Celine Dion just made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Grammys, earning a standing ovation and thousands of adoring messages on social media. The megastar turned up to present the final award of the night, Album of the Year, which – spoiler alert! – went to Taylor Swift for ‘Midnights’.
Dion walked on stage to her hit ‘The Power of Love’, greeting the rapturous audience applause by saying, “Thank you, all! I love you right back.”
“You look beautiful. When I say I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart. Those who have been blessed enough to be here at the Grammy Awards must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to people all around the world.”
In 2022, the global superstar announced that she had been forced to cancel eight shows from her upcoming world tour and postpone all the others due to a medical diagnosis. In an Instagram video, the star apologised to fans for taking “so long” to reach out and explained that she has been struggling with stiff-person syndrome – a rare neurological condition – for a while and, though she is working with a team of doctors, it is still impacting her everyday life, including preventing her from using her vocal cords as she used to.
“As you 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 it's been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything I've been going through,” she begins the emotional video.
"Recently, I've been diagnosed with a very rare neurological condition called stiff-person syndrome, which affects something like one in a million people. While we're still learning about this rare condition, we now know, this has what has been causing all of the spasms I've been having.
"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, this means I won't be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February. I have a great team of doctors working alongside me to help me get better and my precious children, who are supporting me and giving me hope. I'm working hard with my sports medicine therapist every day to build back my strength and my ability to perform again, but I have to admit, it's been a struggle.
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“All I know, is singing. It's what I've done all my life. And it's what I love to do the most. I miss you so much, I miss seeing all of you, being on the stage, preforming for you,” she says, fighting back tears.
“I always give you 100% when I do my shows but my condition is not allowing me to give you that right now. 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 am on the road to recovery. This is my focus and I am doing everything I can to recuperate.”
The caption accompanying the video reads: “‼️ Celine Dion reschedules Spring 2023 shows to 2024, and cancels eight of her summer 2023 shows. ‼️ « ’I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through…It hurts me to tell you that I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February.' - Céline.”
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To find out more about stiff-person syndrome, we spoke to Dr. Aziza Sesay, an NHS General Practitioner, GP educator, Honorary Senior Clinical lecturer, host, speaker and health content creator, whose platform 'Talks with Dr. Sesay' shares short informative videos, infographics, live discussions and tips on a variety of topics with a particular emphasis on women’s and gynaecological health, cancer awareness, mental health and health inequity.
Here’s everything you need to know about the diagnosis, symptoms and treatment of the condition.
Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare, progressive neurological condition which affects the brain and spinal cord. There is still not very much understanding as to why it occurs but it is believed that there is an autoimmune element which basically means health parts of the brain and spine are attacked by the person’s own immune system resulting in the symptoms experienced.
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The main symptoms are to do with fluctuating and progressive muscle rigidity and spasms including stiffness to the limbs, chest or back muscle; difficulties in walking and stability which increases the individual’s risk to falling making them more prone to injuries; very painful spasms which can be strong enough to break bones and heightened sensitivity to light, noise or sound which in itself may aggravate the spasms.
Unsurprisingly, it can be very distressing both physically and emotionally and can have a profound effect on the individual’s day-to-day activities and their mental wellbeing - it often leads to anxiety and depression.
Who is most likely to be affected by stiff-person syndrome? The condition is said to be associated with other autoimmune conditions like diabetes, vitiligo, autoimmune thyroid disorders and so on. Therefore, individuals who have these conditions are more likely to develop SPS. Women are twice as likely to have the condition than men and the age range in which it occurs is anywhere between 30-60.
The condition is said to be associated with other autoimmune conditions like diabetes, vitiligo, autoimmune thyroid disorders and so on. Therefore, individuals who have these conditions are more likely to develop SPS. Women are twice as likely to have the condition than men and the age range in which it occurs is anywhere between 30-60.
There is currently no cure. The aim of treatment is to manage the symptoms including taking pain killers like gabapentin to ease the nerve pain, muscle relaxants like diazepam which also helps with anxiety, medications that ease spasms like baclofen and intravenous immunoglobulin treatment have also been found to be effective in managing an array of symptoms including improving stiffness, sensitivity to noise and touch and improving their ability to walk and their balance.
If you are concerned about your health, it's always recommended to book an appointment with your GP to discuss diagnosis and treatment. You can find your local GP here.
