You\u2019re So Vain singer Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease and was recently treated for skin cancer, the singer shared in a statement provided to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I\u2019ve been learning how to live with Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u201d Simon\u2019s statement on Monday read.<\/p>\n
The singer, 83, had been experiencing arthritis in one of her hips and both her knees, resulting in replacement surgeries for those three joints.<\/p>\n
It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly<\/p>\n
Carly Simon<\/p>\n
But her mobility continued to decline.<\/p>\n
At times, Simon said, she could not walk without \u201cconsiderable help\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cParkinson\u2019s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable. Some days I\u2019m so tired I can\u2019t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parkinson\u2019s is a neurologic disease that robs people of control over their movements.<\/p>\n
It typically starts with tremors and is characterised by slow movement, a shuffling gait, stiff limbs, balance problems and slurred speech.<\/p>\n
About one million Americans are living with Parkinson\u2019s, and 10 million people worldwide, the Parkinson\u2019s Foundation estimates.<\/p>\n
There is no tidy or predictable schedule to the illness. It does not consult my calendar before deciding what kind of day I am going to have<\/p>\n
Carly Simon<\/p>\n
It usually appears after age 60, though it sometimes develops before 50.<\/p>\n
The exact cause is not known, but Parkinson\u2019s develops when cells that produce one of the brain\u2019s chemical messengers \u2013 dopamine \u2013 begin to deteriorate and die.<\/p>\n
There is no cure, but there are treatments including medications that affect dopamine levels and a surgically implanted tremor-blocking device.<\/p>\n
Patients can also benefit from physical and occupational therapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI began treatment, including taking medication to help with stiffness and other symptoms,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no tidy or predictable schedule to the illness. It does not consult my calendar before deciding what kind of day I am going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simon also shared that she was treated for basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer, on her face at the same time.<\/p>\n
The singer had surgery, and the cancer was removed, \u201cbut the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
Simon said music has been a salve, and on August 14 she will release Comes In Waves, her first album of original songs since 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking on the music gave shape to days that did not always have much shape. It gave me somewhere to go without having to leave the room,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reminded me that illness can change your life without becoming the whole of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019re So Vain singer Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease and was recently treated for skin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-570657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}