Gigi Hadid talks about her autoimmune condition

Forever and always the show of my dreams. @victoriassecret If I could send, through the phone, the energy and emotion that filled the breathtaking Grand Palais as the music started, it would send chills down your spine. I will never be able to put into words how much being in this show means to me and how inspired I am by the people I get to work with. Thank you @ed_razek for believing in me and having me again and for putting so much heart into everything you do. @10magazine @johndavidpfeiffer @monica.mitro and everyone behind the scenes who has put so much time into #VSFS2016, you are so amazing and so appreciated. Can't wait to share this magical show with the world on December 5th! 🌙✨

A photo posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Dec 1, 2016 at 9:26am PST

Supermodel Gigi Hadid has just revealed she has an autoimmune disease that causes her weight to fluctuate - Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.

"My metabolism actually changed like crazy this year. I have Hashimoto's disease. It's a thyroid disease, and it's now been two years since taking the medication for it, so for the VS show I didn't want to lose any more weight, I just want to have muscles in the right place, and if my butt can get a little perkier, then that's good." she told Elle magazine.

Gigi Hadid, age 21, is one of the most famous supermodels in the world right now participating in the Victoria Secret runway for a second time this year. But despite millions of headlines and her Instagram account there is still a lot we don't know about the Reebok #PerfectNever campaign spokesperson. Today we learned a little about her autoimmune condition.
Her sister, model Bella Hadid, her brother Anwar and her mother Yolande all suffer from Lyme disease. 

FIND OUT MORE: Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's

SOURCES:
news.com.au
Elle 

Toni Braxton is a fighter of Lupus

Singer Toni Braxton has Lupus which is also called SLE or systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus causes the immune system to attack blood cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage that can affect the heart, lungs, skin, joints, kidneys and brain.

"I decided to come forward because I got tired of pretending. I got tired of hiding it. It was challenging masking it all the time, pretending that I feel great and I was actually feeling horrible."

On November 18, 2010, Braxton told CBS News that she had been diagnosed with Lupus a potentially life threatening autoimmune disease. Braxton's brother is a carrier of the disease, and her uncle died of complications from lupus. In December 2012 Toni was in hospital due to health issues related to lupus.

 
Find out more about Lupus including common symptoms, the different kinds of Lupus,What Causes Lupus, How it is diagnosed and treated in this very thorough article from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

Nick Cannon is a fighter of autoimmune lupus nephritis

While it is sad that anyone has illness or an autoimmune disorder we are pleased when celebrities let the world know they have an illness, as it helps get that illness better known.

Early in 2012 Nick Cannon, who we know best as a comedian, announced that he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called lupus nephritis. This was the cause of his kidney problems and blood clots in his lungs and his hospitalisation.

Cannon stepped down from his radio show with a statement on the .92.3 NOW website:

Under doctor's orders, I have been asked to put my health first and cut back on some of my professional commitments in order to allow my body to get the rest that it needs to keep up with the demands of my multi-tasking schedule.

“I don’t necessarily look sick, but there are times when I wake up and I can’t move,” says Cannon, who talks candidly about the chronic illness that he’ll live with for the rest of his life. “It’s a tough disease.”

Lupus nephritis is an inflammation of the kidney caused by systemic lupus erythematosus, called SLE or Lupus, a disease of the immune system. Apart from the kidneys, SLE can also damage the skin, joints, nervous system and virtually any organ or system in the body. Find out more about lupus in simple to understand language.

So Nick has cleaned up his diet and is drinking more water and feeling good most days, though he still does experience flares in this disease. Find out about his condition from Nick Cannon himself in the short video below which was made in 2018.

Nick Cannon is still going strong and, after some controversy, will be continuing in his talk show "Wild 'N Out" in 2021. It is is a sketch comedy and improv game show series that was created and hosted by Nick Cannon.

GET FREE HEALTH UPDATES by adding your email below

Email:

Missy Elliot is a fighter of Graves Disease

Grammy winner and rapper Missy Elliot has Grave's Disease, an autoimmune diseases that affects the thyroid, causing hyperthyroidism, an excess of the thyroid hormone, affecting mood, weight and energy.

In 2011 she revealed that she had been fighting the disorder for three years. The disease that leads to overactivity of the thyroid gland and affects the body’s metabolism. Missy Elliot's symptoms were dizzy spells, lumps in the throat, mood swings, increased heart rate, bulging eyes and loss of some motor skills as seen in this quote: 

“I was trying to put my foot on the brake, but my leg was jumping,” Elliot explains. “I couldn’t keep the brake down and almost crashed. I couldn’t write because my nervous system was so bad — I couldn’t even use a pen.”

She underwent radiation treatment and has been taking medication and said she's now feeling better.

More information on Grave's Disease
 

Here are some links to Thyroid Support Groups

Here is a book on Grave's Disease:

"Graves' Disease, In Our Own Words" takes the reader on a unique journey through the disease's many complexities. Personal accounts offer insights into both the physical and emotional sides of Graves'. Both the experts and other Graves' patients try to validate these feelings with articles on diagnosis, treatment, and healthful living with Graves' disease (hyperactive thyroid). Over eighteen top Endocrinologists, pharmacists and other experts on Graves’ disease, make the information in this book, accurate and up to date with the latest information on Graves’ disease and its treatments.

Find out more about this book

John Kennedy was a fighter of Addison's Disease

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy, United States president from 1961 to 1963, was one of the best-known people with Addison's disease.  In people with Addison's disease the adrenal glands are being attacked by their bodies.

A lot of secrecy surrounded Kennedy's health while he was president.
He was possibly one of the first Addisonians to survive major surgery when he had back surgery.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of John F. Kennedy's sisters, was also believed to have Addison's disease.
Kennedy’s early medical records show that he had constant infections during infancy, and scarlet fever, joint pain, headaches, and fevers. Afer this his health continued to decline.

In 1955 he began a series of treatments from Dr. Janet G. Travell who set up a combination of medications and exercise that allowed him to continue his political career.  Dr. Travell managed Kennedy's constant pain with cortisone shots and a movement regimen: using a rocking chair which was to keep the sitter active and using the muscles passively to rock, amongst other things. Interestingly she, Dr Travell, was the author of a series of groundbreaking books possibly one of the largest milestones in pain elimination ever written:  
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, Vol. 1 The Trigger Point Manual, The Upper Extremities
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual; Vol. 2., The Lower Extremities

Myofascial describes the connective tissue which surrounds muscle, ligaments, joints and nerves. The myofascia in the normal healthy state, is relaxed as it can move without restriction.  In injuries, stress and inflammation the fascia does not relax and becomes tight and develops trigger points and pain. The trigger point is a point of tenderness within each muscle and touching this point, in a certain way, causes referred pain that reproduces the patient’s symptoms.
Myofascial pain is usually described as a dull deep aching sensation which is worsened by use of the muscles. 
Myofascial pain is very common in fibromyalgia sufferers.

Kennedy insisted that Dr. Travell remain his personal physician while at the White House, which caused a few eyebrows to raise. She was stepping into a lineage of physicians that were not only exclusively male but, since the 1920s, exclusively military. Although her mode of therapy was heavily scrutinized by conservative groups, the Kennedy family fully supported her and were convinced that without the medical expertise of Dr. Travell, Kennedy’s political career would have come to a premature end. From Janet Travell, MD

More information and support for people with Addison's Disease.
SOURCES:

• Nicholas JA, Burstein CL, Umberger CJ, Wilson PD (Nov. 1955) "Management of adrenocortical insufficiency during surgery". AMA 
• Owen, David (May 2003) "Diseased, demented, depressed: serious illness in Heads of State".
• Janet Travell MD.com