No WayAll The Celebrities Living With Diseases That You Probably Never Knew About
Jul 8, 2020 2:54 pm
By Alex Riccardi and Lillie Gissen
Ever since Selena Gomez revealed that she had been diagnosed with the auto-immune disease lupus, fans have been seriously amazed by her strength. For those who missed it, the singer revealed back in 2017 that things got so bad, she even had to get a kidney transplant. She has been pretty public and honest about her battle with the illness, and her fans have been cheering her on every step of the way.
But did you guys know that there are some other big stars who are also dealing with diseases of their own? Yep, from Sarah Hyland to Nick Jonas to Gigi Hadid, there are tons of celebrities who are out there struggling with all sorts of sicknesses that we totally didn’t know about — and we are seriously so proud of them all.
Scroll through our gallery to uncover all the celebrities who are living with diseases that you may not have known about.
The Pretty Little Liars actress revealed in 2015 that she had a hormone condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. The disease caused her to gain more than 70 lbs.
“As a lot of you have noticed my body has gone through some changes, and I want to clear the air and give you an explanation. I have been facing a bad hormone imbalance that has thrown my body completely out of whack,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “I want to assure you that I’m healthy and getting everything back on track! A big thanks to all of you who have been in my corner!”
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Selena Gomez
Selena first opened up about her diagnosis in 2015, and since then she has spoken out about it a lot. In September 2017, she took to Instagram to let her fans know she had undergone a kidney transplant.
“I’m very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn’t promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of. So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering,” she wrote. “It was what I needed to do for my overall health. I honestly look forward to sharing with you, soon, my journey through these past several months as I have always wanted to do with you.”
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Sarah Hyland
Sarah was born with a disorder called kidney dysplasia, which basically means her kidneys didn’t develop normally when she was in the womb. Over the years, the Modern Family actress has had to get 16 surgeries, including two kidney transplants, but that hasn’t stopped her from living her best life!
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Kim Kardashian
Kim suffers from an autoimmune condition called psoriasis, which causes rashes on your skin.
“When I was 25, I had my first psoriasis flare-up. I got a common cold, and since psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, this triggered it. It was all over my stomach and legs,” she once said. “For the past eight years, although the spots are unpredictable, I can always count on my main spot on my right lower leg, which consistently stays flared up. I have learned to live with this spot without using any creams or medication—I just deal. Sometimes I cover it up and sometimes I don’t. It doesn’t really bother me.”
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Gigi Hadid
Back in 2018, while clapping back at nasty internet trolls who were hating on Gigi’s weight, she revealed that she had a condition called Hashimoto’s disease.
“For those of you so determined to come up with why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started at 17 I was not yet diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease. Those of you who called me ‘too big for the industry’ were seeing inflammation and water retention due to that,” she wrote on Twitter. “Over the last few years I’ve been properly medicated to help symptoms including those, as well as extreme fatigue, metabolism issues, body’s ability to retain heat, etc.”
When a person has Hashimoto’s disease, the immune system attacks their thyroid, which prevents it from producing enough hormones. Symptoms include fatigue and unexplained weight gain.
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Bella and Anwar Hadid
Gigi’s sister, Bella, and brother, Anwar, both suffer from Lyme disease — a tick-borne illness that leads to exhaustion, joint pain and fatigue.
“Bella was diagnosed with Lyme disease and co-infections about three years ago,” their mom, Yolanda Hadid, revealed. “And Anwar shortly six months after that.”
The brunette beauty told Evening Standard that “it was a dark time” when she first got sick. She explained, “I was exhausted all the time. It affected my memory so I suddenly wouldn’t remember how to drive to Santa Monica from Malibu where I lived. I couldn’t ride. I was just too sick. And I had to sell my horse because I couldn’t take care of it.”
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Nick Jonas
Nick revealed back in 2007 that he had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. And in November 2019, he took to Instagram to reflect on his battle with the disease.
“13 years ago today I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The picture on the left is me a few weeks after my diagnosis. Barely 100 pounds after having lost so much weight from my blood sugar being so high before going to the doctor where I would find out I was diabetic. On the right is me now. Happy and healthy,” he wrote, alongside a side-by-side. “Prioritizing my physical health, working out and eating healthy and keeping my blood sugar in check. I have full control of my day to day life with this disease, and I’m so grateful to my family and loved ones who have helped me every step of the way. Never let anything hold you back from living your best life. Thank you to all my fans for your kind words and support. Means more than you know. Love you all.”
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Justin Bieber
In January 2020, Justin revealed that he was also battling Lyme disease.
“While a lot of people kept saying, ‘Justin Bieber looks like s**t, on meth etc.,’ they failed to realize I’ve been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my, skin, brain function, energy, and overall health,” he admitted an Instagram post. “These things will be explained further in a docuseries I’m putting on YouTube shortly… You can learn all that I’ve been battling and OVERCOMING! It’s been a rough couple years but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever.”
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Cameron Boyce
Before his tragic death, Cameron was living with a disease called epilepsy — a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, causing seizures.
“Cameron had his first seizure when he was 16 and a half. It was in his sleep. It was a night when he had two friends sleeping over and they witnessed it,” his mom, Libby Boyce, said. “About a year later, when he was 17, he had another seizure. At that point, he was diagnosed with epilepsy. He only ever had five seizures in his life.”
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Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has fibromyalgia, which is defined by widespread muscle pain and tenderness. It is often accompanied by fatigue and altered sleep, memory and mood.
“I get so irritated with people who don’t believe fibromyalgia is real. For me, and I think for many others, it’s really a cyclone of anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, and panic disorder, all of which sends the nervous system into overdrive, and then you have nerve pain as a result,” she explained. “People need to be more compassionate. Chronic pain is no joke. And it’s every day waking up not knowing how you’re going to feel.”
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Miley Cyrus
In her book, Miles To Go, Miley revealed that she has a condition called tachycardia, which causes the heart rate to exceed the range of a normal resting heart rate.
“The type of tachycardia I have isn’t dangerous. It won’t hurt me, but it does bother me,” she wrote in her autobiography. “There is never a time on-stage when I’m not thinking about my heart.”
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P!nk
P!nk has suffered from asthma since she was a kid, and she had to be hospitalized in 2006 after suffering severe asthma attacks. Asthma is condition in which a person’s airways become inflamed, narrow and swell, and produce extra mucus, which makes it difficult to breathe.
“I’ve had really, really bad asthma to the point where sometimes I end up in the hospital,” the singer recently explained. “I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t breathe. I needed my nebulizer for the first time in 30 years. I couldn’t function without it. That’s when I started to get really scared.”
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Halsey
Halsey was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2016 — a disease that causes inflammation outside of the uterus and thus pelvic pain, fatigue, nausea, and potentially infertility.
“I was recently diagnosed after years of suffering and finding myself doubled over backstage in the middle of my sets, or fighting back tears on an airplane, or even being in so much pain that I would vomit or faint,” Halsey wrote on Twitter. “Finding out that I had endo was the most bittersweet moment because it meant I wasn’t crazy!”
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Nick Cannon
Just like Selena, Nick also suffers from lupus. He was diagnosed in 2012, and has been pretty open about his battle since then.
“I don’t necessarily look sick, but there are times when I wake up and I can’t move,” he once said. “It’s a tough disease.”
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Avril Lavigne
“I’m achy, I’m fatigued, I cannot get the f**k out of bed — what the f**k is wrong with me?” Avrilrecalled asking herself before she was diagnosed with lyme disease in 2014.
“I was in bed for f**king two years,” she continued, adding that it felt like she was being “gaslighted” and “trapped” by her body.