Chelsea Handler, 47, revealed that she recently suffered from cardiomyopathy in a new interview with E! News. Earlier this year, Handler postponed several of her comedy shows due to a health condition, which wasn’t disclosed at the time. On Instagram, she ruled out pregnancy complications and COVID-19 as the cause, reassuring her 4.4 million followers that she was “safe and sound.”
She’s now speaking out about what happened. “I had a hospital scare after a show in Seattle a couple months ago,” Handler told E! News. “I had this cardiomyopathy, which means, like, an adrenaline shot to the heart.” Handler’s doctor told her that she needed to take care of herself—something she advises her audience members to do. “I’m fine now. But I was like, Good advice. Practice what you preach. It was a good reminder to let everything go,” Handler said.
Cardiomyopathy is actually a collection of conditions that affect the heart muscle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These can reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood, and up to one in every 500 U.S. adults have cardiomyopathy, which sometimes progresses slowly, per the CDC. Some people never experience symptoms of cardiomyopathy, and the cause isn’t always known. However, researchers have identified certain risk factors, which include heart attack, coronary heart disease, thyroid conditions, diabetes, heart muscle infections, cocaine abuse, alcoholism, pregnancy, muscular dystrophy, or a family history of heart problems.
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Handler said her cardiomyopathy was caused by stress. According to the CDC, your health care provider might recommend reducing stress if you’ve been diagnosed with the condition. Although treatment for cardiomyopathy depends on the underlying cause of it, your doctor might also recommend changing your diet or physical activity routine, avoiding alcohol and drugs, or taking medications to manage the condition, for which there is no cure.
In addition to speaking about her cardiomyopathy, Handler opened up about her mental health in the new interview, crediting therapy for her current relationship with comedian Jo Koy. “I had gone a long time without ever sitting down to contemplate or reflect,” Handler said. “And therapy changed that. It gives you the gift of self-awareness.”
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