Yanis Darras 6:30 p.m., December 08, 2022

This Thursday on Instagram, singer Céline Dion announced that she was canceling part of her European concerts scheduled for 2023. The dates maintained have been postponed to 2024. The Canadian singer has "stiff man syndrome", a rare sickness.

But what are the symptoms?

Europe 1 takes stock.

The tour was going to be great.

After postponing the dates of her European concerts three times, Quebec singer Celine Dion finally had to see her fans again and revive her greatest hits.

But this Thursday morning, the star posted a video of several minutes on her social networks, in which she announced that she was canceling part of her 2023 European tour.

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Celine Dion (@celinedion)

One in a million affected

And for good reason, Celine Dion explains being diagnosed with a neurological disorder, called “stiff man syndrome”.

This rare disorder, which affects "only one person in a million", explains the artist, notably causes muscle spasms.

"These spasms affect my everyday life, on several levels. I sometimes have a lot of difficulty walking and I can't always use my vocal cords as I would like", she regrets, with tears in her eyes. . 

According to the Orphanet website, this autoimmune disease is characterized by "fluctuating rigidity of the trunk and limbs, painful muscle spasms and a phobia associated with the performance of certain tasks".

The Rare Disease Portal also notes that almost two out of three people affected by the disease are women. 

A disease from which there is no cure for the moment

While scientists have not yet explained the origin of "stiff man syndrome", they have developed treatments to relieve the symptoms.

For example, spasms can be relieved with diazepam, an anxiolytic.

And according to a study by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NIH), treatment with intravenous immunoglobin can help reduce sensitivity to noise, touch and stress in sufferers. 

Clearly, this treatment injects into the blood of people with the syndrome, a mixture of plasma from several thousand blood donors.

However, no cure to cure the disease definitively has yet been found.

So, in the meantime, Celine Dion is working hard to get back on stage, surrounded "by an excellent team of doctors who treat me so that I get better", she specifies.