Comedian reveals Cushing's syndrome
Comedian Amy Schumer has announced that she has been diagnosed with a rare hormonal disorder called Cushing's syndrome, after she was swarmed with comments on social media about a change in her physical appearance.
Schumer, 42, revealed her diagnosis in the News Not Noise newsletter Friday. People commented on her “puffier” face after she appeared this month on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” She said the condition did not pose any serious threats to her health.
The online buzz around her appearance, a mix of concern and negativity, was how she “realized something was wrong,” Schumer said.
Cushing's syndrome is caused by excessive levels of cortisol, known as the stress hormone, and can cause a range of symptoms including a round face, weight gain and weak muscles, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“Over time, the excess cortisol causing these symptoms can lead to progressive deleterious health effects like high blood pressure, diabetes, bone loss,” said Dr. Lilah Morris-Wiseman, chief of Johns Hopkins Medicine's division of endocrine surgery.
In the newsletter interview, Schumer said she was having medical tests while also doing a round of interviews to promote the new season of her Hulu show, “Life and Beth.”
She told the newsletter that she was “in MRI machines four hours at a time, having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn and thinking I may not be around to see my son grow up.”
“So finding out I have the kind of Cushing that will just work itself out and I'm healthy was the greatest news imaginable,” she added.
Cushing's syndrome is sometimes the result of a tumor in the adrenal gland or elsewhere in the brain, requiring surgery.
But in Schumer's case, the excess cortisol that led to her diagnosis was brought on by “getting steroid injections in high doses,” she said.
The comic has been open about having endometriosis, a disease that affects the uterus and can be treated with steroids, though it was unclear if that was why Schumer was getting injections.