What is stiff person syndrome, the disease preventing Celine Dion from singing?

Céline Dion's fans are very worried about her, as it was revealed that the singer has lost control of her muscles, a consequence of the disease she suffers from: stiff person syndrome. But what exactly is it and what causes this ailment?

"She works hard, but she has no control over her muscles. What breaks my heart is that she has always been disciplined. She has always worked hard," revealed Claudette Dion, Céline's sister, to the French newspaper 7 Jour.

Stiff person syndrome is an extremely rare neurological disease, affecting only one or two people in every million.

The illness attacks the central nervous system and produces progressive muscle rigidity, muscle spasms, and great sensitivity to external stimuli (such as noise and touch) that worsen contractions.

And, according to the United States National Institute of Health, this syndrome has no cure, but treatment could improve some of its symptoms.

According to the GARD (Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center), rigid person syndrome is a disease that affects more women than men, causing, in addition to rigidity, spasms increased sensitivity to noise and touch, and possible abnormal postures. assumed involuntarily.

From the center, they assure that it is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own central nervous system. Normally, the syndrome is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, thyroid, vitiligo, or pernicious anemia.

Symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 60 and may manifest as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, abnormal postures such as slouching, muscle rigidity, increased sensitivity to noise and touch, or frequent falls as a result of spasms and stiffness.

Its diagnosis can be obtained through a blood test in which glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies are measured, which are frequently found at high levels when suffering from this disease.

Treatment may include high doses of benzodiazepines, diazepam, baclofen, or intravenous immunoglobulin. According to the GARD, sometimes transplants of analogous stem cells help to successfully treat the disease, in addition to physical therapy that helps slow the progression of the syndrome.

Due to the above, the 'My Heart Will Go On' singer has been working with the best researchers in the field, but her sister stated that the singer has had little improvement in her health.

Of course, although the outlook is not encouraging and her progress is slow, the 55-year-old performer does not lose hope of singing to her audience again.

In fact, after reappearing in October 2023 in a hockey game, many thought that perhaps her condition was improving, but it is now known that this is not the case.

Photo: Instagram @celinedion

"There’s no doubt that in our dreams and in hers, the idea is to come back to the stage. In which state? I don’t know. The vocal cords are muscles, and the heart is also a muscle," said the actress. Celine's sister.

Of course, Céline's condition has caused many people to show their support and ask about the state of her health.

"If you only knew how many calls we receive at the Foundation to hear from Céline! People tell us they love her and pray for her. She receives so many messages, gifts, blessed crucifixes," said the singer's sister.

Céline was diagnosed in 2022 with stiff person syndrome, so she decided to stop her "Courage" tour and retire from the stage due to the severe pain she had and muscle spasms.

"The 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. I have to admit it’s been a struggle. All I know is singing, it’s what I’ve done all my life," Céline told her fans in December 2022.

In May 2023, the singer decided to cancel all her concert dates, commenting that she was working with all her might to recover.

And although some have lost hope because her illness has progressed, many continue to encourage her to recover. Within all this, there is a great truth: Céline continues fighting.

“My prayers are with you”, “My beautiful Céline, we pray for you always and we miss you”, “We love you forever, Céline” and “Strength, Céline”, are some of the comments that her fans have left on her Instagram account.