Carrie Ann Inaba says a recent in-flight medical emergency underscored her long struggle with Sjogren’s disease, an often-hidden autoimmune condition.
Carrie Ann Inaba is speaking publicly about her years-long struggle with Sjogren’s disease after a recent mid-flight medical emergency left the longtime “Dancing with the Stars” judge hospitalized.
Inaba, 58, said in an Instagram post that she “suddenly felt quite ill” while traveling to New York City, with symptoms that included a cold sweat, dizziness and numbness in her arms. She said the episode initially seemed like food poisoning but was frightening because she lives with autoimmune disease and routinely travels prepared for health complications.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Inaba said she has been dealing with Sjogren’s for years, beginning with severe dry eyes and repeated cornea injuries when she was younger. She said she was diagnosed in 2013 after extensive testing, more than 10 years after her first symptoms appeared.
Sjogren’s is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect multiple parts of the body and can be difficult to recognize because symptoms vary widely. The condition is often associated with dry eyes and dry mouth, but medical experts cited in the report said it can also worsen over time and, in some cases, involve organs such as the lungs and kidneys.
An estimated 4 million people in the United States are living with Sjogren’s, about 90% of them women, according to the report. A survey of more than 3,500 adults living with the disease found patients reported 48 different symptoms over the course of a year.
Inaba said her symptoms expanded beyond dry eyes to include neck and shoulder pain, extreme fatigue and a loss of energy that was unusual for her. As a dancer, she said, it was hard at first to separate ordinary physical strain from signs that something more serious was happening.
To manage the disease, Inaba said she focuses on keeping her eyes and environment moist, uses a humidifier and relies on practices including meditation, reiki and body work. “Pain is always with me,” she told Fox News Digital. “I live with pain 24/7.”
Inaba is also working with the Sjout for Sjogren’s campaign to raise awareness and reduce stigma around the disease. She said there is no FDA-approved treatment for Sjogren’s at this time, making symptom management and patient advocacy especially important.
Her main message to others with symptoms is to track warning signs, push for proper care and resist being dismissed. “It’s an invisible illness,” Inaba said. “I know when I’m out there doing whatever show I’m doing, you don’t think I’m sick, but I pay a price for doing that.”
Comments (0)