Amanda Piquet, neurologist at the University of Colorado, specialist in the disease affecting Céline Dion, agreed to respond to the BFMTV “Ligne Rouge” teams. She tells how the singer was able to return to the stage during the Paris Olympic Games.
On July 26, Celine Dion made a sensational return, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, scrutinized by more than a billion viewers. A performance for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games which is almost a miracle for the singer, who learned a few years ago that she suffered from an extremely rare autoimmune pathology, and who fought to sing again.
If Céline Dion was able to return to the stage despite this debilitating illness, stiff man syndrome, it is notably thanks to Amanda Piquet, neurologist at the University of Colorado, one of the world's few specialists in this pathology. She was the first doctor to diagnose Celine Dion's health problems.
“She came to see us at the University Hospital of Denver, for our expertise in autoimmune diseases,” she remembers, interviewed by BFMTV.
“She had similar symptoms to a lot of patients, painful and debilitating spasms. So we started working together, and the two of us developed a really good relationship.”
Hours of training
In December 2022, Céline Dion decides toinform his fans. She posts a video on social media. “Recently I was diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder called stiff man syndrome.”
This incurable disease, which affects one to two people in 100,000, Céline Dion has actually suffered from for years, almost 17. Before the diagnosis was made, she took diazepam, a drug commonly called Valium, in a “fatal dose” to try to manage the symptoms she was experiencing and continue performing on stage.
When the diagnosis is made, the singer makes multiple trips to Denver during the year 2023. With Doctor Piquet, they put in place a treatment protocol. Five days a week, the singer follows a physical program: hours of training to soften each member of her body, down to her vocal cords.
This training aims to slow the progression of symptoms. In addition to heavy drug treatment, the singer benefits from mental therapy and relaxation sessions.
“We cannot make the disease disappear”
“Stiff person syndrome is a progressive autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system,” explains the specialist.
“It's like you can no longer control your muscles. You receive conflicting messages of contractions and stretches, which causes muscle spasms. And one thing leads to another, difficulty walking.”
These terrible symptoms, Céline Dion reveals them in the documentary I am: Celine Dionbroadcast on Amazon Prime in June 2024. We see her in the middle of a spasm. His return to the stage then seems very hypothetical. However, a little over a month later, she is there, on the Eiffel Tower, to perform The Hymn to Love d’Edith Piaf.
But the fight is not over, underlines Amanda Piquet. “Even with our best treatments, we do not make the disease disappear,” recalls the specialist. “But it can be managed, I often compare it with diabetes. There are ups and downs, but when you find the right treatment, there are more good days than bad.”
Celine Dion: The Iron Ladya Red Line document by Caroline Mier, Jérémy Muller, Lucille Hemmen and Charlotte Xemard, broadcast on BFMTV this Sunday, December 22 at 8:50 p.m. and already available on RMC BFM Play.
Caroline Mier, Jérémy Muller, Lucille Hemmen and Charlotte Xemard with Magali Rangin
