Join us as we reflect on August Alsina’s journey with an eye disease that threatened his music career 10 years ago. Learn about his rise in the R&B scene and how he overcame the challenges to become a BET Award-winning artist.
By Howard Theatre – Screenshot from Get Ya Money – August Alsina – Live at The Howard Theatre
It has been 10 years since the then-up-and-comer in the R&B scene, singer August Alsina, revealed he was suffering from an eye disease that was taking his eyesight.
Everything was going good for the rising star. In 2014, Alsina reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with debut album Testimony, toured with Usher and won best new artist at the BET Awards. One of his platinum-certified singles, the 2013 breakout hit “I Luv This Shit,” topped Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Mainstream Airplay chart for two weeks. Another, 2014’s “No Love,” which featured Nicki Minaj, garnered more than 100 million YouTube views and landed him a spot on tour with fellow crooner, Trey Songz. So it was a shock to all of his fans when he shared the shocking news about his health. Alsina revealed that this degenerative eye disease he had was slowly blinding him.
On his Instagram account, he revealed:
“So I have this eye disease… Blind in my left, and losing vision in my right. In order to prevent my eyesight from deteriorating ihad to do this surgery. This shit is beyond painful & Life be throwin’ a nigxa curve balls but what I’ve gained from it all is priceless… A lot of things that are so natural to us in life (like waking up and being able to see ????) we can take it for granted. Thank God the OG for allowing me to see.. The good the bad the ugly, I’m just glad to see????”
He added that it was painful, and it will prevent his eyesight from deteriorating more. He didn’t specify exactly what disease he is suffering from. But after cataracts, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in African Americans. Half of those with glaucoma don’t know they have it.
– Glaucoma strikes earlier and progresses faster in African Americans.
– The risk for glaucoma is 20% higher if glaucoma is in your family.
Glaucoma occurs about five times more often in African Americans. Blindness from glaucoma is about six times more common. In addition to this higher frequency, glaucoma often occurs earlier in life in African Americans — on average, about 10 years earlier than in other ethnic populations.
African Americans should get a thorough check for glaucoma every one to two years after age 35.
The reasons for the higher rate of glaucoma and subsequent blindness among African Americans are still unknown. However, research shows that African Americans are genetically more at risk for glaucoma, making early detection and treatment all the more important.
His vision has since improved since his surgery 10 years ago, but he’s not out of the woods yet.
What Else Is He Suffering From?
In 2018, Alsina revealed he suffers from Guillain-Barré syndrome, which according to Mayo Clinic, is a “rare disorder in which your body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nerves.”
Guillain-Barré syndrome symptoms include:
Muscle weakness
Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet
Pain, often in the back or legs
Difficulty swallowing or breathing
Paralysis
GBS can be caused by a number of things, including: A viral infection of the respiratory or gastrointestinal tract, Surgery, Injury, and A reaction to an immunization.
GBS is more common in adults and males, but it can affect people of all ages. Symptoms usually start in the arms and legs and worsen over the first 2–4 weeks.
Most people recover fully from GBS, but some may experience long-term nerve damage. In very rare cases, GBS can be life-threatening, usually due to difficulty breathing.
Treatments for GBS include: Plasma exchange, Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG), and Rehabilitation.
His Diseases are Also Affecting His Liver
“I have a liver disease where my autoimmune system is fighting against itself,” he said at the time. “Reality is I’m sick all the time. I’d really like to talk about it and I’m not looking for anybody’s sympathy.
African Americans have a higher prevalence of liver disease and are more likely to experience certain complications than other populations:
Chronic liver disease
In 2020, chronic liver disease was the ninth leading cause of death for non-Hispanic Black people ages 45–64.
Liver cancer
Black men are 60% more likely to have liver cancer than white men, and Black women are 40% more likely to die from liver cancer than white women.
Hepatitis C
African Americans have twice the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) seropositivity than white people.
Hepatitis B
In 2020, non-Hispanic Black people were 1.4 times as likely to die from viral hepatitis as non-Hispanic white people.
Liver injury
African Americans are more likely to experience liver injury from phenytoin, methyldopa, and allopurinol than Caucasians.
According to the American Liver Foundation, longstanding liver disease can lead to significant scarring in the liver, called cirrhosis, and patients with cirrhosis are at risk for serious life-threatening medical complications that can, and often do, result in death. The only cure for cirrhosis is liver transplant, which is an extensive surgical procedure that requires removing the diseased liver and replacing it with a liver from someone who has died or from someone who has agreed to donate a portion of their own liver. For this to even be an option, patients need to be referred to and evaluated at a dedicated liver transplantation center.
African Americans experience the lowest rates of referral to transplant centers despite a high burden of cirrhosis that warrants consideration for transplant. This disproportionally low referral rate unfortunately equates to more African Americans with severe liver disease never being considered for this life-saving surgery. Moreover, this leads to higher rates of liver-related deaths in the African American community.
How is August’s Mentality Through All of This?
Alsina makes conventional R&B in a sonic sense, but lyrically, he’s like a New Orleans narcocorrido. “I came up in the 504 where the block stay hot/And the hot boys all tote Glocks,” he sings on “Shoot or Die,” his remix of Justin Timberlake‘s “Suit & Tie.” “How I came up is deeply rooted into my music,” says Alsina. “Because I come from shit. I come from nothing.”
Alsina was raised in Kenner, a New Orleans suburb, and his childhood was not a happy one. Both his biological father and stepfather were addicted to crack, and the household his mother attempted to glue together was shredded by instability. One day there would be lights, a TV on the wall and furniture in the living room. The next day, they would be gone. The family moved to Houston in an attempt to escape the claw of drugs, but it didn’t help. “Of all my childhood memories, I don’t have any good ones,” says Alsina. “I block shit out. The shit just make you coldhearted, to be honest.”
What is Alsina Up to Now?
Alsina launched Lé Joce by Alsina, a Floral Fruity fragrance for women and men. This is a new fragrance that came out in 2023 to rave reviews.
The over arching brand behind it is Encina Wellness a genderless skincare brand last year. Lé Joce is a love letter to his hometown New Orleans. Also Genderless, the fragrance has notes of Grapefruit, Nerolia, Jasmine, Oriental and Musk.
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