Within the past couple of days, it has been circulating all over social media about Selena Gomez coming out about having Lupus. She spoke out in a recent Billboard’s Interview about how when she took a leave of absence last year, canceling part of her 2013 tour, she was actually receiving chemotherapy treatment for it.

She opened up in her interview saying how, “just because it’s not plastered everywhere doesn’t mean I didn’t hit rock bottom.”

What is Lupus?

Lupus affects over 1.5 million Americans. This autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system attacks its own tissue. This then makes the body react in swelling, inflammation, and damage. The affects of Lupus leave the person with rashes, fevers, with pain, and fatigued. Because Lupus is a chronic illness, this means the person diagnosed can never actually treat Lupus for good. They have to learn to treat and care for it daily.

It is truly a relief to see a well known celebrity care for themselves and make a known. While many names in the business promote having a perfect body or great looks, Selena has gotten real over her health, which is something definitely more important than tabloid bikini shots. Not only is Selena found to be so admirable for her humility on her battle, but she has also done something incredible for anyone who’s young and suffering with any sort of chronic disease. It is almost a stigma that chronic disease is something that only affected an older crowd, but in fact, many chronic diseases can start to develop at all ages.

Millions of people of all ages struggle with issues like arthritis, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel diseases, and diabetes on a daily basis. And so while people assumed Selena’s break was due to poor decisions, she was actually treating her Lupus with chemotherapy. Like Selena, millions of people have to make changes in the daily life due to their chronic disease. So, thank you Selena, for shedding light on chronic disease and managing health.