World star Celine Dion has suffered from stiff person syndrome for several years. This disease affects her central nervous system and prevents the singer from returning to the stage. On Tuesday June 25, Prime Video unveiled the documentary “I am: Celine Dion“.
In this production, we can see the Quebecer in the middle of a spasm crisis. A scene that shocked Internet users. Currently, there is no effective treatment for this disease. But a hospital seems determined to help the singer and all those who suffer from this syndrome.
Celine Dion: the painful daily life of the singer filmed in a documentary
On June 25, 2024, Prime Video subscribers were able to discover the terrible daily life of Celine Dion. The star has not been able to perform for several years because of her suffering. This rare disease has no effective treatment. However, the IHU of Montpellier Immun4cure reacted after the broadcast of the documentary, which shocked many fans and Internet users. The establishment has in fact launched an appeal for donations to finance its medical research on stiff person syndrome.If someone today comes with 10 million euros saying to myself ‘make me a biomedicine’, I do it” said Christian Jorgensen, director of the university hospital institute.
In 2023, Celine Dion had contacted the IHU teams. However, “it didn’t come to fruition, it was still very complicated to get her to come to Montpellier“confessed Christian Jorgensen. “The entourage of stars is always a bit strange, a bit vague, not very concrete. They are not necessarily people to whom you can propose a scientific development plan, so I don’t think that Celine Dion herself has had a concrete proposal but perhaps with the press, it can reach her.”to the director of the IHU of Montpellier.
photo credit: TF1 Celine Dion suffers from stiff person syndrome. The IHU of Montpellier has launched a call for donations.
The Montpellier IHU mobilized to find a treatment
Christian Jorgensen then explained that his teams are “mobilized 200% on three diseases : lupus, polyarthritis and scleroderma. He then gave more details about the treatment the facility could find for Celine Dion’s illness.We can target and destroy the immune cells that produce antibodies that turn against the body itself. Today, we do it to treat polyarthritis and lupus, we know how to do it.” he assured.
The director of the IHU of Montpellier then explained why he had launched a specific appeal for Celine Dion.First, it would give a boost to research for the small rare disease community and then, quite quickly, we could offer it a specific solution. I think that for her, 10 million euros is not much, and it is not a joke at all, if someone comes with 10 million euros to develop a biomedicine, in two years he is ready. We put four engineers on the job, we make our platforms available, we provide the models that work well to check that it works, and we carry out clinical trials at the Montpellier University Hospital.“, he concluded. Enough to revive the hopes of those affected.
Celine Dion shares her suffering with her fans
Stiff person syndrome is an autoimmune disease. In France, it affects a vingtaine new cases each year. This disease has been studied for a long time and remains without a cure. In the Prime Video documentary, the 56-year-old artist let the director film extremely difficult moments in his life.
During a scene, Celine Dion is affected by a 40-minute attack of spasms. His hands, legs and entire body stiffen. You can see tears streaming down his still face.
