Rumors about Celine Dion's health have been rampant since the music icon has shown a surprising weight loss. Now years have passed since claims about her condition began, the Queen of Adult Contemporary has finally broken her silence and revealed she has a rare disorder called stiff person syndrome.
In an Instagram video, Dion announced her health diagnosis on Thursday, December 8. Sadly, this comes with the sad news of the cancellation of her "Courage" world tour 2023 tour dates.
The 54-year-old apologized to everyone for taking so long to reach out. She then said she missed her fans and couldn't wait to be on stage again to talk to them in person.
She began to talk about her health, reminding everyone how she had been an open book. However, she wasn't ready to share the news about it yet at the time.
"But I'm ready now," Dion continued. The "My Heart Will Go On" hitmaker admitted she had been dealing with some issues with her health for a long time. It had been difficult for her to face the challenges and talk about everything she had been going through.
From there, the Canadian singer said she was diagnosed with a "very rare neurological disorder," stiff person syndrome, which only affected one in a million people.
Dion continued that the disease had caused her to have spasms that affected her "daily life," like walking and using her vocal cords. Sadly, this, too, would affect her concert tour, making her not ready to restart her series of concerts in Europe, which was supposed to be held in February 2023.
Thankfully, she has a great team of doctors who are working hard to help her get better. Of course, she also has her kids by her side, supporting her throughout and giving her hope.
As a preparation for her return, Dion is working hard with her sports medicine therapists to build her strength and ability to perform again.
Meanwhile, NBC News revealed that a stiff person syndrome often causes rigidity in the torso and limbs and severe muscle spasms. The spasms may attack anytime or be triggered by stimuli like loud noises, touch, and emotional distress.
The stiff person syndrome delays the normal communication pathways between the brain and the muscles. Dr. Richard Nowak, an assistant neurology professor at the Yale School of Medicine, revealed that the condition could go from severe to quite mild and easily manageable.
