Missy Elliott reveals she suffers from incurable disease
Imagine feeling lightheaded and shaky one afternoon, and then finding out it's the byproduct of an incurable disease. The cherry on top: Your incurable disease has the world's worst name. Missy Elliott is just that fortunate (note my sarcasm).
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The "Work It" hip-hop artist is suffering from an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid, and was diagnosed two years ago in 2008. Only recently, in an interview with People Magazine, did the 39-year-old reveal her condition to the world.
So what's the name of this disease? And what's this mean for Missy? Read on to find out:
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Graves' disease.
Uplifting, right? The singer suffered several debilitating hyperthyroid symptoms, like the loss of control of the nervous system, hair loss, and dramatic mood swings. The singer told People:
I was [driving and] trying to put my foot on the brake, but my leg was jumping. I couldn't keep the brake down and almost crashed. I couldn't write because my nervous system was so bad -- I couldn't even use a pen.
Man. And here I was, going about my daily business like it ain't no thang and Missy Elliott can't even write down a damned lyric. Who am I to complain?
The good news is that Missy's thyroid is functioning again, and she hasn't had to take the medication for Graves' disease in roughly nine months. However, this is something that she will live with for the rest of her life.
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Despite the name, the disease is rarely life-threatening, but affects almost 2 percent of the female population. And although it can develop in either gender, Graves' disease is more common in women and generally begins anytime after age 20. The scary part? No one knows what causes it.
So what's next for Missy? Well, she's lost about 30 pounds in the last year from exercising, now that she's gotten her muscle functionality back. And best of all: She's back in the studio with none other than Mr. Timbaland himself! Good for her. Missy has some serious talent. Without Missy, I wouldn't have learned about "dutches" or "toyz" so early on in life. And well, we all know there's no better way to find out about pot and sex toys than from the music industry, right?
Have you heard of Graves' disease?
Image via neomusicstore/Flickr
Written by Emily Abbate for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.
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