What is Stiff Person Syndrome? Céline Dion was diagnosed with the rare condition affecting her voice and ability to walk
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- Céline Dion was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, and she had to cancel her 2023 tour.
- It is a very rare disease that causes the body to stiffen, sometimes after being startled.
- It's not clear what causes the condition and it cannot be cured, but it can be managed.
Céline Dion was diagnosed with a rare disease called Stiff Person Syndrome.
The singer announced her diagnosis in an Instagram post, saying that her condition prompted her to postpone an upcoming tour in Europe. She later canceled the tour altogether.
Dion said she had been dealing with health issues and spasms for some time, which had been affecting her vocal cords and ability to perform.
"I wasn't ready to say anything before, but I'm ready now. I have been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it's been very difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I've been going through," she said in the post.
"Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cord to sing the way I'm used to," she said.
Stiff Person Syndrome can cause painful symptoms like muscle spasms
Stiff Person Syndrome is a rare and poorly understood disease that touches the brain, causing muscles to stiffen uncontrollably.
People with this disease often experience stiffening of the torso and limbs and muscle spasms, as well as depression and anxiety.
The spasms can come on randomly or be triggered by sounds, light, touch, or emotional stress.
The strength of the spasms can range from causing a person to stumble and fall over, or even for the person's whole body to stiffen up like a statue.
The muscles can tense up so much that bones pop out of their joints.
Claudette Dion shared this week that her sister has lost control of her muscles.
There is no cure for Stiff Person Syndrome, but it can be managed using specific antibody injections, anti-anxiety drugs, and muscle relaxants.
It is a disease that progresses over time, and if left un-managed, can become debilitating.
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Dion hopes to perform again
Dion did not give more information about her health but said she hoped to be able to perform again "real soon."
She said she was working with a team of doctors and a sports medicine therapist.
"For me to reach you again, I have no choice but to concentrate on my health at this moment, and I have hope that I'm on the road to recovery," she said.
"But I have to admit it's been a struggle," she said.
Dion's press team did not respond to Insider's queries about her prognosis and whether she would be able to perform again, but shared a press release that stated that her medical team "continues to evaluate and treat the condition."
"It's true that in both our dreams and hers, the goal is to return to the stage. In what capacity? I don't know," her sister Claudette told the French-Canadian magazine 7 Jours. "The vocal cords are muscles, and the heart is also a muscle."
Stiff Person Syndrome is a very rare disease, one estimate putting it at one in a million. Scientists don't know what causes the syndrome, but it is thought that it is due to the body attacking the patient's spinal cord.
People with Stiff Person Syndrome often have other conditions that can be affected by the person's immune system, like diabetes, thyroiditis, vitiligo (de-pigmentation of the skin), and pernicious anemia.
Women are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than men, and most people get a diagnosis between 30 and 60 years old.