Selena Gomez has been praised for explaining how her body changes when she takes medication to treat lupus.
The singer, 30, has previously been open about her diagnosis with the condition – but she’s recently been subject to nasty comments about her appearance.
On a TikTok live, Selena told fans that when she’s taking medication she “holds a lot of water weight”.
“I would much rather be healthy and take care of myself,” she said.
“My medications are important, and I believe that they’re what helps me.”
Lupus is an incurable autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal tissue.
Symptoms can be managed using medication. In 2017, Selena revealed she had a kidney transplant linked to her lupus.
Kate Appleby and Chris Clarke, both 30, have lupus – and they’ve told BBC Newsbeat what it means to them to have Selena talk so openly about her experience.
“Having someone like Selena stand up and shout above the rooftops has full support from myself, and probably the whole lupus community,” Chris says.
Kate, who has nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram and says she’s also been a victim of body-shaming too, says Selena’s bravery is “incredible”.
“I go from being very skinny to being a bit curvier.
“You know, you go from being visibly more ill to your illness being much more hidden,” she says.
“And because I have a sort of public profile people then very quickly judge and I’ve had a lot of criticism from people commenting on not only how my appearance changes, but also how I manage my illness.”
More women than men have lupus, according to the NHS.
Chris also says his medication changes his appetite.
“I do have a bit of a beer belly, but that’s not by drinking beer. I’ve been on one of the medications, which is a steroid,” he says.
“Everyone thinks ‘steroids, great – you build up muscle’. But it’s not that steroid.
“It makes you hungry, you want to eat more and trying to control the appetite is a lot harder.”
What is lupus?
According to the NHS, lupus is a complex and poorly understood condition that affects many different parts of the body.
Its symptoms range from mild to life-threatening.
There are some types that just affect skin, but the term is usually used to describe a more severe form of the condition – lupus erythematosus (SLE).
That affects many parts of the body, including the skin, joints and internal organs.
Lots of people can have the condition for a long time without knowing before they get a sudden flare-up.
The symptoms include extreme tiredness, rashes (especially on the face, wrists and hands) and joint pain and swelling.
Even mild cases can be distressing and have a big impact on quality of life.
But the symptoms can be similar to more common conditions so it’s often hard to diagnose.
Chris says Selena raising awareness means a lot, as he hadn’t even heard of the condition when he was first diagnosed.
“What Selena is doing ultimately save lives,” Kate adds.
“Going back to mental health issues when I got diagnosed, if there had been someone like Selena at that point, being very vocal and talking about it, would have personally made all the difference for me.”