Celebrities like to project a sanitized image and so we often don’t realize that they
suffer from problems that many of us common folk face.
And, although they have the money and connections to get the best medical treatment possible,
they still sometimes struggle to get a proper diagnosis or treatment.
The reason for this is that there are some problems that, for whatever reason, doctors
just struggle to diagnose properly even with modern medical science on their side.
10.
Nick Cannon The affliction: Pulmonary Embolism.
Last year Nick Cannon, husband of pop star Mariah Carey, had to step down from his radio
show and head to the hospital due to complications involving a blood clot.
It turns out that he had something many doctors fail to notice, and that many haven’t heard
of called a pulmonary embolism.
This condition is a blood clot in the lungs and can be extremely deadly, and doctors are
often negligent in finding it.
Luckily for Nick, the doctor found the problem quickly and prescribed bed rest as part of
a regiment to help him recover.
9.
Rick Perry The affliction: Sleep Apnea.
Rick Perry became well known nationwide last year due to running for president and coming
across as a total goofball and a complete bigot.
He couldn’t remember what government programs he wanted to cut, and some speculated that
he was actually drunk.
After trying desperately to figure out what was wrong with their candidate, his campaign
staff realized he was hardly sleeping, and had the doctors look at him.
They found that Rick Perry was suffering from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder that causes abnormal breathing during sleep, which is
extremely disruptive to the sleep cycle.
Most people have no idea they even have a problem, they just end up fatigued during
the day, and doctors rarely find it unless looking for it specifically.
8.
John Ritter.
The affliction: Aortic Dissection.
John Ritter is well known for being one of the greatest comedians ever, the star of Three’s
Company, and an actor who was taken from us way too early.
He died in his fifties while working due to an aortic dissection, which the doctors sadly
misdiagnosed as a heart attack.
An aortic dissection is caused by a tear in the inner wall of the aorta, allowing blood
to flow between the layers, which forces the walls apart and is a very serious medical
emergency.
Unfortunately, doctors simply miss this one a lot, and think that it is a stroke instead.
7.
Jimmy Kimmel.
The affliction: Narcolepsy.
Jimmy Kimmel is famous for being a TV comedian that no one finds particularly funny, though
we do respect him for trying.
Kimmel states that he used to try to self medicate his problems by drinking a ridiculous
amount of iced tea, but when his doctor found out, he was alarmed at the amount of caffeine
Kimmel was guzzling and prescribed pills.
Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder, and many people are not lucky enough like
Kimmel to get a proper diagnosis.
Often doctors diagnose it as insomnia, depression, schizophrenia or even a thyroid disorder.
6.
Sinead O’Connor.
The affliction: Fibromyalgia.
Sinead O’Connor is a talented Irish singer-songwriter, also known for being fairly controversial.
Among the controversy is the fact that as a woman she has been ordained a priest, which
is considered completely invalid by the Roman Catholic Church.
She had admitted to having fibromyalgia, a condition that affects around five million
adults, mostly women.
Fibromyalgia is often characterized by having a foggy memory, all sorts of tender areas
on the body and lots of chronic pain.
Unfortunately this condition has many other symptoms that can appear to be other problems,
and so it often goes undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed.
Sometimes with early diagnosis and treatment people can live fairly normal lives, however,
in Sinead’s case, it led to a temporary retirement.
5.
Jennifer Esposito.
The affliction: Celiac Disease.
Jennifer Esposito is known for being in movies such as Crash and I Still Know What You Did
Last Summer, as well as TV shows like Spin City and Blue Bloods.
Recently, she discovered that she had Celiac Disease and has become an advocate for it.
To say that Celiac Disease is often misdiagnosed is an understatement.
According to Esposito, the average diagnosis takes about eight years and for her it took
twenty.
Nearly one in one hundred and fifty American people have Celiac Disease, and it is difficult
to diagnose because many of the symptoms can also be caused by other diseases.
Those who are afflicted are generally fine if they don’t eat gluten, but they often
deal with the symptoms for years before realizing they need to cut gluten from their diet.
4.
Alec Baldwin.
The affliction: Lyme Disease.
Alec Baldwin, the aging star of 30 Rock who sometimes throws fits on airplanes because
he’s told to stop playing Words with Friends, apparently is a chronic sufferer of lyme disease.
He doesn’t talk much about the ailment, but did star in a movie called Lymelife, possibly
to raise awareness about the disease.
Lyme Disease is caused by bites from certain ticks, and is a fairly common problem, with
over one hundred and fifty thousand cases since 1982.
If the disease isn’t caught quickly enough it can often lead to chronic suffering, but
unfortunately doctors are notoriously bad at finding the disease early, and much more
research needs to be done in regard to early detection.
3.
Oprah Winfrey.
The affliction: Hypothyroidism.
Oprah Winfrey doesn’t really need an introduction.
When she isn’t giving everyone a car, she is busy being richer than God and more influential
than just about anyone in entertainment, at least when it comes to bored housewives.
On her show, she admitted that she had gone to the doctor after feeling tired and looking
ill and had discovered that she had serious thyroid problems.
This could also be the cause of her sometimes yo-yoing weight, as thyroid issues make it
very difficult for people to maintain a stable weight.
While hypothyroidism is incredibly common, it is believed that nearly half of the people
who are afflicted with this don’t get a proper diagnosis.
Part of the reason for lack of a proper diagnosis is that the symptoms often appear over a very
long period of time, making early, or any detection difficult.
2.
Justin Timberlake.
The affliction: ADD
When Justin Timberlake isn’t busy bringing sexy back, he is actually struggling to deal
with ADD and OCD at the same time, and has been fairly angsty when talking about his
disorder.
While many people, just like Timberlake, can survive with ADD and perform quite well, it
is an often misdiagnosed problem, and is easily one of the most over-diagnosed issues that
exist.
In fact some experts believe that incorrect diagnosis of ADD and the ensuing medication
can lead to problem behaviors in youths, meaning that the common misdiagnosis of ADD can actually
be quite harmful.
It is likely that Timberlake really does have ADD, but unfortunately many kids diagnosed
with it actually don’t have the disorder at all.
1.
Stephen Fry.
The affliction: Depression.
Stephen Fry is one of the funniest men in comedy, delighting us over the years with
his performances and generally being an amazing actor with excellent wit and charm.
However, he has also long been a sufferer of depression and has admitted to being close
to attempting suicide before.
Unfortunately, going without proper treatment or diagnosis for depression, sometimes until
it has reached such a dangerous point is fairly common.
Worse, however, is that depression has become an alarmingly common diagnosis for all kinds
of other problems and is often being prescribed to people who do not actually have a chemical
imbalance in their brain, but are simply unhappy with their lives.
Perhaps with better knowledge of this disorder, we can treat people properly
and avoid misdiagnosis.