TV show host and former radio jockey Wendy Williams is taking a needed break from the limelight after her Graves' disease diagnosis.
The TV personality announced on her show, "The Wendy Williams Show," Wednesday that she will be taking a three-week leave from her regular hosting stint in order to focus on regaining her health.
This news comes after a visit to the doctor -- where her physician addressed that aside from suffering from hyperthyroidism, she is also afflicted with Graves' disease -- an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid.
On her show, Williams told the audience that even before the diagnosis several concerned fans have been pointing out a symptom that is common in people who have the disease.
"My thyroid has been totally cattywampus and that is the eye thing that you all have been seeing. You caught it before I did," she said.
Williams also got candid with her studio viewers, she told them that her hyperthyroidism is directly linked to her Graves' disease, citing the latter as the cause of her enlarged eyes.
"My thyroid, my hyperthyroid is attached also to Graves' disease. Graves' disease squeezes the muscles behind your eyeballs," the talk show host revealed.
Before this, Williams disclosed that she had known that she had issues with her thyroid, sharing that recently she had been feeling irritable and stressed, which made her decide to go pay the doctor a visit.
It can be recalled that this is not the first time the 53-year-old was caught in health scares. Last year, in October, Williams collapsed live on TV -- which she attributed to overheating brought about by her Halloween costume.
According to the American Thyroid Association, Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease that leads to the overactivity of the thyroid gland. It is also described as a precursor to hyperthyroidism. Women is also 7-8 times more likely to acquire it than men.
