Lupus to epilepsy, 10 celebs with chronic health conditions

27 February 2023

• Chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both

Celebrities are mostly assumed to have it all, sadly some of them are battling chronic ailments. It has taken years for some of them to open up about this year.

Some of these celebrities include

Seal

The 'Kiss By a Rose' hitmaker has a type of lupus called Discoid lupus erythematosus, which affects the skin and leaves large scars. This explains why his face has always been scarred.

Selena Gomez

The award-winning artist was diagnosed with lupus in 2015. Lupus is caused when antibodies from the immune system mistakenly attack healthy cells or organs.

Experts still aren’t entirely certain why this happens but it is widely agreed that there are multiple causes.

Some of these are genetic – so if your parents have lupus, it’s more likely that you’ll get it too – while others are in our control. Lots of experts believe that smoking increases your chances of developing the condition.

Lupus can also be affected by changes in hormones, from pregnancy or puberty for example, so it is most prevalent in women of childbearing age.

Lupus has no treatment but it can be managed using medication.

Actor Bruce Willis

The celebrated actor has frontotemporal dementia. The condition has no treatment.

Frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism can be an inherited disease caused by a genetic tau genetic variant.

Symptoms include movement problems similar to those of Parkinson's disease, such as slowed movement, stiffness, and balance problems, and changes in behavior or language.

Lady Gaga

She has Fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.

Gabrielle Union

The actress was diagnosed with denomyosis.

The condition occurs when the tissue that normally lines the uterus (endometrial tissue) grows into the muscular wall of the uterus.

Adenomyosis most often occurs late in childbearing years and typically disappears after menopause.

Sometimes, adenomyosis may cause heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, severe cramping, pain during intercourse or blood clots that pass during a period.

Certain medication can help relieve pain or lessen heavy bleeding. Removal of the uterus (hysterectomy) is the only cure.

Lil Wayne

The rapper revealed in March 2013 that he has epilepsy, a neurological disorder characterized by seizures.

Halle Berry

She has had Diabetes since she was 19.

Missy Elliot

Missy was in Jan 2011 diagnosed with Graves' disease.

Grace disease is an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid, causing hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).

Maria Carey

She has Bipolar disorder.

This is a disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.

The exact cause of bipolar disorder isn’t known, but a combination of genetics, environment and altered brain structure and chemistry may play a role.