Our 12 Biggest Celebrity Health Stories of 2023 Their news inspired us, worried us — and sometimes broke our hearts. Here’s a look at the stars who made headlines this year. Oprah Winfrey embraced weight loss medication. Taylor Swift became an exemplar of physical fitness. Matthew Perry succumbed to addiction. These stars’ experiences resonated, maybe because they reflect the hopes, ambitions, and struggles that so many of us share when it comes to our health. Here’s a look back at a remarkable year. 1. Shannen Doherty’s Stage 4 Breast Cancer Spread to Her Bones The actor and podcast host, who rose to fame in the ’80s and ’90s as a star in the hit shows Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed , announced in December that her breast cancer had returned and spread to her bones. Diagnosed in 2015, Doherty underwent a single mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation. In 2017, her cancer had gone into remission, but by 2020 it had returned, and she later announced it had spread to her brain. Despite the bad news, Doherty remained determined to continue living her life to the fullest. “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better,” she said in an interview with People . “I’m just not — I’m not done.” READ MORE: Actor Shannen Doherty Reveals Her Stage 4 Breast Cancer Has Spread to Her Bones 2. Oprah Revealed a Dramatic Weight Loss, Aided by Medication Long subjected to endless tabloid speculation over her fluctuating weight, the daytime television host Oprah Winfrey appeared significantly slimmer at December events to promote the new film adaptation of The Color Purple , for which she is serving as a coproducer. Winfrey eventually shared that, in addition to frequent hiking and drinking a gallon of water per day, she had a new tool in her arsenal: weight loss medication. “The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for,” Winfrey said in an interview with People . “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.” READ MORE : 6 Lessons You Can Learn From Oprah’s Big Weight Loss Reveal 3. Taylor Swift Shared Her 3-Hour Treadmill Workout to Prepare for Her Worldwide ‘Eras’ Tour Pop megastar Taylor Swift said in a December interview with Time that, in addition to weight training, she sang her entire three-hour set list while running on a treadmill every day to get ready for the blockbuster show. She followed this intensive workout regimen for months, she added. During previous tours, the 2023 Time Person of the Year revealed that she drank “like a frat guy,” but for “Eras,” she cut out drinking completely. “Doing that show with a hangover,” she said, “I don’t want to know that world.” READ MORE : Taylor Swift Sang Her Entire 3-Hour Eras Set List While Running on the Treadmill Every Day 4. Home Ketamine Use Led to Matthew Perry’s Death In October, the Friends superstar and addiction-recovery advocate Matthew Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home and pronounced dead. A December autopsy report revealed that he had died accidentally from the “acute” effects of ketamine, a psychedelic-like drug. “Contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder),” the report stated. In his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing , Perry shared that he had long struggled with alcohol and opioid addiction. While he had been undergoing ketamine therapy for depression at the time of his death, the autopsy report suggested that he had also been self-medicating with ketamine outside a supervised treatment setting. READ MORE : Matthew Perry Dies From ‘Acute Effects of Ketamine’ 5. Britney Spears Revealed She Had an Abortion While Dating Justin Timberlake One of the biggest bombshells from Britney Spears’s 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, released in October, was that she got pregnant and had an abortion during her three-year relationship with Justin Timberlake. They began dating when she was 17 and he was 18. “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day,” Spears, now 41, wrote. “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.” “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father,” she wrote. Spears wrote that she had a self-managed abortion at home to keep it a secret. READ MORE : 25 Celebrities Who’ve Spoken Out About Having an Abortion 6. ALS Claimed the Life of Sandra Bullock’s Longtime Partner Bryan Randall Although they never chose to marry, Bryan Randall, 57, and Sandra Bullock, 59, had been a couple since 2015 and raised their three children together in a blended family. In August, Randall, a former model and photographer, passed away from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. The family had not previously disclosed his diagnosis. Over time, ALS causes irreversible damage to the brain and spinal cord. A person with ALS gradually loses the ability to walk, use their hands or arms, speak, chew, and swallow. READ MORE : Sandra Bullock’s Longtime Partner, Bryan Randall, Dies at 57 of ALS 7. Madonna Landed in the ICU With a ‘Serious Bacterial Infection’ Pop icon Madonna “developed a serious bacterial infection that led to a several-day stay in the ICU” in June. It caused her to delay the beginning of her “Celebration” tour marking her 40 years in the music industry. Bacterial infections are usually not life-threatening, but can become serious if they spread to the heart, lungs, blood, or brain. Madonna never revealed the initial cause of her infection. READ MORE : What Is the ‘Serious Bacterial Infection’ That Sent Madonna to the Hospital? 8. Michael J. Fox Foundation Developed a Breakthrough Test for Parkinson’s Disease In April, the Michael J. Fox Foundation announced that a new lab test analyzing brain and spinal cord fluid could accurately detect Parkinson’s disease, even in people without symptoms like tremor and slowed or limited movement. The results of a clinical trial evaluating the test were published the following month in the Lancet Neurology . The test was developed as part of the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), funded by the foundation. Its founder, the actor Michael J. Fox, now 62, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29. “When we started PPMI, we weren’t casting about for fish — we were going after a whale,” said Fox in the announcement. “Now here we are. Together we are making a cure for Parkinson’s inevitable.” READ MORE : Lab Test May Detect Parkinson’s Disease Even Before Symptoms Appear 9. Drew Barrymore Had Her First Hot Flash on TV Actress Drew Barrymore, 48, appeared to experience her very first perimenopausal hot flash while taping a March episode of her eponymous daytime TV talk show with guests Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. During the interview, she stopped to remove her blazer and shared with her guests, “For the first time, I think I’m having my first hot flash!” Hot flashes, along with night sweats, are known as vasomotor symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. Perimenopause refers to the time before menopause lasting around four to eight years when periods become irregular. READ MORE : 16 Celebrities Share Their Stories of Living With Hot Flashes and Other Menopause Symptoms 10. Bruce Willis’s Family Announced He Has Frontotemporal Dementia The family of actor Bruce Willis announced in a February Instagram post that the 67-year-old actor had been diagnosed with the rare condition frontotemporal dementia. “Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” the family said in a separate statement. Frontotemporal dementia causes damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, leading to problems with speech, behavior, judgment, empathy, and foresight. People with the disease have no awareness of their condition, and family members may interpret their uninhibited actions as rude or inconsiderate, leading to hurt feelings and arguments. READ MORE : Bruce Willis Has a Rare Form of Dementia, Family Announces 11. Lisa Marie Presley Died of Delayed Complications of Bariatric Surgery On January 12, Lisa Marie Presley was taken to the hospital after being found unresponsive. She later went into cardiac arrest and died just a few hours later. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner completed in July determined that Presley had died of complications from a small bowel obstruction. The obstruction was caused by scar tissue from bariatric surgery, a “known complication” for that type of operation. She had undergone the surgery years earlier. The risk of death associated with bariatric surgery today is about 0.1 percent, and the odds of serious complications are about 4 percent, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. While it’s possible to treat small bowel obstructions, they can prove fatal if not detected early. READ MORE : Lisa Marie Presley Died of Complications Years After Weight Loss Surgery 12. Football Player Damar Hamlin Was Hospitalized After a Dramatic On-Field Cardiac Arrest Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapsed during a Monday Night Football game in January after taking a hit to the chest and head. By all accounts, Hamlin was in top physical shape before he went into cardiac arrest. Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was caused by a phenomenon called commotio cordis, when a blunt force, like a tackle, disrupts the normal heart rhythm. Luckily, paramedics were immediately available to give Hamlin lifesaving CPR until he was taken to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma to let his brain rest. Hamlin returned to the field in August, NBC Sports reported. READ MORE : Can You Bounce Back From Cardiac Arrest? Experts Put Damar Hamlin’s Recovery in Context
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