News broke yesterday that Daisy Ridley, an actor best known for her roles in the recent Star Wars trilogy and this year’s Young Woman and the Sea, has Graves’ disease. Ridley was officially diagnosed with the autoimmune condition in September 2023, after seeing an endocrinologist about hot flashes and fatigue—symptoms not commonly associated with an otherwise healthy, active 32-year-old.
In a recent interview with Women’s Health Magazine, Ridley says she initially chalked up her symptoms to a stressful role in her upcoming film Magpie, dealing with things like a racing heart, weight loss, tremors, and fatigue on a regular basis. But all these symptoms turned out to be early warning signs of the thyroid problem that is Graves’ disease—a condition that causes your thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone, otherwise known as hyperthyroidism, per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Graves’ disease is most commonly diagnosed in women over 30 and causes many of your bodily functions to “speed up.” This includes things like a fast, irregular heartbeat, frequent bowel movements, weight loss, shakiness, sweating, and anxiety, per the NIDDK. When left untreated, it may lead to complications like stroke, heart failure, vision changes (it often causes bulging eyes), and infertility.
Other celebrities with the condition include TV star Wendy Williams and rapper Missy Elliot.
Thankfully, Graves’ disease is highly treatable with medication and lifestyle changes, per the NIDDK. Ridley says she’s also found relief from a gluten-free diet, cryotherapy, acupuncture, and massage. She’s not letting the diagnosis (and her other health issues: endometriosis and PCOS) keep her from shining on the silver screen.
