Here's how to treat Stiff Person Syndrome, the neurological condition that Céline Dion was diagnosed with that affects her voice

• Céline Dion said she's been diagnosed with a rare condition called Stiff Person Syndrome.
• The neurological condition can cause muscle spasms and affect vocal cords.

In a video posted to her Instagram account on Thursday, Céline Dion announced that she had been diagnosed with an incurable neurological condition called Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).

"Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to," she said in her Instagram post.

SPS is extremely rare — by some estimates, it only affects one or two in a million people. While there's no cure for SPS, which can cause muscle spasms and difficulties walking, there are ways for patients to manage their condition.

SPS is not well understood, but it has some of the features of an autoimmune disease, which can cause the body's natural defense system to mistakenly attack normal cells.

Current treatments typically consist of a combination of medications, like muscle relaxants and sedatives, and intravenous immune globulin, or IvIG — a treatment made up of antibodies that can be administered through an IV.

An article published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science in 2020 analyzed data from academic studies on SPS. The researchers concluded that first lines of treatment should include benzodiazepines, a type of sedative, and anti-anxiety medicines like Valium and Xanax, with the addition of seizure drugs like levetiracetam or pregabalin if symptoms continue.

Muscle relaxants like baclofen could also alleviate symptoms, they said.

For patients who don't improve with the first lines of treatment, the researchers wrote that IVIG and an intrathecal baclofen pump, an implanted medical device that delivers a muscle relaxant medicine directly to the spinal cord, could be effective.

Researchers have also studied the drug rituximab as a possible treatment for the disease, but clinical trials have seen mixed results regarding its effectiveness.

If left untreated, the disease can progress over time and have debilitating effects on a person's way of life.

Patients with SPS can have frequent and serious falls as a result of their condition, according to the The National institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dion said in her post that she is rescheduling her Spring 2023 shows to the following year and canceling eight of her Summer 2023 performances.