Health battle So what's going on with Halsey? Turns out, she's been in a major health battle
for longer than any of us realized. On June 4, Halsey released "The End" — the first
single from her upcoming album. In the song, she describes going to the doctor and receiving
treatment, with one line of the lyrics reading: "And there's poison in my brain and in my blood." Accompanying this, she posted a series of
videos on Instagram — three of which depict the startling truth behind the lyrics. In one of
the videos, she can be seen massaging her legs, saying she feels like an "old lady." In another,
she can be seen hooked up to an IV in a clinic. "Today is day one…of treatment." The last video in the series is
a montage of short clips that show her receiving said treatment over an
unspecified period of time. In the caption, she tagged the accounts of the Lupus Research
Alliance and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The next day, the singer officially revealed
that she was diagnosed with lupus SLE and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in
2022. She said she will have to live with both conditions for the rest of her life,
even though she's currently in remission. After thanking her doctors for helping her get
both conditions under control, she continued: "After 2 years, I'm feeling better and I'm more
grateful than ever to have music to turn to. I can't wait to get back where I belong: With you
all [...] Singing and screaming my heart out." Lupus So what exactly is lupus? It's an autoimmune
disease where the immune system believes healthy cells are foreign and begins to attack them.
SLE — or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus — is the most common form of the disease and can cause
inflammation in the organs. This inflammation can cause joint pain and swelling in the
limbs, and people might also experience symptoms such as heavy fatigue and a low-grade
fever. About half of people with SLE develop a butterfly-shaped skin rash, and others
might experience weight loss or hair loss. There is no cure for the disease, so those
who suffer from it can only receive treatment to control their symptoms. Treatments for
mild cases of SLE often include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — commonly referred to as
NSAIDs — or corticosteroid treatments. People with severe cases of SLE might need blood thinners
or medicines that suppress their immune system. What about her lymphoproliferative disorder? Your
immune system has a host of white blood cells that lymphoproliferative disorder battle disease and infection. One type of white
blood cell is a lymphocyte, and you have two kinds of lymphocytes. Antibodies produced by B cells
knock down foreign substances that can make you sick, and T cells destroy your own cells that
have been compromised by a virus or cancer. A T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder
occurs when your body has too many of these T cells. The National Cancer Institute
says treating these disorders is similar to cancer treatments such as chemotherapy.
Based on the video Halsey shared, this looks to be the type of
treatment she's going through. Some types of T-cell disorders include
certain kinds of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or leukemia. According to the
Johns Hopkins Lupus Center, people with lupus have a high risk of
developing lymphoma and other cancers. lucky This news, of course, elicited a flurry of
support from her fans. But after she dropped her second single, "Lucky", the support was
quickly overshadowed by controversy. Halsey reportedly found herself on the receiving end of
backlash from fans following the song's debut, which may have to do with pop star Britney Spears'
initial reaction. As Variety reports, Spears shared on X how being depicted as a "superficial
pop star" in the video — which took inspiration from her 2000 single of the same name — made her
feel, quote, "harassed, violated and bullied." However, Spears quickly deleted the tweet,
which she claimed was posted by someone else. In response, Halsey lamented
in a post on her Tumblr page: "My own fans are hands down meaner to me
than any other people on the planet. Not speaking for all of you, of course. But
it used to be just a minority that were awful to me and now it seems like
a majority have only stuck around to chime in occasionally with their opinion
of how much they hate me or how awful I am."