On Thursday, Selena Gomez revealed that she underwent a kidney transplant over the summer, receiving a kidney from her best friend, Francia Raisa. Now, new details are emerging about the health scare that led her to need the operation in the first place.
TMZ, citing unnamed sources, reports that this past May, Selena went into kidney failure while she was in Chicago for The Weeknd's concert tour. She was rushed to the hospital; The Weeknd was with her. She was apparently already on a kidney transplant list at this point.
Selena has long been open about suffering from lupus. According to the American College of Rheumatology, lupus is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in various organs. It can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain. And it can sometimes be mild and other times have severe, painful flare-ups. As many as 60 percent of people suffering from lupus will develop kidney disease in their lifetime, NBC News reports.
The National Kidney Foundation notes that lupus nephritis, a particular type of lupus, causes inflammation of the kidneys and the surrounding blood vessels, attacking them like a disease. Many people who have lupus nephritis end up getting a kidney transplant, and it's unusual for lupus to come back in the transplanted kidney.
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