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Singer Selena Gomez opened up about her problems with the auto-immune disease Lupus in 2015. Since then, she has been quite open about her issues with the illness and how it has affected her life. Lupus is a chronic illness where the immune system attacks tissues of its own, causing inflammation of the skin and affecting kidneys, blood cells, the heart, and lungs.
While celebrities often speak about their issues with autoimmune illnesses and their battles, they also use their platforms to raise awareness about the same. Selena Gomez has consistently used her fame and popularity to educate fans about Lupus and how it affects the people who have it.
Having celebrities share this kind of awareness is always appreciated by fans. Be it Selena Gomez or Gigi and Bella Hadid, celebrities discussing their battles shows fans tough it might be for people to live with it.
Similarly, in 2013, when Angelina Jolie decided to undergo a double mastectomy after a mutation was found in her BRCA1 gene, she raised a lot of awareness about genetic breast cancer. In fact, the effect was so massive that the researchers named it The Angelina Effect.
Selena Gomez and 4 celebs who have been open about their chronic illnesses
1) Selena Gomez - Lupus
After the former Disney star was diagnosed with Lupus, she canceled all her shows in 2013 to undergo treatment. However, the public did not know about the same until much later when she told Billboard in an interview in 2015.
Since then, she has been very open and vocal about her condition. Gomez admitted to having gone through chemotherapy due to her sickness. She even had a kidney transplant due to the effects of Lupus. She discussed the depression and anxiety that she has been dealing with since she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease.
Selena Gomez raised so much awareness for Lupus that Lupus Australia has a dedicated page under “Could you have what Selena Gomez has?” It talks about symptoms and what it can be like living with Lupus.
After a recent appearance at the Golden Globes in January, the star saw a lot of negative comments that shamed her for gaining weight. However, Selena Gomez took to TikTok Live to say that the medications she takes hold a lot of water weight, and that caused her to gain a bit more weight than usual.
She said that she wasn't a model and wouldn't be one and added:
“Thanks for supporting me and understanding and, if not… go away. Because honestly I don’t believe in shaming people for [their] body or anything.”
2) Kim Kardashian - Psoriasis
It's no secret that every bit of a celebrity's appearance is scrutinized by the media and by fans. In such cases, having Psoriasis can take a toll on a celebrity's mental health as they may be judged for not conforming to rigid beauty standards. However, Kim Kardashian, like Selena Gomez, has been very open about her condition since the beginning.
Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune skin disease that causes scaly patches on the skin, making them flare up. The illness speeds up the growth cycle of skin cells, causing them to flare up into patches around the fingers, scalp, elbows, and knees.
Around 2005-2006, Kim Kardashian wrote for Kourtney's blog that she got a cold and since Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, the cold triggered it. She added that it was all over her stomach and legs. However, she noted that one of her neighbors was a dermatologist and that she showed him what had happened.
The doctor asked her to visit his office and said that he would give her a shot of cortisone so that the flare-up would go away. She noted that she was around 25 at the time and that it was her first big outbreak.
While there is no cure for psoriasis, it can be managed via medications. Kardashian, much like Selena Gomez, talked about her difficulty with psoriasis and said that people didn't understand the pressure she is under to look perfect all the time. She has even recounted suffering from psoriatic arthritis.
3) Lady Gaga- Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a severe chronic condition that may cause the person extreme tiredness, muscle stiffness, and severe pain. People suffering may also have difficulty sleeping.
Like Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga has been very open about her condition to the public. She said that it causes her severe anxiety, trauma, panic, and PTSD, and that all of this sends her nervous system into overdrive, causing nerve pain.
She told Vogue that she was irritated with people who didn't believe that fibromyalgia is real. The Bad Romance singer said that people needed to be more compassionate as chronic pain wasn't a joke. She noted:
"It's every day waking up not knowing how you're going to feel."
Often, she had to cancel her tours because she had to be hospitalized due to severe pain caused in her body by the illness.
4) Gigi Hadid- Hashimoto’s disease
Hashimoto’s disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is a chronic thyroid disease that can lead to many issues. These include weight gain, muscle aches, reduced tolerance to exercise, hair loss, and severe fatigue, among others. Many might suffer from depression as well due to the effects of the condition.
Gigi Hadid has been in the public eye, much like Selena Gomez, since her teens. She also went on to become one of the top models in the world. However, as a model, she also had to be under severe scrutiny due to her career. Much like Selena Gomez, she also faced body shaming either because she was too fat or too thin.
She tweeted about the comments by people and said that when she started modeling at the age of 17, she wasn't yet diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease."
She added that the people calling her "too big for the industry" saw the inflammation and water retention due to her illness.
5) Bella Hadid - Lyme disease
The bite of a tick usually causes Lyme disease, and if not treated in time, it can have severe lifelong effects. From problems in the nervous system to joint pain, the effects of Lyme disease can be severe.
Yolanda Hadid, the mother of Bella Hadid, opened up in 2015 that both she and her daughter have Lyme disease. Since then, much like Selena Gomez, Bella has been pretty open about her condition.
In 2021, the supermodel took to Instagram to post a series of pictures of herself with an IV.
Like Selena Gomez, her being vocal about her disease added a lot to its awareness.
Living with chronic illnesses can be hard. Instead of trying to hide them to avoid public scrutiny, celebrities like Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, and Bella Hadid have opened up and raised awareness.
