Amy Schumer has announced that she has Cushing’s syndrome.
The Hollywood star’s diagnosis comes days after she addressed online comments speculating about her face while promoting her series Life & Beth on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.Last week, the 42-year-old initially attributed her face being “puffier than normal” due to endometriosis, a long-term chronic condition that can have a “significant impact on your life” with symptoms including heavy and painful periods and sickness.
And now, Schumer has explained that the criticism surrounding her appearance led to her diagnosis and has described feeling “reborn” after receiving the news.
According to the NHS, Cushing's syndrome is a condition caused by having too much of a hormone called cortisol in your body. It predominately affects people on steroids.
She told the News Not Noise newsletter: "While I was doing press on camera for my Hulu show, I was also in MRI machines four hours at a time, having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn and thinking I may not be around to see my son grow up.
“So finding out I have the kind of Cushing that will just work itself out and I’m healthy was the greatest news imaginable. It has been a crazy couple weeks for me and my family.”
Schumer acknowledged that amid her “fears about [her] health”, fans were making comments about her appearance during different TV interviews, which ultimately encouraged her to go to a doctor.
"Aside from fears about my health, I also had to be on camera having the internet chime in,” she continued. "But thank God for that. Because that's how I realised something was wrong."
Last week, Schumer first took to Instagram to respond to questions about the “puffiness” of her face following an appearance on The Tonight Show.
In an Instagram post promoting her Hulu show, the 42-year-old wrote: “Thank you so much for everyone’s input about my face! I’ve enjoyed feedback and deliberation about my appearance as all women do for almost 20 years.
“And you’re right it is puffier than normal right now. I have endometriosis an auto immune disease that every woman should read about.
“There are some medical and hormonal things going on in my world right now but I’m okay.”
The actress also said she doesn’t feel a woman needs “any excuse for her physical appearance” but that she wanted to take the opportunity to “advocate for self love and acceptance of the skin you’re in”.
Schumer underwent a hysterectomy and an appendectomy to treat her endometrosis in September 2021.
