Chronic diseases affect approximately 133 million Americans . This includes celebrities who have chronic conditions ranging from diabetes to endometriosis to MS .
Since this is Hollywood, the show must go on. This means that many of these celebs with chronic illnesses had to work through their conditions to get the job done.
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Sarah Hyland – Kydney Displasia
The actress recently opened up about how she “doesn’t remember” filming some episodes of Modern Family due to her ongoing health struggles. She’s undergone a lot, including a kidney transplant from her brother.
Nick Jonas – Type 1 Diabetes
The singer has never been shy about the chronic condition that first put him in the hospital at 13. “I was very close to a coma, like a day away, if I hadn’t gone to the hospital,” he told Cigar Aficionado about his brush with death.
Kim Kardashian – Psoriasis
The reality star was diagnosed with the skin condition in 2011. Since then, she has undergone many medical and holistic practices to get the symptoms under control. This includes seeing a “Medical Medium” during an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians .
Pete Davidson – Crohn’s disease
If you’ve wondered why the SNL star has dark circles around his eyes, the stomach condition is to blame.
He’s had it since he was a teenager, and has credited marijuana for making working with the condition possible.
Lady Gaga – Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a condition you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. It causes severe pain and tiredness, among other symptoms. Although Lady Gaga manages to live with the illness, she has had to cancel concerts before due to “severe pain.”
Lena Dunham – Endometriosis
The Girls actress has always been candid about the condition, which causes the lining of the womb to be found in other parts of the body. In a blog post for The Lenny Letter , she wrote that for “a few days of every Girls season, I would come into work with that telltale stomach pain, nausea, and inability to move a muscle.”
Daisy Ridley – Endometriosis
Leah Dunham isn’t the only celebrity to suffer from endometriosis. The Star Wars actress told Elle Australia that she was in a bad flair while filming The Force Awakens .
“I was in my flat going nuts, and then my skin got really bad with the stress of it all, and I hadn’t been well — I had holes in my gut wall and stuff.”
Gigi Hadid – Hashimoto’s disease
When people began criticizing the model for losing too much weight, she explained that her metabolism changed.
“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,” she told Elle .
Mariah Carey – Bipolar II disorder
For almost two decades, the singer hid her diagnosis, which can cause severe mood swings. She finally let the world know in 2018, telling People , “Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me.”
Bella Hadid – Lyme disease
The model has the same disease as her mother, Yolanda Hadid. If the tick bite is not detected early, it can cause long-term symptoms such as joint pain and extreme fatigue. This explains why she was once unable to get out of bed for six days.
Selma Blair – Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that attacks healthy tissue in the central nervous system. When the actress was diagnosed, she cried tears of relief. “They were tears of knowing I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control, and there was some relief in that,” she told Good Morning America .
Michael J. Fox – Parkinson’s disease
The actor was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991. Since then, he’s become an advocate for the disorder, opening up his own Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000. It has raised more than $1 billion in search of a cure for the condition.
Pink – Asthma
The Covid-19 pandemic was incredibly hard on the star who has the lung condition. “I have asthma and I’m wearing TWO masks! I’m breathing fine and I’m not a selfish idiot! WEAR A MASK ITS NOT THAT HARD,” she wrote on Instagram in 2020.
Lil Wayne – Epilepsy
This is a condition that is known for causing seizures. “This isn’t my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh seizure. I’ve had a bunch of seizures; y’all just never hear about it,” he told Power 106 radio .
Charlie Sheen – HIV
The Two and a Half Men star revealed his diagnosis after being blackmailed and extorted over the subject. “It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life,” he told Today in 2015.
Halle Berry – Type 1 Diabetes
The actress was diagnosed with the same condition Nick Jonas has when she fell into a diabetic coma while filming the TV show, Living Dolls . She’s filmed many movies since then, which is credited to her managing the condition well.
Venus Williams – Sjögren’s Syndrome
This is an autoimmune disease, which often causes dry eyes and dry mouth, along with joint pain.
“Some mornings I feel really sick, like when you don’t get a lot of sleep or you have a flu or cold,” she told the New York Times in 2011.
Selena Gomez – Lupus
The “Rare” singer was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2013. Since then, she’s had an ongoing health battle with the condition. In 2017, her best friend, Grownish star, Francia Raisia, donated her kidney to Gomez.
