Celine Dion is putting all her effort into beating her rare neurological disease … but there’s very little that can be done to ease her pain, according to her sister.
Claudette Dion sat down for a recent interview with HELLO! Canada to give an update on Celine’s condition after she was diagnosed with the incurable illness — Stiff-Person Syndrome — last year.
DECEMBER 2022
Instagram / @celinedion
Claudette said Celine is strong and “doing everything to recover,” but the disease is a mystery to doctors and can feel excruciating to anyone suffering from it.
“There are spasms — they’re impossible to control,” Claudette explained, adding, “You know who people often jump up in the night because of a cramp in the leg or the calf? It’s a bit like that, but in all muscles.”
Claudette admitted “there’s little we can do to support” Celine and “to alleviate her pain,” but they’re crossing their fingers medical researchers “find a remedy for this awful illness.”
Celine announced she was stricken with the disease in a December 2022 video message. The Grammy-winning singer said she had been struggling with health issues for years, forcing her to cancel a bunch of her 2023 concert dates.
The National Institute of Health describes Celine’s sickness as a “rare, progressive neurological disorder” that impacts one in a million people, causing muscle stiffness in the torso, arms and legs.