Pop starlet Selena Gomez is reportedly undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with lupus, a potentially debilitating autoimmune disease.
The 23-year-old’s health first raised concerns in 2013, when she cancelled a tour of Asia and Australia. She later sought treatment at the Dawn at the Meadows rehab facility, which tabloids associated with drug addiction despite her representatives denying she was dealing with substance abuse.
But the singer has revealed her break was “really about” her lupus diagnosis, adding: “I could have had a stroke.”
Speaking to Billboard magazine, Gomez lambasted blogs and tabloids suggesting she was addicted to drugs, calling them “vile”.
“I wanted so badly to say: ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re assholes’. I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again.”
She went on: ”I’ve been working since I was seven. I’ve been a Unicef ambassador since I was 17. It’s so disappointing that I’ve become a tabloid story,” she said.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive, and its attack normal tissue can lead to the destruction of the kidney, heart, brain, spine, and lung tissue. Symptoms can include fever, a “butterfly” shaped rash on the face, hair loss, fatigue and painful joints. The disease is currently treated by prescription, and by chemotherapy is designed to suppress the action of the immune system.
Gomez is currently promoting her new album Revival, and appears in the box-office topping film Hotel Transylvania 2.
Photo: Getty
