Danielle Jonas revealed in an interview with Parents about how mysterious medical symptoms upended her life and led to her being diagnosed with a serious illness. Danielle, 39, is the wife of Kevin Jonas, the eldest member of the Jonas Brothers, whom she married in 2009.
The mother of two told the magazine that when her symptoms began, medical practitioners initially attributed her concerns to mere anxiety. However, Danielle says she then noticed a frightening symptom: her hair was falling out.
“The hair loss was very traumatic,” Danielle told Parents. “I got to a point where I wanted to wear a wig.” A further biopsy showed that she had Lyme disease.
Danielle also experienced eczema, a chronic skin condition that causes dry, itchy, cracking, and otherwise inflamed skin. She told the magazine that it “was likely from the inflammation [caused by Lyme disease].” Danielle recalled experimenting with extensions, but found they tugged at her scalp, further irritating her eczema.
Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It is named for Old Lyme, Connecticut, the area where it was first discovered. It’s more common in tick-heavy areas like the Northeastern states, like New Jersey—where both Kevin and Danielle are from—and is typically treated with antibiotics.
While she says her Lyme symptoms are mostly under control, Danielle noted to Parents that she still experiences eczema flare-ups from time to time, but says that they’re more manageable now.
Several celebrities have opened up recently about their Lyme disease diagnoses, including Justin Timberlake, Ben Stiller, and Shania Twain. Conditions with similar symptoms have made their way into the public eye, thanks to high-profile celebrities like Selena Gomez and Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington revealing their battles with lupus and Hashimoto’s disease, respectively.
This story’s headline has been updated to correct that Lyme disease is not an autoimmune condition, though it can trigger autoimmune symptoms.
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