The tearful singer reveals she has rare one-in-a-million ‘Stiff Person Syndrome’ that turns sufferers into ‘human statues’. There is no cure for the condition but work can be done to slow the progression
The rare, incurable neurological condition Stiff Person Syndrome causes the body to go into uncontrollable spasms.
This rare neurologic condition makes her muscles to tense uncontrollably and will ultimately leaves her as ‘human statues’ as it progressively locks the body into rigid positions, leaving her unable to walk or talk.
While there is no cure for SPS, there are treatments to slow down the progression, with Celine revealing she is doing all she can to minimize symptoms.
The 54-year-old singer addressed her fans in a tearful Instagram post on Thursday as she revealed it has forced her to cancel her European tour.
Experts do not know exactly what is behind the disease. But they believe it may be caused by an autoimmune reaction, when the body attacks its own nerve cells that control muscle movement.
‘Hello everyone, im sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out to you. I miss you all so much and can’t wait to be on stage talking to you in person.
”Asyou know I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before but I’m ready now.
‘I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time and its been really difficult for me to face my challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.
‘Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder called the stiff person syndrome, which affects one in a million people. ‘While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all the spasms I’ve been having.’ Detailing the impact the condition has had on her, Celine continued:
‘Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.
‘It hurts me to tell you today that this means I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February,’ she concluded.
