Explainer | What is Cushing’s syndrome? Amy Schumer, US actress and comedian, has talked about the condition that causes ‘moon face’
- Online comments about her round face led actress Amy Schumer to consult a doctor, and to the discovery that she has Cushing’s syndrome
- Cushing’s syndrome and Cushing’s disease are caused by prolonged exposure to excessive levels of stress hormones, and can be life-threatening if left untreated
When American comedian, writer and actress Amy Schumer, 42, who starred in Trainwreck, Last Comic Standing, and Snatched, appeared on The Tonight Show on US television in February, viewers began to comment online on her rounder face.
If those comments seemed thoughtless or unkind, Schumer has since been reported as responding to them with gratitude, saying: “Thank God for that.” Because of them, she sought a doctor’s advice about her puffy face and was diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome.
The steroid overload can be described as exogenous – meaning it comes from outside the body, from a medical prescription, say – or endogenous, meaning it is produced by the body’s adrenal glands.
Excessive levels of cortisol can show up as weight gain; obesity; facial puffiness or fullness that is sometimes called “moon face”; swollen limbs; muscle wasting and weakness; a tendency to bruise easily; bone pain or tenderness, and; a significant deposit of fat between the shoulders and above the collarbone, often referred to as a buffalo hump.
