Halsey, 29, has been diagnosed with and treated for lupus and a rare white blood cell disease, according to a series of recent Instagram posts.
The singer said she was first diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common autoimmune disease, two years ago.
Lupus can affect multiple parts of the body and cause symptoms including fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, skin rashes, and sometimes organ dysfunction, says Erik Peterson, MD, an immunologist and associate professor at the university's Center for Immunology. The University of Minnesota Medical School said. health.
After being diagnosed with lupus, Halsey discovered that she also had T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, an umbrella term for a variety of diseases involving the overproduction of a type of white blood cell called a lymphocyte.
“To put it simply, I’m lucky to be alive,” Halsey wrote in the caption of her June 4 post.
Halsey had a “rough start” at the start of her illness. They posted a video of the singer's treatment, showing him crying as he lay in a hospital bed receiving medication through an IV.
Now, on the other side of this treatment process, Halsey said she is “feeling better” and her condition is under control. However, the singer noted that the conditions will “probably remain in place for another period of time.” [their] Life.”
Here's what experts have to say about T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, how it relates to lupus, and what it's like living with and managing this disease.
Neilson Barnard/amfAR / Contributor / Getty Images
Despite their complex names, lymphoproliferative disorders have relatively simple definitions. This term covers any condition in which the body produces too many lymphocytes. In addition to increased white blood cell concentration, lymph nodes may swell and problems with the normal functioning of the bone marrow may occur.
Technically many diseases fall into this category, but they are divided into two groups: The classification of the disease depends on which of two types of white blood cells (T cells or B cells) are affected.
“T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders encompass more than a dozen different diseases,” said Dr. Changchun (George) Deng, medical director of lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia at the Seidman Cancer Center at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. health.
And many of these T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders can vary in severity, Deng explained. Some of them are milder while others are considered malignant or cancerous.
Malignant diseases include T-cell lymphoma (a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma), the blood cancer Sézary syndrome, and T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia.
However, it is unclear whether Halsey has a malignant or non-malignant form of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. An umbrella term does not automatically mean cancer, Deng emphasized.
“The diagnosis of T-cell lymphoproliferative disease is not the same as T-cell lymphoma,” he said. “If there is sufficient evidence to specifically diagnose T-cell lymphoma, we can generally avoid using the more general term T-cell lymphoproliferative disease.”
With so many different conditions considered lymphoproliferative diseases, there are also a number of potential causes and risk factors.
Some people have lymphoproliferative disorders due to genetic mutations, said Jennifer Yeh, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology and co-director of the Dermatology-Rheumatology Comprehensive Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine.
These mutations can be inherited or acquired at some point in an individual's life, she said. health.
Lymphoproliferative disorders are also more common in immunocompromised people. Immunosuppression, which can occur when someone has had an organ transplant or is taking medications to suppress the immune system for other reasons, may have some connection to the overproduction of white blood cells, Yeh said.
Experts agree that lupus and T-cell lymphoproliferative disease do not commonly appear together, but there is evidence that the two may be linked in some way.
“One of the common features of lupus is abnormal expansion of several types of white blood cells,” Peterson said. “These white blood cells play a separate but important role in protecting people from infection.”
You can imagine a well-functioning immune system like a car that can accelerate and brake as needed, Peterson said. But in people with both lupus and a T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, that suppression is impaired, he explained.
The mechanisms of this immune dysregulation are unclear. One potential explanation is that both lupus and certain lymphoproliferative disorders are associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). EBV is a common virus, and although it is usually mild, it can increase the risk of cancer, chronic fatigue, neurological disease, and autoimmune disorders in some people.
However, despite these various possibilities, many people do not get a clear explanation as to why they develop T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. In most cases, “there may be no obvious cause,” Deng said.
People with T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder experience a variety of symptoms depending on the specific condition they have, Yeh said.
But “common symptoms may include swollen lymph nodes, enlarged spleen or liver, increased white blood cell count, atypical bleeding or bruising, bone pain, fatigue, weakness, weight loss, night sweats and frequent infections,” she said.
The general prognosis for this group of conditions is considered poor, but they are treatable and manageable.
In the setting of cancerous lymphoproliferative disorders, such as leukemia, “a powerful drug that either kills the malignant tumor or causes it to expand uncontrollably.” [white blood cells] It was given,” Peterson explained. This may include antiviral drugs or chemotherapy.
However, in people with non-cancerous disorders, doctors usually use drugs that suppress the immune system rather than kill white blood cells.
“Immunosuppressants tend to slow the metabolic, respiratory and cellular functions of these abnormal cells,” Peterson said.
These conditions can be life-threatening, but improved treatments have made it possible for patients with both lupus and T-cell lymphoproliferative disease to “[live] The quality and quantity of life is almost normal,” Peterson said. Yeh added that when the disease is detected and treated early, outcomes are much better and some patients achieve remission.