Dion reassured her fans that she is being cared for by an amazing team of doctors in order to improve her condition, while she gets the support of her “precious children”.
She explained that she is making great efforts with the medical trainers every day in order to rehabilitate her to return to a position that qualifies her to sing once more, but she admitted that she was suffering.
“Singing is all I’m good at, it’s something I’ve done all my life, and something I love to do,” she said.
And she added, “I miss you so much, I miss seeing you on stage, I miss singing to you. I always give all my energy to what I do, which I cannot do now.”
The artist bid farewell to her audience as she fought back her tears by thanking them for their support, stressing that she had no choice but to focus on her health. She expressed hope that she is on the road to recovery.
What is Syndrome The stiff person“Does she have a cure?
It is a rare condition and there is not a complete medical understanding of it.
image copyright Getty Images
Dion canceled her concerts and expressed in an emotional speech to her fans that she hopes to return
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders, they feature “fluctuating stiffness of muscles in the trunk and extremities and increased sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional disturbance, which can lead to muscle spasms.”
The institute also notes that “abnormal positions (of the body), which are often convex and rigid, are characteristic of this disorder.”
“People with stiff person syndrome may be unable to walk or move, or they may be afraid to leave the house because street noise, such as the sound of car horns, can trigger their contractions and fall.”
“Most individuals with SPS suffer frequent falls and because they lack normal defensive reflexes, the injuries can be severe.”
Although there is no cure for stiff person syndrome, there are drugs — including anti-anxiety medications and muscle relaxants — that can slow its progression.
