Celine Dion Illness Update: What is the cause of the stiff person syndrome?

Celine Dion Illness Update: After announcing in a public statement that she had Stiff Person Syndrome, Celine Dion brought attention to a previously unknown condition. The Canadian performer suffers from a disease that affects only “one in a million” people worldwide.

Then, what are the symptoms and effects of Stiff Person Syndrome? Here is a comprehensive description of the rare illness:

Celine Dion Illness Update

According to Céline Dion’s sister, Celine is doing better and making progress in her battle against Stiff Person Syndrome. Claudette Dion told Hello! Canada magazine that her sister is “doing everything to recover” and that the family is “crossing our fingers that scientists will find a cure for this terrible disease.”

In December 2022, Dion announced that she had been diagnosed with Stiff-Person, a rare neurological disorder. Her spasms were eventually explained in an emotional Instagram video she uploaded.

While we are still learning about this uncommon condition, we now know that it is the cause of all of the spasms she has been experiencing.

Muscle stiffness and painful spasms are the most prominent symptoms of Stiff Person Syndrome, an uncommon, degenerative neurological condition.

“It’s a disease about which we know so little,” Claudette said of Dion’s symptoms. “There are spasms; they are uncontrollable. You know that individuals frequently awaken in the middle of the night due to a leg or calf cramp, right? “It’s a little bit like that, but in every muscle,” she exclaims in dismay. There is little we can do to assist her and alleviate her suffering.

In a December blog post, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer admitted that she has been “dealing with health issues for a long time” and that “unfortunately, the spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes making it difficult for me to walk and preventing me from using my vocal cords as I’m accustomed to”

Dion cancelled the European and British dates of her Courage World Tour following her diagnosis. In May, she announced the cancellation of all tour dates through 2023 and 2024.

Yasmin Vossoughian Illness: How Do You Deal With Pericarditis?

What specifically causes inflexible person syndrome?

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, muscular stiffness and spasms, hypersensitivity to stimuli such as sound and light, and mental disturbances that may induce muscular spasms are all hallmarks of stiff person syndrome.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes warned that individuals with the disorder may develop a stoop over time. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the symptoms often start in the trunk and abdomen and progress to include leg rigidity and other muscular spasms.

Due to the potency of these spasms, a simple misstep can result in a fractured bone.

In a video posted to Instagram in December, Dion described how spasms affect “every aspect” of her life, including “occasionally making it difficult for me to walk and preventing me from using my vocal cords as I normally would.” I regret having to inform you of this today.

Another symptom of the illness is anxiety. Dr. Scott Newsome, director of the Stiff Person Syndrome Centre, was quoted in a video posted on the center’s website as saying, “Many patients, if not all, have an anxiety that is intrinsic to the disease, and that anxiety actually feeds on the physical ailments that people with the disease can have.”

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, “street noises, such as the sound of a car horn, can trigger spasms and falls,” causing some individuals with stiff person syndrome to be reluctant to leave their homes.

Why Do Individuals Become Stiff?

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stiffness in the limbs is the consequence of an autoimmune disorder in stiff person syndrome patients. According to the article, “it is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases, such as type-I diabetes, thyroiditis, vitiligo, and pernicious anaemia.”

The institute speculates that an immunological reaction that has “gone awry” in the brain and spinal cord may be to blame, although this is still merely conjecture.

Electromyography (EMG) and lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap, are diagnostic procedures that detect electrical activity in the muscles, respectively. As a result of the disease’s rarity and the obscurity of its symptoms, chronic pain is typically treated by pain specialists rather than neurologists.

The NINDS reports that phobias are frequently misdiagnosed as anxiety, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, psychosomatic illness, or even a psychological disorder. According to Newsome, the average delay in diagnosing inflexible person syndrome is seven years.