Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian Reveals He Is Battling Lyme Disease
“[C]an’t keep me down, tick!”
Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, has been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
On July 16, the tech executive and father of two, 41, shared the health update on X after bloodwork detected the disease, despite showing no symptoms.
“Doing a full battery of health scans, tests, etc, and found out I have lyme disease. Wild. No symptoms, thankfully, but gonna treat. Good cholesterol is too low. Bad cholesterol is just OK. Gotta work on that. On the plus-side: 822 ng/dL total + 162 ng/dL free testosterone,” said the Reddit co-founder.
In his following post, Ohanian admitted that the diagnosis came as “quite a surprise” given that he doesn’t spend much time in the Northeast or in the wilderness, where ticks are most common.
“I’ve got a loved one who had it a few years back, showed tons symptoms etc and just couldn’t figure it out until they tested him for it and then found it (treated it successfully, too). I spend so little time in the wilderness/northeast this was quite a surprise.”
Lyme disease is a potentially debilitating infection caused by bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi that is transmitted through the bite of an infected black-legged tick, according to the CDC.
Early symptoms can include fever, headaches, tiredness, muscle aches, and pains. If untreated, the symptoms can become more serious and include muscle weakness, numbness, and vision loss.
Anyway, gonna grab some antibiotics — can't keep me down, tick! pic.twitter.com/TOge6uRfSX
— Alexis Ohanian 🇦🇲 (@alexisohanian) July 16, 2024
Still, in a more optimistic tone, he said, “Anyway, gonna grab some antibiotics — can’t keep me down, tick!”
He concluded his posts with, “(Please talk to a doctor! Do not listen to me for any health advice!)” urging his 500k followers on the platform to seek professional medical help if they want to get tested for the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease every year.
Ohanian is in the minority of Lyme disease patients when it comes to not having symptoms of the disease prior to his diagnosis. Around 70% to 80% of people infected with Lyme disease develop what is known as an erythema migrans rash—a “bull’s eye” rash that expands in size at the site of the bite—on their body, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other celebrities the disease has affected include Shania Twain, Ben Stiller, Avril Lavigne, Alec Baldwin, and Justin Bieber.