The 54-year-old music legend was forced to postpone her world tour after being diagnosed with SPS - which causes sufferers’ muscles to uncontrollably seize up and can leave people unable to walk or talk - but a neurologist has suggested this may not be the end of her career.
Dr Satonsh Kesari, of Providence Saint John’s Health Centre in Santa Monica, believes there is hope for the singer to perform again.
Speaking to Hollywood Life, the doctor said there are many treatments Dion can partake in to help her and believes she “will be able to sing again”.
“I don’t want to say we can take away 100 per cent of the symptoms, but we can make them improve significantly,” he said.
“But, there are patients who don’t respond as well, or their healing is slow to progress, even on treatment. So, we do need to understand this better and we need to do more research to get a real cure.”
A doctor has weighed in on the singer's diagnosis and what it means for her career. Photo / YouTube / Global Citizen
The doctor went on to describe SPS as a “whole body disease” and explained that even a small amount of inflammation could pose a problem for the My Heart Will Go On songstress.
He told the news outlet: “It’s a whole body disease, so different muscles can be affected to different extents in each individual person, and obviously she would notice any subtle changes in her voice if it was affected. So, even a little bit of inflammation in those muscles could cause a significant problem for her.”
It comes after Dion took to Instagram yesterday where she told fans that she was “hurt” to have had to postpone her tour.
She wrote: “I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through…
“It hurts me to tell you that I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February.”
She has also shared a video addressing the situation in more detail, noting the disorder affects around “one in a million people”.
She explained: “Recently I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome which affects something like one in a million people.
“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having.”
She admitted the spasms are affecting “every aspect” of her life, including “sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal chords to sing the way I’m used to”.
She continued: “It hurts me to tell you today that this means I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February.”
