The image left a lasting impression on viewers. In the documentary broadcast on Prime Video, I am: Celine Dionthe singer is suffering from a crisis of muscle spasms. In the fall of 2022, she announced that she was suffering from a rare disease: stiff person syndrome. A painful condition that requires her to follow “athletic, physical and vocal therapy” five days a week, as she explained to Vogue France in April.
In an interview with France Bleu Hérault, the director of the Montpellier University Hospital Institute (IHU) explains that he has the capacity to treat this disease. “If someone today comes with 10 million euros and says to me ‘make me a biomedicine’, I will do it,” says the director of this establishment, Christian Jorgensen. “We can target and destroy the immune cells that produce the antibodies that turn against the body itself. Today, we do it to treat polyarthritis and lupus, we know how to do it,” he explains.
“It’s not a joke at all”
But the treatment for the disease Celine Dion suffers from is a little more specific still. But according to its director, the establishment has the skills to treat this condition, but not the financial means. Stiff person syndrome only affects a few dozen patients in the world, “it’s a market that interests no one (…). But if someone comes with ten million euros to develop a biomedicine, in two years it will be ready”, he says. Even if he specifies that success is not 100% guaranteed. “We put four engineers on the job, we make our platforms available, we put the models that are good to check that it works, and we do the clinical trials at the Montpellier University Hospital.”
More information about Celine Dion
The director of the IHU did not wish to respond to our interview requests for 20 Minutes. If his communication is unusual, he specifies to France bleu Hérault that “it’s not at all a joke”. He explains that he tried to get in touch with the singer a year ago, but was unable to communicate at the time. “Maybe with the press it can get to her.” »
