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Daily Record
Daily Record
Lifestyle
Nicola Roy

What is Poland Syndrome after Strictly's Matt Goss shares 'rare' diagnosis

80s pop icon Matt Goss was the latest celebrity to leave BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night after facing the dance-off against Kym Marsh.

And as well as being thankful to his professional dance partner, Ukrainian Nadiyah Bychkova, he was also quick to praise the show's "kind and discreet" costume designers for helping him with his "rare" illness.

The singer suffers from Poland Syndrome and he recently discussed his condition with MailOnline.

Despite being diagnosed as a child, the 54-year-old revealed its made him very self-conscious throughout his life - but thanked Strictly for his new-found body confidence.

But what is the condition and how does it affect people? Here's everything you need to know about Poland Syndrome.

What is Poland Syndrome?

According to Medline Plus, Poland Syndrome is disorder which affects people's muscles.

It usually impacts one side of the body, and people can be born with missing or underdeveloped muscles which leads to abnormalities that can affect the chest, shoulders, arms and hands.

People with Poland Syndrome, including Matt, usually have part of their major chest muscle missing, called the pectoralis major.

Speaking to Mail Online, he said: "I have one pectoral muscle on the right side instead of two. The lower one is missing but the upper one is fine and strong."

This missing muscle may make the chest appear concave, and in some cases, the syndrome can also affect muscles in the chest wall, ribcage and breast.

However, most abnormalities in the chest area often aren't a cause for concern and don't always affect movement.

What ar e the signs of Poland Syndrome?

According to the Poland Syndrome charity PIP UK, there are a couple of common signs of the syndrome.

The most common signs, which affect 80-99% of people, are absent or underdeveloped:

  • chest muscle
  • breast
  • nipple
  • fatty tissue under the skin

Some of the rarer signs, which only affect around 30-79% of people, are:

  • fused finger bones
  • small hands
  • small or underdeveloped kidneys
  • shortened fingers

Although it's a condition that affects people from birth, it's often not diagnosed until puberty, when underdeveloped chest muscles become more apparent.

It's not known what causes Poland Syndrome, but a common theory is because of blood flow to the womb being affected in some way which leads to under-development.

Can Poland Syndrome be treated?

The condition can be treated with surgery during childhood, if both the parent and the child can give consent.

However, PIP UK says there are plenty of other options and that you should discuss these in detail with a medical professional before going through with anything.

Poland Syndrome affects twice as many more men than women, and Matt Goss says he wants to raise awareness of the condition.

He told MailOnline that he wants to start his own charity someday, helping kids to build their confidence like he did on Strictly.

He also revealed that with this newfound confidence, he planned on re-shooting some famous Bros shots from the 80s showing his chest, which he self-consciously covered up previously.

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