Singer Halsey has hinted her recent health woes are due to lupus, a ‘sneaky’ autoimmune condition that causes the body to attack itself.
The 29-year-old American pop star, real name Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, posted a series of videos in which she received medical infusions while also breaking down in tears.
Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Nick Cannon and Katherine Ryan have also struggled with systemic lupus erythematosus, more commonly known as lupus.
Lupus is when the body’s immune system mistakes its own tissues and organs as foreign, making proteins called autoantibodies that attack them.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease causes inflammation, affecting joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
‘I’m keeping you guys updated because I know you’re seeing the heart monitor and I’m sick all the time and I don’t want anybody to be worrying. I’m on a treatment plan right now…,’ Halsey continued
She shared the news on Instagram in a series of videos that appear to document the singer receiving infusions.
What exactly triggers lupus is still unknown but sunlight, stress, smoking, certain medicines, and viruses may cause symptoms in people who are more likely to get lupus due to their genes.
Hormones such as oestrogen are also thought to trigger symptoms.
In fact, Lupus is more common in women during their childbearing years when levels of the hormone are at their highest.
Lupus affects about one in 200 people in the US and UK, and more than five million worldwide.
There is no cure, but treatments that can help reduce symptoms are available.
Suffers often face a long road to diagnosis, however. No two cases of lupus are the same, making it notoriously difficult to diagnose.
Halsey is also mother to son, Ender – who will turn three next month in July. She shares the little one with ex, Alev Aydin
Symptoms of lupus include pleural effusions (a build up of fluid in the lungs), heart and kidney problems, arthritis and and Raynaud’s phenomenon (when fingers turn white or blue in response to stress or cold). A butterfly rash across the face is also a key sign
The songstress and screenwriter, but it was revealed in April 2023 that the pair had split but would amicably co-parent their son. Following the separation, Halsey has begun dating actor, Avan Jogia; seen with Jogia in May in L.A.
One telltale sign is a facial rash that looks like a butterfly across both cheeks, but this doesn’t occur in all cases.
Lupus symptoms vary in severity and last for different amounts of time. Most sufferers have mild symptoms that flare up into more temporary severe episodes from time to time.
Commonly reported symptoms are tiredness, fever, joint pain such as stiffness and swelling, skin lesions, shortness of breath and chest pain.
Dry eyes, headaches, confusion and memory loss, and fingers turning white or blue in the cold or when someone is stressed can also occur.
The signs are similar to many other illnesses, which means it can be tricky for medics to pinpoint lupus as the cause.
Some experts have dubbed the condition the ‘great masquerader’ for this reason.
Some people are born predisposed to lupus, which infections, certain medications or sunlight could bring on.
Medics recommends seeing a doctor if you have an unexplained rash or a fever, aching or fatigue that persists.
Six in 10 people with lupus will have kidney complications.
One such complication is lupus nephritis, which happens when lupus autoantibodies attack the parts of the kidneys that filter out waste.
This can inflame the kidneys and cause them not to work properly and even fail.
Source: Mail Online
