EXID's Solji forced to take career break after suffering from serious illness

EXID will be reduced to a 4-member team for an indefinite period.

EXID
Solji (second from left) with her EXID band-mates. instagram.com/exidofficial

South Korean singer and EXID leader Heo Sol-ji, known popularly as Solji, has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism causing her to take an indefinite break from her career. She will now be focussing on her treatment for her condition instead.

Website Koreaboo reports a statement released by Banana Culture Entertainment regarding Solji's medical condition, which appears to be quite serious indeed. "EXID Solji was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She has been suffering from multiple symptoms including fever and the protrusion of her eyes. After a detailed check up specialized doctors confirmed that she has hyperthyroidism," the statement read.

The statement also informed the next course of action to be taken by the singer regarding her career and her health. "We decided that her health is of the utmost priority so she will be taking a break and focusing on treatment. Solji will be absent from the scheduled award shows and LE, Hani, Hyelin and Junghwa will be on stage as four," the statement read.

Hyperthyroidism, which mostly occurs in women, is caused due to overproduction of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland. The most common symptoms include weight loss, muscle weakness, difficulty in sleeping and irregular heartbeat, intolerance to heat, in addition to protrusion of the eyes, which must be really painful. Graves' disease, also known as toxic diffuse goitre, is one of the most common causes of hyperthyroidism.

The disease can be deadly, especially when an infection occurs. The infection can worsen the ailment and lead to thyroid storm causing symptoms like confusion in the mind of the patient and increasing the body temperature. Such an escalation often will result in death of the patient. It is good that Solji has been diagnosed and hopefully, with proper treatment and care she'll recover.

Banana Culture Entertainment's full statement reads says "'Hyperthyroidism' is a disease which the hormone (T3 and T4) secrete excessively due to certain reasons, and result in thyrotoxicosis. (Source : Seoul National University Hospital) After long discussion we came to theconclusion that she should focus on her recovery first. She will rest for a while and focus on receiving treatment. The other 4 members of EXID excluding Solji will participate at the scheduled year-end music awards. We know how Solji plays a huge role in the team, we will do our best to support her back to her best condition again. We are sorry to worry you. We thank all you fans for the support you gave us."

This article was first published on December 21, 2016
Related topics : K-pop