TRADEGY News: Toni Braxton, Aged 56, Toni Braxton  is an American Songwriter. . has been confirmed to.. we are pained to announce the sad news confirming Toni Braxton just…see more

TRADEGY News: Toni Braxton, Aged 56, Toni Braxton  is an American Songwriter. . has been confirmed to.. we are pained to announce the sad news confirming Toni Braxton just…see more

On an episode of the “SHE MD podcast released on Tuesday, Braxton — who brought along her rheumatologist, Dr. Daniel Wallace — spoke to co-hosts Mary Alice Haney and OB-GYN Dr. Thas Aliabadi about her medical journey.

“I was told to hide I had lupus,” Braxton said, adding that it was her management’s idea. “I worked hard to hide it. For the longest time, I was ashamed, especially being a performer. I would make light of it.”

Lupus is a chronic disease that occurs when a person’s immune system attacks their healthy tissues. It can cause pain and inflammation in any part of the body.

Toni Braxton says she was told by her management to hide her lupus diagnosis.
“People get scared around sick celebrities,” she said on Tuesday’s episode of the “SHE MD” podcast.
The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that there are about 1.5 million Americans who have lupus

Braxton, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2008, added that being upfront about her illness hurt her career.

“People get scared around sick celebrities,” Braxton said. “You would not get work, because the second I told I had it, I didn’t get work at first. No one wanted to put me on a stage. ‘Well, suppose she collapsed onstage, and the insurance, how are we going to do that?’ And so I couldn’t, at first, I did not work.”

The “Un-Break My Heart” singer shared that it ended up taking her almost 10 years to get a proper diagnosis.

“Lupus can be very challenging and difficult to diagnose because everything has to line up; it’s almost like an eclipse,” Braxton said. “And no one could find out what was wrong with me.”

She added that she also developed chronic anxiety as a result of having her medical concerns dismissed.

“I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy. That’s what my break was really about. I could’ve had a stroke,” Gomez told Billboard. “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re assholes.’ But I was angry I even felt the need to say that.”

British musician Seal, who has scars on his face as a result of lesions caused by discoid lupus, told Yahoo Lifestyle in 2020 that he was first diagnosed with the condition when he was 21.

While initially conscious of his appearance, he eventually learned to accept how he looked.

“Something that had kind of been initially traumatizing turned out to be something that has made me instantly recognizable,” Seal told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Lupus can be difficult to diagnose. Since it can affect multiple body parts — such as the skin, lungs, kidneys, heart, liver, and bones — it can cause many symptoms that are often mistaken for other diseases.