Amy Schumer Says She Has Cushing’s Syndrome

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Comedian and actress Amy Schumer says she has been diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome, which, according to the National Institutes of Health, is a disorder that occurs when the body has too

much of the hormone cortisol for a prolonged period. 

Schumer, 42, revealed her diagnosis in an interview with the News Not Noise newsletter. She said she “realized something was wrong” when she heard comments about her looks after she

appeared on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America.

She said that while she was promoting the new season of her Hulu series, Life & Beth, she 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.”

When doctors told her she has Cushing’s syndrome, she said, she was relieved to discover the condition should not pose a serious threat to her health. “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,” she told the newsletter.

Cushing’s syndrome?

Cushing’s syndrome occurs when the body has an excess of cortisol, sometimes called the “stress hormone,” over a long time. The syndrome can either be caused by long-term, high-dose use

of cortisol-like medications, such as glucocorticoids, or in some cases, the body can make too much cortisol.

Cortisol has an important role in the body, helping to maintain blood pressure and blood sugar levels and to turn food into energy. But when the body has too much of it, problems can arise.

The two types of Cushing’s syndrome are defined by the cause, according to the Cleveland Clinic:

effects of medications

News Not Noise said that in Schumer’s case, the exogenous Cushing’s disorder was “brought on by getting steroid injections in high doses.”

The disorder most often affects adults ages 30 to 50, according to the NIH, and occurs in three times as many women as men.