Céline Dion’s announcement in December 2022, shocked her fans with the news that she'd been diagnosed with a rare disease called stiff person syndrome (SPS). A condition which affects roughly one in a million people, causes painful muscle spasms and often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, psychosomatic illness, or anxiety and phobia. A rare neurological, autoimmune disorder that causes periods of muscle spasms, hyper-rigidity, debilitating pain, and chronic anxiety. Muscle spasms can be so violent they can dislocate joints and even break bones. There is currently no cure for SPS, and overtime symptoms increase even with treatment. Chronic pain, disability, mental health impacts being the long-term hallmarks of SPS. Imagine a full body Charley horse that stops you in your tracks! An understanding of making the diagnosis, initiating therapy, and how to counsel patients about long-term prospects, will help destigmatize this illusive diagnosis, bringing comfort to patients and decreasing the time between symptom onset, diagnosis and treatment.
.jpg "Theresa Mallick-Searle, MS, PMGT-BC, ANP-BC photo")